Cable upgrades

James,

Sure. The rule of thumb is 10% the total of a component or system. It is not hard and fast. Because while wires have general characteristics and overall with additional cost they sound better… generally lower noise floor, greater dynamics and transparency… they are in your system. Each system is unique and will perform differently in each. The better the system, typically the bigger impact… looking at it as if it is a scientific instrument, the higher quality, the more sensitive. so a percentage makes sense… at least as a starting place.

Also, maybe one component has a very delicate sound and the interconnect is masking it… then it can have a very out sized effect.

Ten percent is only a place to start. I have had interconnects that cost 30% the value of the unit and were worth it, because I could not trade up components and get that sound quality boost. So, they must clearly pay for themselves in terms of sound quality improvements. This is why this tends to be a lifetime pursuit. To get good enough to know the value of sound quality among components and accessories and know your own values is a complex and long termed pursuit.

Buying used can get more impact. The Cable Company offers lots at roughly 1/2 price. Great was to start. I bought older Transparent to verify these were good solution and then bought new and higher level during a system upgrade.

@ghdprentice do you go off a price for a minimum run?
In example, minimum run is 1m and it’s $850. I need 2m and that’s $1100 which is 10% of the component price?

Personally I base the ratio on a cost of min length run.

I don’t think the generality is intended to be anywhere that specific, it’s more a question of are you fishing in the right hole. That said, yes, that makes sense. Then there is the big question of do these have the right tonal balance / synergy with your system.

The way I use it is a starting point for what I am going to plan on spending… so if my component is say $12K I’ll start looking in the $1.2K range… used. I will do everything I can to get the very best (I do lots of research on the qualities of the wires and hopefully try them).

My most recent upgrades have been from a knowledge base of forty years.. so, I knew what different brands sounded like and also the improvement in my preferred brand (Transparent) and so I bought all new. The most recent series upgrade was very significant.

@ghdprentice oh of course. Agreed.
Tonal balance and synergy wins. Price point is just a general coordinate.

Trying out Nordost Heimdall 2 on my Aurender N200 now. Lower than the 10% point of reference. Not an endgame by any means as well but a very pleasant surprise and a sneak peak into what Nordost power cords can do on a streamer. 

@ghdprentice thanks for the rule of thumb info. A very helpful guideline.

So, for example, looking for PC and USB for my Lumin U2 ($7,500 Cdn) I’d target cables in the $600-800 used range? And would that spend be for each cable, or both together? And would this apply for most components, given that they would need both AC and interconnects of some kind?

@audphile1 What PC were you using before the Heimdall? I’m researching an upgrade from my AQ Coffee USB…and also considering upgrades from stock PCs…

Thanks,

JAMES