Upgrade Interconnects/Cables or…?


At 71 years of age, I have two possible upgrades I’d like to perform. After that I’m done, except for the usual tweaks (i.e., tubes, isolation, etc.). I’m very happy with the system I’ve built over the years, and it fits my room (medium), and the sound I’ve been after has been realized. I am guilty of concentrating on the main components of my system, and not paying much attention to what connects them. And, I’m in the hunt to upgrade my line stage…Maybe? So, what to do first, and perhaps I can hold off on the second option entirely? My budget is under $6,000 for either one.

I’m still an analog guy, even though I do have a DAC, Streamer, and NAS. My concentration here is for my phono playback. My interconnects and cables are old, but even so, each time I’ve upgraded a main component I have heard definite and sometimes significant improvement. Whenever I purchased interconnects/cables in the past, they were always decent ones at the time.

Option 1 - I’m looking at replacing the following interconnects/cables for my phono playback…

Turntable, Arm, Cartridge: Upgraded TW Acustic Raven, Ortofon RS 309D, Ortofon Verismo

               Current Phono Cable: Cardas Cross

Phono Stage: Tron Seven with the Reference caps

               Current Interconnect to Line Stage: Cardas Cross Reference

Line Stage: Boulder L3AE and recently upgraded the caps by Boulder

               Current Interconnect to Amps: Crystal Piccolo

Amps: TW Acustic 300B Monoblocks

               Current Speaker Cable: WireWorld Silver (original)

Option 2 - My system is fully unbalanced, so when considering a line stage, I don’t want to pay extra for designs that benefit from using the balanced side when I won’t be using that. One consideration for replacing my Boulder, is the Audible Illusions L3B.

So, which option might you choose if you could only choose one? And, what might you go with?

Thanks,

Kenny

kennythekey

@kennythekey It is pleasing to see you have the idea if producing a Build Your Own Cable as an option. Substantial monies are to be saved, even when using Connectors that are known to be an upgrade to how the signal passes through them.

@kennythekey "I’m sure I can get him to suggest what to use for the whole package and maybe this might be a loom of cables."

I’d recommend trying one component cable set at a time -vs- jumping over to a full loom all at once or you really won’t know where the weak links were prior. And remember, each of your components have different wiring inside so what really constitutes an end-to-end full loom anyhow.

Btw, I run Cross, Clear, and Clear Reflections in my Cardas sets of cables and the Cross work great for speakers as long as the upstream cables are decent. If your source, pre/amp cables are limited, the downstream Cross speaker cables may seem limiting at first. I don’t find that to be the case with good upstream cables.

You can move different type cables up/down the loom to experiment and realize differences. Maybe your contact friend can kindly let you borrow & demo some cables to try on loan, and this can be super helpful in finding a right mix for you and your ears in your system. What works in one system may not work well in another fwiw.

 

 

I appreciate all the positive comments from the community, and I’m not a stranger to the vast numbers of opinions in here and out there. So far, I have not spent a dime, and my system has a fresh sound with specific improvements that I was looking for. I know my room is not perfect, so what I just gained in one area slightly took away from another. Finding a balance that suits me best is what I’m doing right now and it’s free.

At this point of my life, I’m not in experimental mode, so those types of options are out. I have monoblocks, but my speaker cables are 12’ long due to previous amplification and a different imperfect room. Yea, I can cut them down and re-terminate them. My phono cable has a loose connector that I have to keep screwing with. It’s old! So, my system isn’t quite fine in all areas. If my choice was to upgrade my line stage, I would still have to deal with those cables or live with them. I have decided to deal with them, and get a fresh set. I have a fixed budget and I’m pretty sure my dealer will work with me to get there. After all that has been said and done here, this is my most comfortable option.

Thanks, everyone. Later.

Kenny

 

The value of a great dealer rules!

From the start, I had my speakers not far from the walls for 2 reasons. I am dealing with a front to back distance of 14 feet, plus I felt obliged to follow the rule of thirds (triangle) as the speaker manufacturer also illustrates how to set them up; Rule of 3, toe-in, and corners. However, my speakers did not sound best this way, and no corners to be had. They sounded best closer to the front wall, with rule of 3, and a very slight bit of toe-in. So, I started this post to get more air at me, and figured that might happen by upgrading my cables or line stage that were both very old.

I sent Jeff my dealer an email seeking his input about cables and letting him know what my budget was. Within 30 minutes I got a response. You all know that my room is not perfect and so does Jeff. Jeff told me to start by moving my speakers out into the room, so kudos to those who suggested this to me. I had mentioned to Jeff that Tommy the speaker manufacturer illustrates toe-in for the setup of the speakers. Jeff added, forget that, I never set them up that way. Instead, level your tonearm and adjust the VTA, so that the headshell is lower than the bearing and then work back up as desired. Jeff, never brought up the cables or purchasing anything from him.

This advice saved me $6,000. I am now working on the VTA adjustments to maximize the added air I now have. Is my sound perfect? No, I have an imperfect room. However, my system sounds great.

Later, I can think about replacing my shaky arm cable, and get shorter speaker ones.

Kenny

 

 

 

@kennythekey

I owned the Audible Illusions 3A with external LPS some years ago.  It was my first tube experience and I enjoyed it while I had it.  I let it go because of service lead time concerns. To be fair, the one repair issue I had was addressed quickly.  But AI is a one man shop and you might want to look into the experience others have had.  OTOH, it’s a wonderful preamp.