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Kimber Hero I/C's and 8TC on C4's

Hello everyone

I have been upgrading my system for some time now but have kept my Kimber Hero interconnects and 8TC speaker wire throughout the process. Although I’m sure there are some gains to be had from much more expensive cables, I’m not sure how much of a gain there would be as I thought these cables and I/C's were reasonably good all-rounders. Am I doing myself an injustice by continuing to use these cables on my Dynaudio C4's with Plinius SA-103 and Tautoro or is it really time to step up. I do not have access to try different cables before I buy so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
audio_madness
pops
2,275 posts
 
Elizabeth, profound statement! And I couldn't agree more, cables are a endless rabbit hole of potential frustration. And there are more opinions than.....well you know.
dxter
5 posts
 
I will be one of those who experimented with cables. I have the Dynaudio Contour S1.4 driven by W4S STI-500 and have both the Hero interconnect and 8TC speaker cables. Source is the oppo83SE, Audiolab 8200CDQ. And a Plinius hiato is on the way to replace the W4S.

As someone who is into the audio hobby, experimentation with various cables will come. I have tried No brand copper cable with DH Lab rca connector, belkin blue rcas, QED audio one. slinkylink (silver), wireworld silver eclipse 5.2 (silver over copper) then series 6 cables.

In order of preference:
wireworld silver eclipse 6 > ww silver ecplipse 5.2 > slinkylinks > Hero > No brand, QED > belkin

Generally, the gain, from the Hero, is better detail retrieval, especially on the treble and a clearer soundstage. In my system and to my ears, cables do make a difference. I have, however, not tried speaker cables and only restricted to interconnects, the 8TC has remain constant thoughout.

Fyi, Plinius uses siltech wiring for internals. You might find good synergy with siltech. They are too expensive for me.
jkuc
181 posts
 
I still have Dynaudio speakers and used Plinius amp. I tried a couple of cables (VdH , Siltech, Slinkylinks (bad cables,'silverish' and gimicky), Analysis Plus and a few other) but it was always Acoustic Zen that stayed in my system. Currently AZ Absolute SC and... TSR Designers Edition IC.
Cables can completely transform the system, it can sound like a different system.
There are better cables then AZ but AZ cables are excellent value. Another safe option with Dynaudio could be Cardas.
jkuc
181 posts
 
One thing more, Plinius is 'sensitive' to power cords... Best results with Lessloss PC.
audio_madness OP
5 posts
 
Thanks Jkuc
Just out I curiosity I looked at the specs of Cardas and Kimber speaker cable sizes. Kimbers 8TC is 9AWG (6.6mm sq) 12TC is 8AWG (10mm sq) and Cardas Golden Ref is a massive 5AWG (16.7mm sq) which would suggest the Cardas would be a huge improvement over the 8TC just in current carrying capacity.
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