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Which Cable Makes the Biggest Impact?

To all the audiophiles that have tried different power cables, interconnects, and speaker cables, which do you believe makes the biggest impact in your system in order of ranking? If you don't believe that cables/interconnects/pc's make any difference at all, and is all marketing hype and snake oil, you can vote accordingly, but my ONLY request is that you've tried different cables first!

Ok..My ranking:
1. Power cables - most important
2. Interconnects
3. Speaker cable
calgarian5355
pawlowski6132
592 posts
 
I think, in general, cables can have an impact on a systems sound. However, I believe that it's relatively small compared to everything else you can replace in a system and, that goes for tubes, components, media, etc.

With that, I believe that Interconnects could make the largest difference then, speaker and then PC.

PC could make a large difference in a system where bad electricity is a problem to begin with.
bar81
791 posts
 
To prioritize is not to appreciate that cabling and the system itself are part of a whole. One thing that my latest system building exercise has taught me (going on 9+ months now) is that it all matters; you can't properly appreciate any cable without the rest of the cables being up to the same level, not to mention the components and isolation.
audiofeil
4,011 posts
 
There is no definitive answer as every system is different.

Too many variables such as quality of ac power, quality of component power supply, speaker/amplifier compatibility, the cables themselves, ad nauseum.

Reading the responses should be fun though.
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Well Tony, I for one, agree with you. As much as it irritates me to admit it, I now believe that the power cord has the most influence on the sound, by a large margin. I fought the power cord concept for years, but after 5 years of experimenting, this is now the conclusion that I hold. Second is the interconnects, though followed more closely by the speaker cables.

So I'll also say:

1) Power cords
2) Interconnects
3) Speaker cables

Cheers,
John
joeyboynj
621 posts
 
I think it's where you use the cables first that matters.

1. Treat the source first with the best power cable and interconnect that suits it.
2. Then the power conditioner with the best power cable. 3. Than the preamp with the best interconnect and power cord that suits it.
4. Speaker cables are next.
5. Amplifier last with interconnect and power cord.

This is what I experienced in my system.
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