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Cable Survey

The idea for this thread came from @sautan 904 op titled “Who thinks $ Speaker cable really better than generic 14awg cable?

My reply:

From op:

SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? OR I AM THE LAST PERSON TO FIND OUT THAT EXPENSIVE CABLE JUST A RIP OFF?

Some are, some are definitely not. It really is a matter of discovering what brands out there (and there a lot) offer the best performance for your money. Some are really worth the money and clearly they offer a big increase in sound quality. It seems the dealers you used were not very discriminating about what brands they carry. This does not surprise me since I have found many are not well informed. You really need to seek out somebody who has compared different makes of cable and really believes in what they are selling.

So I thought it a good idea to pool knowledge on this subject and make a list of what people are using and why. This is my current preferences:

Speaker: Hi Diamond 7

IC XLR: Hi Diamond XLR 3

USB: Vovox

Ethernet: AQVOX, Vovox

Power: Belden

The Hi Diamond speaker cable was so much better than other cables I have tried to date. The increase in musicality, depth and detail in bass, increased sound stage and cleaner more detailed top where some of the benefits I had with this cable. The same can be said of their XLR interconnect.

The Vovox I have only been able to compare with some generic cables, and it is much clearer than those. I intend trying some other brands in the near future and I will post my findings.

Ethernet cables I find make a difference and I am currently using both Vovox and AQVOX, compared to various generic makes and the blue Meicord these are both much preferred, opening the sound stage and lowering the noise floor.

Power cables I haven’t so far experimented with a great deal, I’m using heavy Belden cables that are part of a dedicated mains spur arrangement, so that each individual piece of equipment has its own spur. In order to test cable types I will need to introduce a mains block (Shunyata?).

toetapaudio
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
Take a look at http://image99.net/blog/index.html

It covers the merits of a helix geometry for Speaker, Power and Interconnect cables

I have spent over four years trying different power cables and geometries from...
- bulk Furutech and DH labs cable with good connectors
- braided designs using Romex and Furutech conductors
- and finally the helix design, again using romex and furutech conductors

My conclusions as to why they work may not be 100%, but the fact is they work extremely well

The quality of the conductor does improve sound quality attributes such as dynamic performance and bass control, but other attributes such as imaging, details and clarity are clearly attributable to cable geometry

I also applied the same geometry to speaker and interconnect cables and found they provided significant improvements in sound quality.

Still skeptical? - As @toddverrone - a fellow member that has built and uses all three - thanks Todd :-)

Regards - Steve
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
Indeed, the helix cables sound amazing. Plus, they look interesting and are fun to make. I also like the fact that you can customize them to your system.

Want 10 gauge silver plated copper? No problem. 14 gauge rectangular copper OCC conductor? Do it! Silver connectors? Rhodium? Gold? Choose your own adventure..

Now, if you hate DIY and/or need brand name bragging rights to feel good, these are not the cables for you. But if you want incredible sound and a super low noise floor for the cost of a few hours and a few hundred dollars to do all the cables in your system, you’ve found Nirvana.

These guys have good, inexpensive cables to harvest power conductors from: http://www.vt4c.com/shop/program/main.php
But you can use any power cable as a donor, or buy wire in bulk.

Power connectors at a good price from here: https://www.sonarquest.net/

Or here: http://www.acoustic-fun.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=25_29

I like the sonarquest because their attachment system let’s me use Spade connectors on the ends of the cables, which I prefer. But the iego connectors area very popular and well liked on this forum, so again, your choice.

As for ICs, there are so many choices. I went with solid silver conductors from vh audio, which is also where I purchased my KLEI pure harmony RCA connectors.. but again: what do you want?

Speaker cables? Forget about it! You have a dizzying array of materials to choose from. I used cryo’d silver plated copper from take five audio. Really, there are so many choices, I’m not even going to bother listing them. If people have questions though, Steve or I are happy to answer.

Man, we sound like a tag team sales force! Ha! I just love making cables and sharing knowledge and Steve's design is solid.
williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@toddverrone - tag team sales force eh? - sounds like a plan :-)

Another fellow audiophile up here in the Toronto region is going to give them a try - I think he will be very happy also.

On the plus side - they are probably the last set of cables you will ever acquire (unless you build a set with better conductors)

On the negative side - the resale value is perceived to be about $0.50 - it really puts people off trying them unfortunately.

As for any other readers that may be sitting on the fence - this happened to me recently...

I took the cables down to Georgian Audio Video (a large audio store) for the owner to try.
- I'd previously demoed just the power cable and he was on the fence also
- we started by just replacing the power cable on a receiver and he was amazed at the improvement
- he then connected the speaker cables
- what followed was a frenzied swapping of cables and components to determine if the improvements applied to all components equally.
- the staff there are now believers that cables do make a difference for any components

If you are sitting on the fence I would suggest you try the cables in the following order...
1. Speaker cables  - they will let you hear the improvements of the other cables more clearly
2. Interconnects - these will provide better imaging and clarity
3. power cables - these will provide more speed to the dynamics and more space around the performers

If you are not into DIY, the only other cables I am aware of that comes close to the Helix are the gZero line of cables from KLE Innovations of Melbourne Australia

Give either of them a try - you will not regret it :-)

Regards - Stee
toetapaudio OP
474 posts
 
Some interesting input

@lalitk I take your point about system details and had intended listing but ran out of time during op.

So this is my best system as it stands at the moment (please read in conjunction with op)

Boenicke W11 speakers with Bybee speaker bullets
Mola Mola Makua pre/dac and Mola Mola Kaluga Power amps
fidata NS10 server
Lumin S1 (digital out) streamer
Aqvox switch

Inserting the HiDiamond cables into the system really brought the system to life, more energy, more musicality. USB, I would like to experiment with other cables, any suggestions? My weak point at the moment is probably the BNC/BNC studio grade cable to Neutrik 75/110 ohm BNC/AEB adaptor for use with the Lumin. The pending U1 will enable me to use AEB straight through. Having had success with HiDiamond I would choose their cable.

I found that both the Aqvox and Vovox Ethernet cables really helped open up the sound and reduced the noise floor in a similar way the introduction of the Bybee Signal Enhancers produced. Any other makes recommended?

I’m looking at Shunyata power products and cables at the moment, is there anybody that has had experience of these that would like to comment?

@lak Thanks for your comments about Furutech, I’ll take a look.

@grannyring Dueland make very fine components. The distributor here in the UK has had very good feedback on their cotton covered cables. It’s based on an old WE wire. What system are you using it with?

@williewonka Your helix cables sound interesting, I’ll follow that up.

@toddverrone Sonarguest looks good

williewonka
3,075 posts
 
@toetapaudio - if you have any questions about the helix cables ask away - Todd and I are always willing to assist a fellow DIYer.

Re: Sonarquest - they are not like some other connectors from the far east...
- The prongs of the mains plug are very flat - providing maximum contact area
- the silver plating is very heavy compared to competitors
- the IEC connector clamps like a vice - I plug mine into an old component a couple of times before connecting to an active component - just to relieve that initial tightness.

I have compared Sonarquest to a couple of established brands and they performed better - but I have not compared them to the likes of Furutech and Oyaide - that would be interesting, but I’m not about to splurge just for the sake of curiosity.

Vanguard also produces a more reasonably priced silver plated copper connector, but the Sonarquest is definitely of a higher quality and their IEC’s clamp more securely.

What about connectors with gold or rhodium plating?
- Silver has the highest conductivity of all metals - copper is second
- Silver can be plated directly onto the copper
- metals such as Gold and Rhodium (both have lower conductivity ratings) requires an intermediary plating material which also lowers the overall conductivity of the connector.

If you are constantly plugging/unplugging the connectors - perhaps rhodium is the toughest plating - but I’ve probably connected my cables over 200 times over the course of my "experiments" and the silver plating is still good

Hope that helps - Steve - a Brit-turned-Cannuck hybrid :-)


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