Stay with the cheap stuff for mediocre sound.
How Big of a Difference?
Hello all,
I have near completed upgrading my system, but have left my speaker wire the same. My system is as follows- Laptop (Tidal) > Schiit Gumby Multibit > Freya S > Vidar monoblocks > speakers. My usb cable is Supra usb, and I am using xlr connections with amazon basics cables. If I am not mistaken, xlr is already super good at being noise resistance so I shouldn't need to spend more $ on fancy cables at my current level of audio equipment. My speaker wire is traditional 12 gauge wire I spliced from the spool. Nothing fancy. The reason I feel I shouldn't spend money on better speaker wire is because I traded the Supra usb for a super cheap usb and could not hear a difference. On top of that, I used to use single-ended connections using Chord C-line cables, and I could not tell the difference between those and cheap ones. What is everyone else's consensus? Can you guys hear a difference in your system? Thanks for the help.
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- 55 posts total
@oedstrom11 - your Schiit components are much better than most people realize - they just need very good cables! The Amazon XLR are fine for now - so stick with them I would start with speaker cables and then power cables Take a look at Zavfino cables
Unfortunately this is the tip of the "cable iceberg", but for a "modest" investment the sound of your system will improve considerably. Once you complete that upgrade you can try their ARCADIA OCC INTERCONNECT CABLE - granted it is single ended, but it will be a nice upgrade from the Amazon XLR cables The Zavfino product range is one that stands out above the rest of the commercial brands just because of the wires//insulation/cable geometry they use - their cables are an advanced design and they are extremely well built - PLUS - they actually perform extremely well. They are also very well suited to your audio components. They also have some very good higher end products that really excel - when you feel the need to upgrade There are better cables out there, but they are much more expensive and better suited to higher end components I realize you may have reservations about cables, but I’ve been building cables for around 15 years and in that time I have installed cables on
e.g. The cables I had on my Bifrost cost more than double the price of the Bifrost, but it sounded excellent ! So try the Zavfino speaker cables above and then perhaps a power cable - I think you will be able to hear the difference BTW - cables can get very complex and very expensive, but there are more affordable DIY alternatives out there and there are people that will build them for you So If you have any questions just ask Hope that helps - Steve
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Thank you for all the input. @williewonka I should have mentioned in the original post, I am using an IsoTek Polaris power conditioner. All of my components are plugged into it. All of the schiit components are just using their stock cables into the power conditioner. Is it worth upgrading those power cords? As for what others mentioned, I am going to try elevating the wire I currently have and see if that makes a difference. I'll be sure to keep my mind open to better wire/conductors as well. |
- 55 posts total