2. cables
  3. 142277-24

I’m pretty sure I’ve lost my mind...

I brought some Analysis Crystal oval 8 speaker cables home and I can’t justify spending that much $ on cables, yet I can’t take them out of my system...

My setup is pretty modest, Audio Quest Red Dragonfly DAC (Tidal), McCormack Micro Line Drive, B&K reference 4420, Kef LS50, Rel T9i...

I’m having a huge dilemma here because these cables make everything sound so natural, real, detailed yet less bright and less sibilance, great imaging, bass, and timing.  The music fits together better.  

I’m comparing them to Signal Cable Silver Resolution, which wonout over some $1100 Tara Labs, and some $900 Clear Day Cables (which did sound better by the way, I just couldn’t justify the price difference for the sq difference), BUT, dang these Analysis Cables....

I think if I got this upgrade in SQ on any component for close to this $ I’d go for it but I’m having a hard time spending this $ on speaker cables because, well they’re just cables.

And now its in the back of my mind how inferior my beloved signal cables are and how they’ll make any component from here on out be short changed.

Please, someone chime in and let me know that lamp cord actually sounds just as good so I can go on with my life.

Happy New Year!
128x128b_limo
hifiman5's avatar
hifiman5
1,832 posts
 
Quality speaker cables truly can bring your system together, musically.  Are they system dependent?  Of course everything involved in our systems are!  I've been party to so many cable trials that there remains no doubt about their importance in system synergy. Listen to those cables that bring the music together such that it just envelops the soundscape with clean, dynamic,  frequency-even sound!  STOP there.


inna
7,296 posts
 
Interaction is important but great cables will sound at least very good with everything unless perhaps custom made for particular speakers.
joey_v
663 posts
 
Keep them

Myself, I can’t believe I ended up with Audioquest’s finest WELs.  Best I have ever owned and experienced at length.
french_fries
815 posts
 
Well.... you wrote to tell us you're debating the wisdom of this purchase, which indicates to me at least that while they're good they're not worth the money. These wires are not speakers which tend to be much more in the "keepers" category or an amplifier you really love. When I bought a (demo) Rowland preamp many years ago I could afford it after saving up awhile,
and it was pretty wonderful and I kept it for a long time. I wanted a Rowland amp also, but I had to walk away because it was REALLY expensive. I could never afford the speakers I wanted either, so I waited
(and waited...). Saying "no" is no crime. Right now I'm listening to a pair of "terrible" speakers in my bedroom while I recover from surgery, but they're not that bad really. They don't play symphonies but they still do a lot of things. And my Tivoli stereo radio is a remarkable component also.
It's not Magico M3's but so what (no insult to Magico of course).
Rule #1- Have fun, but don't forget to put food on the table.
kahlenz's avatar
kahlenz
274 posts
 
If you need to be told lamp cord is just as good, then lamp cord is just as good.

I am saddened by the fact that I cannot tell much difference between cables (when specified correctly and properly terminated).  My 12 AWG Beldon 5000 ($1.25/ft.) sounds the same as my Kimber 8TC or the Nordhost Blue Heavens I auditioned.  I'm jealous of all you folks that can hear these profound differences.

I can take some consolation in that my sensory shortcomings have enabled me to save enough money to buy better speakers, a new DAC, and a bunch of new music.
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