Does a weave of cables really make a difference?
I have a mix of good quality cables -- speaker, AC, XLRs, USB, but they are a mix of brands. I would say they are all in the same quality/price range - $200-800.
Has anyone switched from a mix of brands to a weave of cables (my understanding of a weave is all one brand at the same quality/price level) and found it to be a big improvement? I would like to hear from people who have actually done this.
I am quite happy with my current sound, but would make the change if others have found there to be an audible difference. One of the audio dealers here claims it will make a huge difference.
I will add that I could easily hear an improvement with speaker and some slight improvement with the XLR's, but not so much with the AC cords. Also, I'd rather not just try weave out (as much as that makes sense}, as changing all the cords would be a real pain.
Thanks in advance.
you haven’t opened up every component you own and changed out internal wiring to all be same???? and i thought you were a serious dedicated audiophile.... shame on you! 😂🤣 |
No. But a simple twisted pair, or braided cable like the unimposing Kimber PBJ can be superior to any coaxially shielded cable except where there is serious RF interference. When that the twisted pair is pure solid core silver soft temper wire in Teflon there is nothing at any price that can provide greater resolution and transparency of an audio signal. Twisted wire has a self shielding property. Steve Lampen at Belden Wire has been saying for a very long time that a shield is not necessary for digital and line level analog audio as long as the wires are tightly twisted. Not having a shield does not pass noise as long as the cable is kept a few inches away from power cables or crossed at about a 90° angle if necessary for minimal exposure. But not having a shield does give the cable a lower capacitance, resulting in greater transparency, detail, and high-frequency extension. ... from the blog at https://silversolids.com |
@jjss49 its funny you bring this up, tonight I met up with a new audio member who picked up a set of interconnects from me to make his loom all the same, and yet I’m doing this myself again with a hope it imparts more of the same character. So am I now at 80% there with a consistent loom, and 20% not there with a mish-mash wiring inside all my components. hmmm, kinda like different type pieces of pineapple on a perfect pepperoni pizza, hahah, maybe so LOL 🤣 |
FWIW, about a year ago, I finally got serious about cables. I’m a mid-fi guy who basks in the wide range of knowledge in forums like this…but I’m not compelled to chase listening perfection at the cost of running a string of polo ponies LOL. Because of my other life-long interests in radio broadcasting, recording and large venue live production, I decided to look for the place where pro audio and home audio crossed. Digging around on-line, I stumbled into a gaggle of smallish companies that serve the recording industry and live music productions and liked what I found. Long story short (I know, too late :) these shops sell monitor level cable and IC stuff in a variety of configurations and lengths at about 10-15% of the cost of home audio vendors! Digging deeper, the weapons of choice for wires were clearly Mogami and Canare. Soooo, in answer to your question, I’m a happy camper being “half in” on this idea. My total cable investment is under $400 inclusive, using various Mogami products for speaker cable and most ICs…and one longish Canare coax digital spec IC from an unpowered analog pre-amp switch to my amp. I follow the good advice here about avoiding side by side parallel runs and crossing high current cables at right angles, etc as possible. I agree with the logic shared here that there is no “unified brand magic” - but using an allied industry for guidance on connectivity quality, my sound is noticeably better for small dollars.
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There aren't many "absolutes" we can reference in high performance audio. But, I think we can introduce one, with a high level of certainty. Cable manufacturers design and evaluate THEIR cables using THEIR cables. There may be an instance where Nordost may use a Cardas interconnect with Audioquest digital with Mogami power cord as a final "quality check" to make sure nothing unexpected happens in the field. But, if we want to hear what they heard when those cables got the green light for production, we'd have to duplicate their cable set up to get there. Yes, I know, we don't have the same gear, or the same room, or the same source material, etc. but we can make the assumption (pretty accurately?) that their "weave" of cables was a single brand. As one poster suggested, taking a one-brand approach may be "lazy". but IMHO it will get you to the finish line with predictable outcomes. And, yes, as another poster added, internal wiring matters, and the chances are close to zero that it's the same cable you're using to connect your components. I wrote a post" "Thinking Inside the Box", which drilled down pretty deep into this. |
