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(20 year old) 1.0 meter Kimber hero xlr and Audioquest diamondback xlr cables

I have been using my 1.0 meter Kimber hero xlr cables  for 15-20 years. Have them hooked up between my Accuphase E5000 and PS Audio digital link III dac  and they sound good. Just found my old pair of 1.0 meter Audioquest diamondback xlr cables and tried them for a week. The Audioquest have a nice treble and warmer sound with less bass to them. I was shocked to hear the difference. The Kimber have more heft and bass to the sound, which I like better, but like the warmer more treble sound of the audioquest. I never thought 1.0 meter xlr interconnect cables could sound so different. The question is, can I get an xlr with the warmer sweeter sounding treble and the more heft in the bass? Is there a cable out there in the $200-$300 range for a pair that you guys could recommend? I like a certain sound from each of these cables I tried.

IDK if this sounds crazy and I can't believe the sound difference between the cables. I have always had the Kimber hero xlr in my older classe" system and now the new Accuphase E5000 integrated, both with the PS audio digital link III dac.

duketbrd88
duketbrd88 OP
159 posts
 

@dougthebiker thanks, I was thinking of this stuff and forgot all about it.

barts's avatar
barts
680 posts
 

I've been using the same 10ga speaker cable for 40 years, see no reason to change or experiment with anything else.  Yes I clean the terminations.

Regards,

barts

kingsleuy's avatar
kingsleuy
174 posts
 

I seem to recall a speaker cable tweak in the 70's, 80's.  Might work here.  One cable has good bottom end.  Lacks the top.  Another cable lacks bass but with great highs.  Parallel the two to gain the benefits of both.  Take apart and solder.

We also paralleled a smaller value film capacitor across an electrolytic.

 

duketbrd88 OP
159 posts
 

@barts Trust me, I get it and I wasn't planning on changing out the XLR cables untiI I ran a across the Audio quest xlr's iv'e had packed away. Then I figured I had to try them since I had them out and it was only two cables. I noticed right away the difference in sound and over the next week. Both Kimber kable and the audio quest sound good, just different and I'm usually not a cable person. I usually set it and forget it. Anyways, it was interesting to experiment.

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