Which Audio Interconnect would you recommend?

I will chime in with a bit of information. I purchased a HIGHLY regarded company's interconnects and speaker cables (all silver) and they just did not sound well. I called The Cable Company and spoke with them about the situation and they mentioned that my speakers (Meadowlark almost *always* sound better with a good copper or hybrid cable). I mentioned how odd that seemed, and they replied that certain companies with dynamic drivers that are a bit "slow" (I think that was the term used) almost *always* sound better with a copper or hybrid cable.

Why I am writing here is that they mentioned the B&W line as well as my Meadowlarks that typically perform much better without silver...

I have no personal experience, but thought I would pass it along, as there isn't much more frustrating to me personally than spending tons of money, hoping the sonics will improve, and having poor sound... to find out after the fact is was not a "recommended" selection to try in the first place. I don't know if their advice is correct in your situation or not, but they were spot on with mine.

Best of luck.

Keith, it's *you*, talking about $$$. I have something for you...get a hold of a Channel Islands passive preamp ($249) and compare it to your $4K Presence. You're going to cry...

From what i gathered from the original post, Coachp was looking for interconnects for his system AND a longer cable for his subwoofer. Rather than guess at what we are dealing with here and make "goofy" suggestions, can Coach please clarify this for all of us?

I would also suggest reading this thread about selecting an IC. There are a lot of different points of view and various levels of insight from a lot of respected Audiogon members there.

Other than that, when looking for an interconnect for your subwoofer, i would suggest the following:

1) Look for large gauge solid core copper conductors

2) The conductors should be arrayed in a mild twisted pair geometry

3) The jacket of the cable should be very soft and flexible. This doesn't mean that the entire cable will be soft and flexible though, just the jacket.

The reasons i make these suggestions are because you aren't worried about skin effect for a sub. As such, a heavier gauge wire will not encounter near as much signal loss by keeping the series resistance down to a minimum over the longer run. Solid core wires are much tigher on bass response too.

As far as the twisting goes, this helps reduce the susceptability of the cable from acting as a long wire antenna i.e. it reduces the chance for RFI to enter the system. On top of that, a mild twist produces very desirable electrical impedance traits for an interconnect i.e. both low inductance and low capacitance.

The soft, rubbery jacket will help to absorb some of the vibration that the slightly more rigid solid conductors will want to try and transfer from the subwoofer cabinet back into the Pre-Pro. Due to the length of this cable and the solid conductor / twisted geometry, it would also have more of a tendency to become microphonic i.e. sensitive to air-borne vibrations, which the soft jacket will help to reduce also.

If you can't find something like this, there's nothing stopping anyone from finding the raw cabling that they would like to use and making their own. Hope this helps and answers some questions. Sean
>

Thanks for pointing that out Sean! Looks like I read Coachp's original post rather quickly & missed the point about his wanting interconnects for both situations.
Sorry about the rather emphatic post, Coachp!

Coachp, if you are willing to take some advice from me still, I'd recommend that you stay away from Kimber's Silver Streak. I own the Hero & its pretty useless a cable! I've heard the Silver Streak (during my auditions to buy interconnects) & it was harsh on the ears. It has a very high "wow" factor since it yields a very detailed sound. However, upon extended listening I found that it was distortion I was listening to & mistaking it for details. The sound is brittle & un-natural. I personally felt that until I went up to the KCAG & higher in Kimber's line-up, I wasn't going to get an honest (music-wise) cable. IMHO. FWIW.

Just looking @ your components (which are all on the bright side), your decision to go to silver interconnects might be unwise. The silver will be rather transparent & will reveal every flaw in your components + create a lot of listening fatigue. I feel that you will be much better off getting pure copper cables.
One superb copper cable that comes to mind is Discovery Essence (obtainable factory direct). This one seems to be have just the right mix of warmth & details. Another that comes to mind is Van den Hul The First Ultimate. Yet another suggestion is the TARA Labs Prism 5500i.
For the subwoofer, I still like Psychicanimal's advice to you.
IMHO. FWIW.

Punchy, detailed & robust copper = Rhapsody II's by Straightwire. I won't sell mine...