Cable upgrades
Happy Holidays to all!
I’m reconfiguring my system and am interested in upgrading my interconnects and possibly my speaker cables, and I was wondering if you could make some recommendations.
I was running Audio Sensibility Impact SE XLR between my Benchmark DAC3 HGC (as a DAC/pre) and my Benchmark AHB2 power amp. The amp is running bi-wired Kimber Cable 8TC (I think that’s the model #) to a pair of ATC SCM40 tower speakers. In this setup the bass is tight and the mids are clean - overall I’m quite happy - but sometimes I feel, for my ears, I’d love a bit more openness / brightness in the higher end.
My questions are: would improved XLR interconnects help to open up the top end a bit, without being harsh, and perhaps increase the dimensionality of the soundstage? Or would I be better off starting with upgrading the speaker cables? I’ve been looking at the Cardas Parsec level of cable, and could perhaps stretch to the Clear line, pending your recommendations.
Also, one other question: pending the possible move to 2 AHB2s (in mono-block configuration), do both XLR interconnects have to be the same length? If not, would it cause any timing issues between, say, a 2' XLR and a 6'?
I’d appreciate any guidance. Many thanks in advance.
Best, JAMES
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. 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
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James…I think you would really like a nice tube preamp between the dac 3 and the amp. The biggest change would be more organic sound, improved soundstage and layering, better tone. Then put a good balanced cable between the preamp and the amp and you’ll get what you’re looking for. Just my opinion. Or try a more resolving cable between the dac and the amp now just to see what happens. With that combination I would recommend Acoustic Zen Matrix Ref II or Absolute Copper, or the Kimber KS1126 for a bit more top end sparkle but I’m afraid it might be too much of a good thing there. |
Yeah, as usual @audphile1 is plugged right into my brain. I’d recommend Acoustic Zen Silver Reference interconnects and Hologram speaker cables. Their naturalness and 3D sound staging are outstanding, and IMHO are a bargain at their asking price. |
