2. cables
  3. 173080-145202

I need help with acoustics and speaker wire

I moved from the West side of Cleveland to Prescott,AZ at 5,400feet. 3 years ago.I have not changed my 2 channel system at all but my acoustics have!! The system which I feel is quite hi end consists of Mark Levinson amp & pre amp and Acarian Systems Alon 4 speakers.This system had a smooth warm and mellow sound with an abundant of tight bass It now has a harsh sounding metallically sound with an overabundance of treble with lots of listeners fatigue!

My old room was a 37' long X 27'wide great room with an open floor plan (open to kitchen & dining room) that was fully carpeted in the 37'X27' room dimension  with a 10'cathedral ceiling. The speakers played into the room depth. My present room is 20'wide X 22' deep and has a hard wood floor & a 10 cathedral ceiling. The speakers are playing across the 20' room width.

I plan to fully carpet the room and move the speakers so they play into the room depth. I hope this will correct most of the sound harshness. Now my problem with the speaker wires. My speaker wire is Mark Levinson HF-2.5c (660 strands of .07mm copper wire twin lead) which I cannot find anymore and the speakers are TRI WIRED! The change of speaker location requires "a "very large amount" of  additional wire and the option of placing the Levinson equipment between the speakers to vastly reduce the amount of wire needed is out of consideration.

I do not subscribe to all of the hype & voodoo magic associated with high end wire making large imagined sound improvements and am not willing to pay the outrageous sums of money required to redo my system with it. The question is this is there a wire that I can add that would be compatible with what I now have at a reasonable price or should I discard the wire I now have and wire my system with Monster cable so all of the wire is the same or some other reasonably priced wire?

Most of you don't have this problem as your speakers are not tri wired and you place your amps between your speakers and your wire runs are under 10' per side so the cost is not an issue. Suggestions please!!??

marklevinson
thyname's avatar
thyname
3,107 posts
 

Well, the OP was pointless, making a statement, rather than asking for some kind of opinion and advice. It was inevitably coming to a “conclusion” I was expecting.

 

Good decision regardless. If you never heard any difference from cables during your first 80 years of existence, chances are you never will.

 

Merry Christmas, good health, and long life to you

big_greg
6,646 posts
 

I've never experienced speaker cables making a big improvement in sound quality, but I have heard them make things sound worse. Blue Jeans speaker cables did that. I'm a fan of BJC. They're a local company and I use their cables for a couple of my subwoofers, but I don't recommend their speaker cables. 

Focusing on your room should make a much more noticeable improvement than cables. 

jetter
3,033 posts
 

When discussing Blue Jean speaker cables, bear in mind that Blue Jeans makes speaker cables using either Canare 4S11 or Belden 5000 wire. I have used both and found one to be much better in my system than the other.

I liked the Canare but am using a different brand at this time but would use it again with no problem, not so the Belden..

 

oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 

I also don't believe in elevating the cables off the floor (more hype) and plan to put them under the carpet that I will have installed next month. I feel that some people IMAGINE the improved sound they think they are getting with some cables as many double blind tests have proved this over the years.

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You are 80. :-) Cantankerous too. That's fine, me too. I'm 67. But unlike you I can hear really well. Things will be fine until you run over the speaker cabling a couple of times with 600lb dolly wheels. Most systems set up like yours are fine (for you) just the way they are. I'd doubt you would hear any difference, why act like you can.

I'm just a retired heavy equipment mechanic. What would I know about sound. It's only the way I made my living (all over the world) for 49 years..

I'm sure you could rig SOOW or SJOOW cable. Pick the correct conductor number and do just DIY. That is the least expensive and the toughest cabling. I have 35+ year old SOOW buried (10/4/g) for speaker cable. They are 50-75 feet long. You null test them, they are still pretty serious cables. I've rolled speakers over the 6" slab for years plug in and away we go.

Pick a 6 conductor cable a single run per side. 3 pairs of wire # 10 or 12.

I don't think anyone has ever suggested I upgrade the cables, because the speakers sound like crap.. Not yet anyways..

Most BBQs, audiophile SQ isn't the issue, weather the chicken and potato salad is ready to eat IS.. :-)

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