Choosing new cables

After my above post, I recalled using the following website as a primer (if you will) for making cable selections for auditioning purposes:  Audio Bacon 

Obviously, like all reviews, the outcome is subject to the reviewer's ancillary equipment, room and their presentation tastes and preferences.  However, the question of where to begin the auditioning process is always a foremost one.  Thus, the more information that can be amassed and analyzed, the better. 

Prior to upgrading all my cabling from Wire World (4 Electra 7 @$260, Series 8 XLR @ $600 and series 8 speaker cable @ $1500+, and 2 x 15 yo Boutique PCs @ $500) I applied Mad Scientist Audio's Graphene Contact Enhancer to all of them (ditto to all the new cables). That alone was revelatory, and dirt cheap compared to replacing cables, but I read a Agon forum thread about Counterfeit Chinese Cables and tried replacing just my Pangea Premier SE coax ($169) with a Nordost named brand (only the name is copied, still bad, but...) Nordost Odin 2 from DIY HiFi Store at ~ 1/3 the price + free shipping. The only knock being it took 3 weeks from China to S FL, but it was WORTH IT.

I then slowly proceeded to replace everything with the exception of 2 PCs; one to my CorePower 1800 PLC and one to my Audio Alchemy DDP-1 external power supply both from Amazon < $35! and amazing. The XLR interconnect is Odin Gold as are the PCs to my Audiolab CDT6000 and Tweak Audio EVS 1200 power amp. Finally I bought Nordost Odin 2 speaker cables which I eventually replaced with Odin Gold. All in < $1000

since then, Verifi Audio has introduced 2 products that from the user reports are amazing and relatively inexpensive; the Swiss Fuse and the Puron AC power conditioner (see the Agon forums). I haven't gotten them yet, but these plus Graphene Contact Enhancer seems to be must have upgrades before upgrading cables

hth

Check out the Inakustik Reference line. My speaker and IC cables are Inakustik and I like what they bring to the system. The power cord from the wall to the power conditioner is Inakustik. At some point I will change the rest of the power cords to Inakustiks.

@bobheinatz 

This may sound counterintuitive, but we have found the best cable upgrade path is:

Power -->  Speaker --> ICs --> Digital

In case you are interested, Finley Audio (I am one of the owners) will be partnered up with a Boulder 866 this year at Axpona 2023.  We will be using our Cirrus family of cabling to connect the whole system if you want to stop by. 

If you cannot make it, please feel free to call or reach out to us.  We would be happy to discuss your specific system and help you in any way we can.  We also have a trial period for our products to make sure they synergize well with your system. 

Good luck in your search and happy listening!

My suggestion would be do audition several.  The Cable Company has a library that is perfect for this. They charge for use of the library but will credit that to your purchase.  This is definitely the way to go.  The last time I purchased interconnects, I borrowed several cables, all in the $1K to $4K range.  Based on reviews, all were very good but a few were supposedly exceptional.  I ended up purchasing Cardas Clear Reflection because it was the best balanced and best sounding option in my system.  To me, I liked the Reflection's sound better than the Cardas Clear and some of the other more expensive cables.  Others in the group were Audioquest, Acoustic Zen, Nordost, and Kimber.  I would have definitely selected a different cable just based on the reviews.  Reviews are a good place to start but you really need to have the cables in your system and do some critical listening.