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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
toetapaudio OP
474 posts
 
@alanholvey, thanks for the information. How many wires altogether and how do you terminate them?
alanholvey's avatar
alanholvey
96 posts
 
toetapaudio:      12 wires altogether.  By chanch when I began my experiments with Jenna Lab hook up wires, I had all the wires necessary.  I am an old timer and thus still require my audio equipment within easy reach of my right hand, thus the need for a long speaker run for the left speaker.  At first I began with one single Jenna Lab 18 gage wire to attach between my amplifier and the, at the time and one foot long top of the line MG Audio Design wires.  That is 4 Jenna Lab wires.  I next added another Jenna Lab wire-8 in total-to the equation and notced much better audio reproduction.  Actually due to its great sound reproduction at the time it was only by chanch that I added 4 more Jenna Lab wires to the total.  12 of them.  The results were spectacular.  I have been in audio for nearly 50 years and I know what I herd.  What I still hear.  Anyway it was done very basically very simple.  The 6 let channel Jenna Lab wires are 11 feet long.  At both ends hand wire 3 each at both ends.  I use a sort of loose binding post to connect to the one foot MG Audio Design wires at one end, and the same 3 wires directly to my amplifier.  I then wrap all wire visible parts completly with electrical tape.  The whole thing takes minutes to put together.  And you can order both wires on the internet, although it is great to correspond with the owners themself.  If anyone is around Boulder and wants to check it out, call me at (720) 550-6908.  Again I have no fiinancial interest whatsoever, other than I myself was able to take advantage.  Just an experiment that went right.
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
@mmrkaic - I've measured them. My cables are 5' 7.5".

Does that sound about right?
alanholvey's avatar
alanholvey
96 posts
 
todderrone:       Compared to mine, total length is 12 feet for the left speaker ad 11 for my right speaker, your speaker lengths are relatively short.  I am only using such lengths due to my present set up.  I could probably cut off two feet of the Jenna Labs hook up wires if I had to, but their present length does not seem to make any difference.  When using top end wires, being them or interconnects or speaker wires, I do not believe their length matters.  Of course it is their cost which is the deciding factor.  Luckily for me I had the necessary length  of the Jenna Lab hook up wires already.  Again, if I had to pay full price for a 14.5 foot pair of speakers would be under $1800.  Not cheap, but subtract $72 a foot for a shorter length.  My speaker wires are the equal of the top of the line MG Audio Design interconnects in audio quality.  It is only possible due to the extremely low cost of a one foot pair of MG Audio Designs top end speaker wires-which go ofor $900.  I used to tell Geg that he charged too little.  The top of the line Nordhost interconnects go for $17,000 for aa .6 meter pair.  MG Audio Design charges $900 for a .5 meter pair of theirs.  That is the only way that I was able create such a truly superior speaker wire.  That and Jenna Labs 18 gage hook up wires which go for $6 a foot.  ruly a stroke of luck for me anyway.
twoch
429 posts
 
I could not even google
That speaker.  But the wire i got.  If it's  like thoses Italian made cars. Double up on it   Four 6  foot runs
 Should be fast as hell
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