Most Beneficial Cable Upgrade

Interesting thread. Appreciate hearing everyone's thoughts. I am currently trying to figure out what cables I need in order that everything will be pretty well set up when my speakers arrive (in 6 weeks...). Reading this thread has persuaded me to try the stock power cords and my existing Belden speaker cables before trying anything fancy. And that seems like a good idea--so thanks!

I am relatively new to the hi-fi audio world, but I did spend a number of years searching for and finally buying a professional quality double bass (back when I thought I was going to make my living in an orchestra). I remember that the beginning of my search was more difficult. I would spend hours playing a few instruments and get very confused. But as time went by, and as I auditioned more and more basses in all different parts of the country, it became a much easier process. It got to the point where I really didn't need to play much more than few notes to eliminate an instrument. And, in fact, I came to realize that playing an instrument for more than a few minutes was counter-productive. The more I played a bass that I didn't immediately love, the more unsure I became. I'm just blabbing--this isn't in response to anyone's comment in particular--but I think there is something very important to be said for the reaction you have in the first 3-5 seconds. Impulse, gut, or whatever you call it...

what were you going to record on? and would you listen to the recordings with or without better ac cords. and what cords would you record over? this sort of throws everything into more questions. i am sorry i didn,t say that a/bs can,t be done. i meant to say it has problems and has been dismissed by many. i would never buy anything at a store that uses a/bs as a tool for decision making. maybe you are on to something and maybe reel to reel would offer better recording data. i worked for nakamichi and sony microphones for several years and recording has to be done right as i am sure you know. thanks for continuing the discussion. very interesting. and i didn,t mean to lump all recording engineers into one pot. but the ones that keep compressing the music for louder horrible sound should stop.

A very simple version of this test would involve a CD player with a digital output and one of the DSD capable HD recorders from either Korg or Tascam. The CD player will digitally output to the DSD recorder and the test will be of three different power cords - stock, mid-level and SOTA. We can have a PC manufacturer suggest and supply the cords. The questions about break-in, settling-in or warm-up can be dealt with by having the power cords fully broken in on external cable burners and attached to the CD player for an arbitrary time period, say 72 hours, before recording. The music to be recorded should be the same for each power cable and I would suggest at least 2 hours of recording time for each cord.

Once the three separate recordings have been made you can now play them back and see if you hear any differences between the recordings. You can playback long sections, short snippets, mix and match, play at random, repeat play sections over and over, etc. and see what you hear.

As you can see, this is a simple setup, but it is scalable if you want to test larger equipment systems. I would even think that if you took the time and effort you could design a test along these lines that would optimize which power cords to use in your system, excepting power amps or speakers that require AC.

If you see holes in what I propose, then tweak it, for I think Pcoomb's basic concept is sound.

Ctunney,

You're onto something there. Its the same with car reviewers: all it really takes is a drive down the street to ascertain whether the car is any good, comparatively, to really take notice. They've driven so many cars that they have a better feel for them. The same can be said for us audiophools. The only caveat I can think of is the break in period: therein lies the rub. Cables that are already broken in can be judged by anyone who's had some experience with his/her own system. One listens long enough to know how their system sounds so any change doesn't need a scientific committee to determine whether a change is for the better, or not.

Based your expertise as a musician, you should have no problem arriving at a conclusion that you'll be happy with. Trust you ears and don't be reluctant to experiment and enjoy your system.

Back to the original question (novel idea, no?)...

Elizabeth’s original post is consistent with my experience. And I can’t say it’s exactly surprising; it is prioritizing the cables which handle the audio signal directly when they are at their most critical (ie. low voltage / current).

I have gone a step further and essentially eliminated speaker cables; my monoblocks are behind my speakers, oriented in such a way that the binding posts line up and there’s two inches of DIY copper foil “cable” in between the amps and the speakers. Always amazes me how so few others with monoblocks take this approach; the speaker cable is effectively gone (effect on sound AND the cost).

I have also found that the better quality your AC is, the less power cords matter. I have three dedicated runs of cryo’d Romex for my system. Preamp, TT, and SACD are on a PS Audio regenerator; monoblocks have dedicated balanced power transformers and hot to neutral capacitive filters. In this setup, I have tried some very expensive power cables, mostly out of curiosity, and heard absolutely zero difference...no joke. In lesser setups, such as when I was an apartment dweller and couldn’t have dedicated runs, there’s absolutely a difference, sometimes large.

So maybe the best way to prioritize cables is to do what you can to eliminate them altogether or reduce their effects? Just a thought.