XLR cables for high-end multichannel system

I'll third the recommendations of Mogami Gold Studio, especially given that you don't yet have a finalized set of components in place. Whether or not the cables you select will behave in a "fairly neutral manner" depends to a significant degree on the impedance and other technical characteristics of what they are connecting. So I think that making a major investment in cables at this point would be premature.

Based on both anecdotal reports I've seen in the past and on technical considerations, IF the Mogami's were to deviate from neutrality to a perceptible degree with the components you end up selecting it would probably be in the direction of providing a slightly more relaxed, non-aggressive presentation than is typical of many of the more expensive cables.

Also, keep in mind that cable differences will typically be less pronounced for balanced (XLR) interfaces than for unbalanced (RCA) interfaces.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks for the responses. Much appeciated. I shall look at the Mogami Gold and Morrow. In terms of the Mogami cables, I am currently using a set of Blue Jeans balanced cables which are at a similar price point. Would the Mogami Gold be a significant upgrade from the Blue Jeans cables, at least at this stage until my system if complete?

Bryon - which particular cables from the Morrow line did you have in mind?

Ronald - I'm using Kimber 4TC for the surround speakers. For fronts I use Russ Andrews Crystal 24 (an upgraded version of Kimber 8TC). Your point about the surround speakers has me thinking that, should I decide on a more expensive set of cables, I could opt for a cheaper pair of interconnects for the surround speakers.

I've read some good things about the new Shunyata Ztron range. I'd be interested in any personal experiences with these.

Thanks again.

Would the Mogami Gold be a significant upgrade from the Blue Jeans cables, at least at this stage until my system is complete?

If the Blue Jeans cables are the ones that utilize Canare L-4E6S, I would not expect much if any difference.

If they are the ones that utilize Belden 1800F, the Mogami has significantly higher capacitance but significantly better noise rejection. That would include rejection of noise at ultrasonic and RF frequencies which may not be directly audible as noise, but may have audible consequences due to intermodulation effects. Although the balanced input circuits of the amplifier presumably should cancel most such noise anyway.

The higher capacitance of the Mogami, compared to the Belden 1800F, may result in a very slightly more relaxed upper treble, if driven by the 500 ohm or so output impedances of the Onkyo and the DSPre. The magnitude of the difference will increase in proportion to the length of the cables.

Other differences, if any, are probably not predictable.

Regards,
-- Al

Djruss,

Weather Mogami is upgrade/downgrade or not to Blue Jeans or any other higher or lower priced cables, it's today's studio quality standard and it's probably the wires that had been used to make a good quality recordings.

If you're listening to the multi-ch music, 4tc is already great for surrounds. If you only using them for movies, than Kimber 4TC is too good and too expensive where probably zip cord would do the same job. Surround wires have substantially less impact on performance than mains and if you want to downgrade or save money, surround wires is the #1 contender.

Wires such as Siltech, Shunyata, Harmonic Tech and even higher priced Kimber have lots of unauthorized copies that are being sold to naive public and the more expensive wire you want to get, the more probability of getting an unauthorized copy. Go to alibaba, dhgate or similar sites and you'll see them tons for small fraction of the retail price and than after purchase by reseller, they go for "lightly used" sale.

Wires in general at ANY price point can or can't be an upgrade and choosing the right ones that synergise with your system is substantially MORE important than spending more $$$ or more $$$$. Looking at parameters of wires such as per-unit reactance(inductive and capacitive impedance) and resistance at minimal point defines the the most newtral cable. Other than that you can also match wire to the input/output of your components or speakers.

Browse through Al's posts on properly selecting cables and you'll be surprised how much money you can save on cabling. You may end-up purchasing pro-grade speaker wires because they match perfectly your system.

06-20-12: Djruss27
Bryon - which particular cables from the Morrow line did you have in mind?

I'm currently using the MA3's and I'm very happy with them. I have a friend using the same interconnects (balanced) in his system and he too is happy. I also own the MA1.1's, which is a more affordable cable.

All the Morrow interconnects have essentially the same design but a different number of conductors. The more conductors, the more expensive the cable. You can read about their design approach here.

I've never tried the Mogami's that Al and others are recommending, but I hear good things about them.

Bryon