2. tech-talk
  3. 152401-81069

Seeking help finding the weak link(s) in my system and offering suggestions please.

Hi! I recently paid a visit to a local audio salon and listened to a system that was so good I was "moved". However, I could never afford the price of entry to realize this kind of sound reproduction. I have spent the last couple of years assembling a system I could afford, focusing on components I felt were the best bang for the buck. I'm not trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, however with your help I am hoping to find where I may have a weak link or two. My budget makes this a challenge as I have only about 1K to invest. Thank you to all those in advance for your suggestions, my system is listed below. One more item, about 90% of my listening is Qobuz streaming.

System:
Dedicated/Isolated 20Amp AC source with PS Audio outlet.
Furman AC power conditioning.
Nordost Magus Power cords for source equipment and Kimber PK10 for Amp.
Ethernet cables all CAT7.
Kimber Silver Streak both balanced and SE throughout.
Speaker cables are Blue-Jeans 10AWG White - two 15' pair.
USB cable from PC to streamer is Audio Adviser Pangea SE 2 meter.
Canare/Have digital 1.5M coax from transport to Streamer.
Krell Vanguard Integrated Amp.
Cambridge Audio AZURE 851N Streamer/DAC.
Sonus Faber Electa monitors.
Sunfire HRS series subwoofer.
Sony SCD2000ES Transport/SACD player.
Luxman T117 Tuner (Best sounding component)?

Again, I appreciate your kind assistance, I am really looking forward to responses!

GRM

grm
grm OP
149 posts
 
Hello to all,
I printed this thread and shared it with my local dealer who did not dismiss any of the suggestions. He felt my system was lacking symmetry, meaning  my next step would be a good set of speaker cables. I have looked at a couple in my price range, Audioquest Rocket 44's and Kimber 8TC. My system is already populated with Kimber IC's and I like them. My question now is, do I go with Kimber or Audioquest? I have only one shot to get this right as custom 15' cables usually can't be returned, so, which cable would you choose? Maybe something completely different?

PS. To achieve that level of SQ that moved me, everything included, would cost me about 50K! Hah, I don't think so... 

Thanks again everybody! 
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
The high gain (48 db) and wide bandwidth (150 kHz) of your amp raises a bit of concern in my mind about how well the amp would react in terms of sonics to the highish capacitance of the 8TC (about 1600 pf for the 15 foot length you require, and 3200 pf if you biwire which it appears you are now doing with the Blue Jeans cable). Presumably the cable’s high capacitance is a consequence of low inductance taking priority in its design, but the 8TC’s inductance is lower than is necessary for your application given the impedance characteristics of the SF speakers.

On the other hand, Audioquest does not provide technical specs for the Rocket 44. I would contact them and ask them to tell you what its inductance and capacitance per unit length are. If they can’t or won’t tell you I would look elsewhere.

While cable specs are of course not generally useful in predicting how a cable will sound, IMO they can often be useful in identifying and ruling out candidates that have a low probability of being good matches for a particular application.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

grm OP
149 posts
 
Al,
I agree with you, as my current single run of cable to each speaker is via Blue-Jeans cable, which happens to have a fourth of the capacitance of the Kimber cable. In fact, the Blue-Jeans cable looks very good in terms of specification and I thought sounds just fine, no snake oil?? However, many contributors on this thread think my speaker cables to be an area of opportunity having in one case personal experience with my cable and finding it to be lacking. I somehow doubt AQ will provide me with a spec sheet on a particular cable, I think they hold their cards close to their chest. The question, a little modified, is who makes a great sounding cable that is not afraid to publish their specs and truly provide an outstanding sounding cable for 1K or a lot less. I am one to not equate SQ to $ spent, I think that correlation to be loose and think there to be over-performers out there, I just do not know who they are. 
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,106 posts
 
Dear @grm : I agree, you need better cables and the 8TC are excellent ones. I had and have first hand experiences with almost all the KK cables lines ( today I'm using its all silver ones along Analysis Plus silver too. ). You can't go rwon with those 8TC.

I know personally Ray Kimber and your PK10 power cable came from an " experiment " I did it several years ago, things were that I figured : what if I use the 8TC as a power cord? and I did it using  Wattgate 24K Gold Plated High End Connectors and its quality performance was nothing but first rate/great improvement. 
After my tests in my system I shared my  discovery with Ray and he started to put in the market his power cords based/founded in my findings.

Anyway, go for it. In the other side: which kind of room treatment do you have in your room if any?

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
spinaker01
491 posts
 
Well, I’ll be the contrarian opinion in the discussion; cables and tweaks won’t get you from where you are to where you want to be. In 90% of the cases, what you are hearing is 90% the speakers/room combination. Assuming this to be true, and you really liked what the B&W speakers had to offer sonically, Maybe you should inquire into the smaller D series 805 and see if that yields some of the improvement you are looking for. Also, this is a small enough unit to perhaps try in your own space prior to financially committing to them as speaker choices can be highly personal based upon your sound preferences. Tweaks and cables are what you play around with to fine tune a system you are already mostly settled in with, not to effect gross systemic improvements. There’s a reason why there are so many cables for sale here from disappointed buyers who thought they could extract an order of magnitude improvement from their systems with a cable purchase. 
More to discover