Do Costly XLR Cables Make A Difference?


Serious question here. I currently own a rather good XLR cable that goes between the amp and DAC. I’m considering a better XLR cable to improve things, basically all the good aspects of sound reproduction such as deeper and more defined bass, better separation and detail across the frequency spectrum and an airier and more 3-dimensional sound in the midrange and treble. Will a different XLR cable supposedly one that’s costlier bring me to that direction?

My current XLR cable costs about $2k actual price paid.

I’m looking at an alternative pair up to about $2k perhaps $3k tops if it is proven that the cable is able to bring a noticeable or worthwhile if not significant difference. I am actually looking at the Wireworld Silver Eclipse 8 and Gold Eclipse 8 XLR.

Any experience would be appreciated. 

 

ryder

I recently switched from Audience Front Row XLR cables (between my Audio Research CD9 DAC and my Hegel H390 integrated amp) to Snake River Audio XLR cables. The SR's are cheaper than the Front Rows, but there was a nice gain in sonics - more dimensionality, better clarity of images, better audibility of air both in front of and behind the images

I’ve heard plenty of difference in single ended cables, both good and bad. I’ve never heard any difference between balanced (xlr) cables in my system. 

som

33 posts

I’ve heard plenty of difference in single ended cables, both good and bad. I’ve never heard any difference between balanced (xlr) cables in my system.

less difference with xlr compared to rca, but it is definitely there

that said, i can definitely see how for many folks’ systems the difference is negligible

very simply, do an honest (blind) A-B test on this. i'm willing to bet any amount of money that there is no detectable audible differences among properly-built, well constructed cables. amazon basics, monoprice, world's best cables are among the low cost choices that i have used repeatedly. there's snake oil nonsense and then there's audio cables nonsense. feel free to flush money down the toilet if it makes you feel better somehow ... no one is harmed except the person throwing away his hard-earned money.

again, just invite a few friends over and set up a truly blind listening test. at the end of the day, isn't the sound quality what we are after? why pay for things that simply do not sound better? save that money for buying records, upgrading speakers, etc.

with my system i hear  a lot more than just runaround the mill products there is a new player in cables dont remember the name ..he gave me a set of cables to try said he wanted an honest opinion  i tried these cables and found the highs to be so open and  so transparent  asking about the cables ,the only word i got from him was NICKEL...cant find them on the net or anywhere,but still looking  wil keep looking fill i find them........