How Important Are System Cable Upgrades and Where to Start?

My limited experience indicates that the order of most to least important is:

Room Treatment: Room selection/ Audio furniture (vinyl playback)/ Equipment placement /absorbers/diffusers

Component upgrade

Component power supply

Power Source conditioning &/or dedicated circuit

Power Cable

Interconnect

Speaker cable

The exact order of the first five items likely vary a good bit depending on the room, starting components and quality of power.

What are your priorities?

Are your priorities based upon trial and error, or the logic of your thinking?

vonhelmholtz08-15-2022 1:06pm

ghdprentice Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 7,111 posts 08-15-2022 at 11:45pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete @lalitk I have always started from a stable and optimized system. Well, since 1980. As advice to the OP… optimize your system first… yes. As general advice no. It all depends on where you are.
chayro Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 2,998 posts 08-16-2022 at 11:58am Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete I think that if you really like the way your system sounds, you can try upgrading cables to bring out your system’s full potential, which expensive cables may or may not do. If you are not fully satisfied with your sound, I would go for new speakers or boxes until I got it to where I liked what I was hearing. As far as cables go, I found that speaker cables made the most dramatic difference.
coralkong Details Discussions Posts This discussion Message User 681 posts 08-16-2022 at 03:39pm Copy Comment URL Report Comment Edit Delete "System Cable Upgrades" can be extremely important, so long as your equipment is up to snuff and you’re happy with it. They’re not going to make a bad system sound good, but rather make a good system sound better. Honestly, I think it depends on the component in question as to which cable upgrade makes the biggest difference. Could be PC, IC or SC. Or all 3.