I guess that rules out the Professional Elite ICs from High Fidelity Cables for those of us who have spent less than $100,000 on our speakers and upstream components.
Never Spend More On Cables Than Your Equipment Cost$$$$$$$$$$
Another interesting read and I agree!
Not a flat earther and cables can make a difference but sticking a $600.00 PC on a $699.00 DAC is a freaking waste of money. IMHO.
As one of my racing instructors Fast Freddy Spencer used to say "Gotta have the apple before you can polish it" .
Spend the money on front end then upgrade your cables.
Just me thinking out loud.
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Somewhat agree I would not go out of my way or intentionally seek a cable costing as much or more than a component. Most components typically have a power cable and a IC or digital cable connecting, and if a preamp there may be several IC’s that equal or surpass the cost. In my system only my DAC has associated cables exceeding its cost, but because I pulled my preamp out of the chain and feeding my DAC directly to my amp(s) and I’m very impressed and not sure I’ll roll my preamp back in until I want to spin vinyl. I think with a lower level of cables I would not be as impressed, but the more expensive cables are letting my DAC play to its full capability. This is my DAC and current cables.
RME ADI 2fs DAC w/Teddy Pardo LPS w/SR Orange. Nordost Frey 2 2M Balance IC, Nordost Silver Shadow spdif and WyWires Silver Juice II Digital PC. So I’m guessing the cables here are 2X the price but it sounds great. |
Like so many of the audio "truths" we throw around, the one that says cables should only cost 10% of your system is overly simplistic, IMO. Yes - when you are buying a new system and you have a limited budget, I totally agree that you should spend 90% on the components. No question. But after you have stuff you really like and want to bring out it’s full potential, I think it’s a good idea to at least try some relatively expensive cables after you have saved up some additional funds. Although I’ve been involved in high-end audio since the Dahlquist/Ampzilla days, I never experimented with more expensive cables until recently and I was very surprised by the amount of improvement that can be gained with better cables. For example, I am currently using a $1500 Purist Neptune IC on a 5K amp/dac combo and I was amazed at the improvement over a very decent Black Cat IC. As I said, if I were building the system from scratch, I would not have done it that way, but I really liked the DAC and amp and was curious to see what a good cable could do. And it did a lot. Just my opinion, but at least it's based on first-hand experience, not something I read. PS - I just did some quick math and, despite the admittedly expensive IC, I’m only into about 20% of my system for cables. Probably because I don’t have room for heavy power cords. So I don’t feel so bad now. Boy, this stuff adds up fast, don’t it? |
@jerryg123 RE: ....
So here’s the problem with this particular train of thought...
Using a really good power cable - and there are some out there starting around $350 - will improve the performance of a component far beyond what a stock power cable can achieve
Whereas - the amplifier has a much more robust power supply
Todays electronics tend to perform much better than their power supplies allow. So using a good quality power cable can make a significant perofrmance improvement I know this after many years of fabricating my own power cables and applying them to a variety of components,.e.g..
All of these benefitted from cable upgrades Of course - if your other cables (i.e. speaker and interconnect) are not of a similar quality then you will probably have more difficulty hearing the improvements a power cable upgrade might make I have come to realize that my cables are as important as my components, because they allow each component to operate at peek performance I realize this may sound counter intuitive, and if I hadn’t tried it for myself, I might believe the same as yourself. But I have spent many years investigating cable designs and actually proving (to myself and friends willing to listen) what makes a good cable. Commercial products from Zavfino are a very good place to start because their entry level cables are affordable and they work because they know how to make a very good cable - their UP-OCC cables offer exceptional perofrmance Hope that helps - Steve
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@williewonka - just got Zavfino cables for my new speakers a few weeks ago, and they're great - you are right - excellent cable value for money! Never heard of 'em until this forum.... |
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