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Final Report, Canare 4S11 Speaker Cable

I posted this in the original thread yesterday, but it is so buried that unless you were following it, you would never see it.  At the end I will add a few more comments.   

This is the final report on the Canare 4S11 cables.  I let the 25 foot pair break in on my secondary system for almost 19 days 24/7.  At the 445 hour mark, I reinserted them into my main system.  I first removed the $1500.00 Groneberg Quattro Reference speaker cables and coiled them up under the floor in case I decided to go back to them. After my son helped me install the Canare cables (I had to make larger holes in the floor for the banana plugs to fit) and routing them perfectly, I am happy to say my system now sounds much better.  I no longer have the softness in highs I had with the Groneberg cable and the bass is tighter and deeper.  I was always under the impression that the higher the price, the better the cable.  The fact that a $130.00 pair of speaker cables bested a $1500.00 pair should be a lesson for everyone regarding price VS performance.    Now I have the Canare in both of my systems and I am one happy audiophile. 

A few more thoughts:    The cables sounded good when brand new with a slightly ragged treble and loose bass. I was told it could take up to 500 hours to fully break in.  For myself, I did not hear any changes after the 300 hour mark.  I let the cables cook longer than planned because I needed help from my son as i had to drill larger holes in the floor to account for the locking banana plugs.  My son lives in another state so I had to wait for him. The construction of the terminated cables is as good as many of the more costly brands.  I purchased 2 pairs of these cables in 15 foot and 25 foot pairs.    My secondary system now has the 15 foot cables back and I am continuing to break them in as I removed them from the system at the 250 hour mark.   A lot of people bash McIntosh but my McIntosh MA6600 integrated amp and McIntosh tuner never failed in 19 continuous days of 24/7 service.   The heat sinks were never more than slightly warm to the touch.    
That’s all folks.    
128x128stereo5
thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 
jjss493,221 posts07-27-2021 11:05am
yes you need GOOD cables for your system, they are essential for maximize sound quality ... but good does not need to be expensive

Define "expensive". Do you have general guidelines for up to what $ we need to spend on cables? What price level becomes "expensive" and up to what price we are allowed to spend?

Please include price limits for all types of cables (speaker, interconnects, power, digital, etc.).

Also, please include price limits for all countries, or, if too hard, just for developed, developing, and emerging, country categories. Thank you
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
@thyname

ignoring your sarcasm for a moment, i would answer that i personally would not spend more than $400-500 for a 8 or 10 ft set of speaker cables (used), and the ones i am using now in my main rig are less than that - for interconnects perhaps the same amount for a 1.5 or 2 meter run, maybe less (some systems can benefit from ic’s with some silver, that can cost a lil more) ... power cables, no more than $100-200 for a 6 ft run...

in the past i have tried (much) more expensive cables, and while they sounded subtly different, but to me, not necessarily ’better’ to my ears

for people who live in the real world and the value of money matters, i would suggest that if you are going to blow 4 figures plus for cable upgrades, you are better off putting that $ into components that more fundamentally improve the sound rather than high buck cabling...

and btw... i have lived and worked in both ’developed’ and ’developing’ countries in my life, cables do sound the same in either type of place (although i would say i don’t know which category the usa falls under anymore) :)
earlflynn's avatar
earlflynn
461 posts
 
@stereo5 I have been using these fantastic cables in all my systems for several months now and cannot agree more with your review. 

 I was always under the impression that the higher the price, the better the cable.  The fact that a $130.00 pair of speaker cables bested a $1500.00 pair should be a lesson for everyone regarding price VS performance.    Now I have the Canare in both of my systems and I am one happy audiophile.

melm
1,075 posts
 
I have been using various inexpensive speaker cables for years including Canare and Supra.  Several month ago at the suggestion of someone who knows cables very well I tried  Furez FZ124AS 12-4 at a bit over $1 a foot.  I had to terminate them myself but hey were better than anything I had tried by a very easily heard difference, even before being broken in.  

In cables especially there may be little correlation between price and SQ.  Perhaps too much system dependence.
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