2. cables
  3. 1093784344

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.
128x128dodgealum
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
I too usually recommend Audience AU24 ICs but for your price you may want to try the less expensive Conductor series of Audience. They are supposed to offer similar tone but not at quite the refined level the AU24 has. BTW in my system the AU24 is very close to neutral, more so than any other cable IMO. Also Acoustic Zen Mat Ref MKI go for about $150 and is a very good cable for that price.

Also I am under the impression the Hero IC is a little warm but who knows? Also I am not very impressed with Cardas, too slow and sleepy for me as tried in a few different systems.

For speaker cables I usually recommend Acoustic Zen Satori or Hologram in your price range. Also Alpha Core Goertz MI2 speaker cable is terrific with beautiful tone. I think it is impossible to get totally neutral and all these cables have a tone of their own, just ones that I like.

all the best,

Phil
driver's avatar
driver
750 posts
 
For IC'sChris VH Pulsar $150.00 new.

For spkr. cable, Luminous Audio Renaissance There's a ten foot set on A-gon for $145.00
ozfly
887 posts
 
Psychicanimal, I agree that neutral is neutral from an observational or judging perspective. However, for cables or individual components, I'd propose that "neutral in a system is neutral in a system".

Cables have differing inductance, resistance and capacitance characteristics so, from a listener point of view, they may not behave exactly the same in every system. Cables can impact different systems in different ways.
greh
134 posts
 
I second the VH Audio Pulsar ic's.
I would also recommend the VH Audio Flavor 4 pc.
Very good products at a good price.
theo's avatar
theo
2,694 posts
 
Audio Purist, contact Used Cable 1 800 fat-wyre and ask them for a demo.
More to discover