Over 5 decades I have tried many different known mfgs cables (both coax, IC, PC, and speaker) Recently I read a AG Forum thread titled Counterfeit Chinese Cables, and tried a knockoff Nordost Odin 2 Coax to compare to my $169 Pangea. They are so cheap I bought a 1.0m and a 1.5m, combined price (free shipping) about half that of the Pangea! And OMG, so much better, that I immediately ordered XLRs, then a couple PCs (which I later upgraded to the Odin GOLD) and finally Odin 2 speaker cables (will upgrade to Odin 2 GOLD also). The only downside is it takes about 3 weeks to S Florida, but well worth it |
So when researching PCs, is it all based on faith from reviews? I never hear anyone talking about the design principles of the cables. How did the manufacturer go about designing the cables? What basic hypothesis did they use? Companies like Cardas use exotic manufacturing techniques for their cables that are quite expensive and tedious which somewhat justifies why they cost so much and might explain why they might sound better than a welding cable! What are these small boutique (step above DIY) companies do that makes their cables so superior?…. |
@boostedis Well, actually, yeah. To me, if two or three reviewers you feel are reputable converge on the sonic characteristics you’re looking for, then yes it’s worth basing a trial or used purchase decision on that. You can’t tell much about the ultimate sound qualities of a PC purely based on construction or design principles. You can get an “indication” from construction/design principles but you can’t reliably extrapolate the ultimate sound qualities. PCs are too variable for that to be a consistent prognosticator. The question you need to ask yourself is do you care more about how the cable was constructed to explain how it sounds or more about how it actually sounds? If it gives you what you’re looking for, do you really care how it was constructed? Go by reviews of people/reviewers you trust and go from there. My advice — find what sounds interesting to you sonically and buy from a direct seller that offers a generous in-home demo or buy used and just turn around and sell them at little/no loss if they don’t work out. The great thing about cables is that in this day and age it’s extremely easy to try cables with no or almost no risk. Take full advantage of that because cables are not only personal but very system dependent as well, and there’s no substitute for trying in your own system. Some to look at with generous trial periods are TWL, Cullen, Morrow, Zavfino, and Audio Envy among many others. The world is your oyster in this area, so take full advantage of reviews and free trial periods and a fluent used market to figure out what works best for you and in the context of your tastes and your system. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck. |
