Cable upgrades

@jimboman "...I’ve been looking at the Cardas Parsec level of cable, and could perhaps stretch to the Clear line, pending your recommendations."

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I almost did not reply to this because this is a trial and error thing. I’m noting the rest of your gear and the cables your using now, and having been up/down the older and newer Cardas line myself past 30+ years. I’d say save your money, and pass on the Parsec. They are okay for entry level systems, nice quality build, but I hear a notable difference moving further up the line if you choose Cardas. The next level jump up the 4-wire Cygnus open up a bit more, with more air, detail, openness coming in. Not as smooth compared to once you go further up the line noticing more texture and other fun and interesting results. You do kinda need to find the cable version that matches up well with your speakers/ears and gear, to make it worth it. Some folks here will say "cables should not have a sound’. Okay, good for them. Let your ears be the judge. I don’t think some of the lower entry-level cables in many of the brands are worth it (maybe only for added shielding) or you can just use Supra Classic soft copper lamp chord style from Madisound, or bulk roll stuff by the foot from Cardas to test, starting out. Best of luck on your search.

@jimboman - take a look at this thread for some detials on what makes for a good cable

• what makes for a good cable

.At least you’ll have a bit of knowledge before you go shopping

If you are not into DIY then take a look at Audio Envy Cables - very affordables and very good

A little more advanced is Zavfino - Excelent cables - but a littlemore pricey

If you are up for a DIY challenge then take a look at this link

• Helix Image AIR
• high perofrmance cables
• also see this link as to what other members think of them
  • Helix Image DIY

Hope that helps - Steve

Thanks @decooney for the Cardas/cable advice. Much appreciated.  And @williewonka for the links. Will check them out.

i placed an order for some Audio Sensibility Statement SE interconnects, as a first step, given that I’m familiar with their ‘house sound’. They have a 30-day refund policy, so it will give me some time to run the cables in and hear what they do in my system.

Seems a certain amount of willingness to experiment is par for the course!

Best, JAMES

@jimboman what is the source for the Benchmark DAC 3? I was running the DAC3 HGC with a Lumin U1 Mini and I don’t recall needing more top end sparkle. I’d be careful there as you can easily tip the scale with that dac.
One other bit of info - I didn’t think the DAC 3 was a great preamp. It couldn’t compete with my then Pass Labs XP12 preamp. It was kind if flat sounding.

But if you’re looking for a cable recommendation, look into Kimber copper/silver hybrid XLRs on a used market. They should open the top end up. But again careful what you wish for. 

@audphile1  thanks for your reply.  I had a Lumin U2 mini w SBooster running into the DAC3 HGC, but have now upgraded to the Lumin U2.

Regarding preamps, I’ve been considering getting a ‘full stack’ from Benchmark by adding their LA4 preamp. Hard to know if the addition of a preamp would open up the top end in a non-fatiguing manner, and improve the ‘flatness’ you mentioned?

As an experiment, I put the DAC3 into unity gain mode and tried using the LeedH setting on the Lumin as a volume control, but it didn’t seem to be any better (and no worse) than using the DAC3 for the same purpose.

Best, JAMES