??? Full Loom vs Mix ???


I'm curious as to whether most of you folks have gone with all one manufacturer of cables or you have a mix???
 If you have a mix,why did you go that route?

freediver

I have a few different mfg cables but I have been leaning toward DH Labs. I think they offer a good cable for the money.  

I have a pair of AQ Water (pre to amp ) that I picked up because they were only $200 on CL , a pair of Nordost Blue Heaven ( Phono stage)  ,  

My DAC uses DH Labs  Mirage USB , D750 digital ,  Air Matrix Cryo.   They usually have a monthly 20% off sale on a category.   

I have a mix of quality cables most of which I have found used for about 50% of retail. I have bought some new but never at suggested retail prices. I have a mix of Jorma, Acoustic Zen, Shunyata, Nordost, Zavfino, Silversmith Fidelium. SOtm, DR Acoustics. No rhyme or reason as to a procedure, but if I see a good deal on a cable I try it. At times I have used something I thought was a downgrade, but most times after swapping a cable that was worth $500 for something that retailed for $1000 it sounded better. And swapping out a $1000 cable for a $2500 cable was also an improvement. Go figure. I will add my Silversmith Fidelium's replaced a speaker cable that retails for 3 times what they did, so it not always the higher priced items win. I am happy with the sound of the system but I will probably always tweak away with different cables to see how the sound gets "tweaked". Like experienced audiophiles stated above, you don't have a clue until you try it yourself. 

Don't know what a full loom sounds like. Maybe I will try a full-loom of something someday, but for an example the Tyr2 XLR I bought that I do think sounds wonderful between my DAC and pre amp, if I were to pop down to the dealer and "full loom" my system with this cable here is what it would cost me in Canadian retail prices:

 

Nordost Tyr2 2m speaker cable: $9965

Nordost Tyr2 1m XLR: $3959 x 3 = $11877

Nordost Tyr2 digital: $2300

Nordost Heimdall ethernet (no Tyr2): $990

Nordost Tyr2 1m Power Cord: $4421 x 5 = $22105

So I would walk into a dealer and hand him a grand total of $47237 plus taxes of $5668 = $52905? 

I can't do this. And if I could I wouldn't want to. 

But also waiting until I find all the pieces above at a used price could take years. Also I love what my Shunyata Sigma V2 power cable did in my system, so maybe I will go all Shunyata? Choices choices. 

 

I’ll add it does make sense to me that a manufacturer suggests to use a full loom of their product. We bought their cable, we think it sounds great, someone there or a team of people must have good ears to be able to voice this cable to sound this good, right? so we should take their advice and trust them that the other cables "match" and have "synergy" with the rest of the system, right? Seems logical. But again this is in the particular system they tested their cables with, and someone else has different speakers, amplifier, and source and may have completely different results.

What makes just as much sense is what the designer of the 300b tube amplifier I just bought said: "I recommend you use my cables because it is the same wire that is inside the amplifier".

Although a full loom can be nice (sometimes), if you really know what you are doing you can create a mix that is to your personal liking. I have found and others have said its a matter of trial and error, and what sounds good in one persons system doesn't necessarily mean it will sound good in your system.

On my system a full loom of power cables and IC’s has been very nice. USB and preamp umbilical cord another maker.  I look for cables that are neutral, don’t color the sound and let the components sound come through and shine.  So far so good but cables are a long and twisted rabbit hole.  Good luck with your quest.