2. cables
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Help with first cable upgrade.

I have a Musical Fidelity v-150, rotel rp-3000 turntable and an old Sony CD player.  I have 2 sets of speakers B&W CM2's and JM Lab chorus floorstanding speakers I may have to part with due to space.  My power cables and interconnect cables are cheap stock.  My speaker cables are a 20 year old or so set of MIT shotgun cables.  Any recommendations for budget friendly cables that may help the bass or soften the brightness of my system?  Thanks.
shimanole
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,620 posts
 
Audio Envy cables are very reasonably priced, slightly warm sounding with good bass.Good build quality also.I haven’t tried their speaker cables,but the ics and power cables are very good. There’s a long thread here in the cable forum with lots of user comments.https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/audio-envy-dang
shimanole OP
31 posts
 
Thanks twice.  I'll check both of them out.
builder3
758 posts
 
DH Labs
https://silversonic.com/
ghdprentice
7,074 posts
 
I wouldn’t get too carried away with interconnects an definitely not with power cords I would try amp first). If your system is a bit sterile… go with copper… if it about right silver coated copper… we’ll leave silver to really high end or very warm equipment.
I think DH Labs and WireWorld would be good places to start. These are well regarded (DH Labs for cost effective) highly reviewed and respected brands. At this stage I wouldn’t spend more than about 10% the value of the component you are putting them on… maybe 15% if you find something you like. The difference these things make gets bigger and bigger the better your equipment. Pretty quickly you can get to the point where the money spent would be better spent on a component upgrades.
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Not true. Not at all. At the same time however considering the budget level of your system you will get more improvement for your money with a couple sets of Nobsound springs. Three sets for $90 will do your speakers, turntable, and CDP. This will be a lot bigger improvement than any $90 you can spend on wire.

You do however still want to do those wires. The smart way is to plan ahead. If you will just be doing this and then nothing - no component upgrades at all- for a long time that is one thing. In that case take what you can spend and divide it pretty much equally. So if say $500 and speaker cable, 2 power cords, 2 interconnects, then your budget is $100 each.

Or maybe you have bigger long term plans. Might be well worth it to put $500 into one really good set of speaker cables, knowing you will upgrade one thing after another so that a year or so from now the whole system is way better.

Either one is perfectly fine so long as you know and have a plan. Otherwise you listen to random knee-jerk ideas, real easy to find yourself having spent a lot with not all that much to show for it.
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