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Good, Neutral, Reasonably Priced Cables?

After wading through mountains of claims, technical jargon etc. I'm hoping to hear from some folks who have had experience with good, neutral, reasonably priced cables. I have to recable my entire system after switching from Naim and want to get it right without going nuts! Here is what I'm looking for and the gear that I have:

Looking for something reasonably priced-i.e. used IC's around $100-150. Used speaker cable around $300-400 for 10ft pair.

Not looking for tone controls. I don't want to try to balance colorations in my system. I'd like cables that add/substract as little from the signal as possible.

Looking for something easily obtainable on the used market i.e. that I can find the whole set up I need without waiting for months and months. I guess this would limit you to some of the more popular brands. Without trying to lead you, here are some I've been considering:

Kimber Hero/Silver Streak
Analysis Plus Copper Oval/Oval 9
Cardas Twinlink/Neutral Reference (Pricey)
Wireworld Polaris/Equinox

Here is my gear:

VPI Scout/JMW9/ATML170
Audio Research SP16
Audio Research 100.2
Rotel RCD 971
Harbeth Compact 7

I would really appreciate your help on this. Thanks, as always.
dodgealum
jond's avatar
jond
5,741 posts
 
I've had great success with RS Cables Illume`, a silver cable in teflon insulation terminated with Eichmann Silver Bullet Plugs. It's really a remarkably transparent, neutral cable and it retails for $149 with a money back gaurantee. It replaced a set of Kimber KCAG in my system without looking back. Whatever you ended up choosing good luck.
mikesinger
572 posts
 
if you can stretch your budget a little ( i would reccomend it looking at gear). you will be really missing out on your source, amp, and preamp if dont kick it up a notch on the ic budget (also power cords have a "profound" effect on a high resolution system)

the audience au-24 ic and speaker cable is a giant killer - well reviwed online, mags, and fourms. it is one of the few cables that can do a whole system ( it is THAT neutral). the used ic's will go for $250 meter and the speaker cable is $375 to $425.

btw, you wont believe the differnce when you upgrade the power cords - in fact you may want to start there first so you can really hear your gear.

mike
ozfly
887 posts
 
One of the challenges in this hobby is that everything is systems dependent. A cable that is neutral in one system may not be in another. For example, Mikesinger reports outstanding findings with the au-24 and I don't doubt him. Many have reported great results from that cable. In my system, the au-24 rolled off the highs -- not a ton, but enough to make me switch out.

My experience with lower priced cables led me to conclude that the Sound Quest Pro Series Zero Point Reference Interconnect is outstanding for the money -- nothing but the music in the three systems where I used them. I have not experienced their speaker cable so cannot comment on that.

Dodgealum, I'd suggest that, whatever cable grabs your attention from what I hope will be many recommendations, you try before you buy. Get that 14-30 day trial period that many dealers and manufacturers offer. If you go to used cables to save some money, be prepared to resell and reship. I hope you get lucky with your first attempt, but you may not. That's OK -- it's all part of the fun ;-)
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