Bright / forward speaker cables.

The problem here is that YMMV with speaker cables.

Why you ask?

It depends upon two things: the load and the *amp*.

IF your amp has NFB, the effect of a cap on the output is entirely *different* than if your amp does not (especially with tubes). The term "cap" here refers to the shunt capacitance of the speaker cable... and of course this relates back to how much NFB and what exactly that NFB is trying to do (or how would it sound/work without the NFB)!

Anyhow, that's a major factor, there are all sorts of other factors, but that's one that serves to illustrate why all people in all systems usually get different results...

But, having said that, if you can use thinish solid core silver wire, you'll acheive some extra "tinkle" on the top in most cases regardless of the amp... (just two separate
and insulated runs of solid core will do it)

Just my 2 cents worth...

_-_-bear

those are two qualities that I have read about Nordost Blue Heaven cables a few times, and my own hearing has proved it as I own the speaker wire and IC. They have a wonderful sense of low level detail as well.

Gunbei, i know of others that have had very similar results ( very "tizzy" highs and a complete lack of "warmth" ) with the AP Oval 9's. Many of them were running single full range drivers per cabinet as i was in one of my systems. These tend to be very revealing since they have no crossovers to get in the way between the amp and the actual speaker driver. While some of those folks were running tubes, i was running an SS amp.

For the record, i also tried the AP 9's on some large 4 way / 5 driver towers with pretty sophisticated / parts heavy crossovers in them. This system also makes use of completely different amplifiers. I had the same or at least very similar results with both systems.

After hearing them in both systems with 500+ hours of break-in on the cables, i asked my brother if he would like to put them in his system and see how they sounded there. He told me that i should put them in the garbage, as that is where they belonged. Even my girlfriend noticed when they came out of the system that i had them playing in, as she commented "what did you do to that system ? It sounds SO much better." She had gone to the store and i had changed the cables without her knowing about it. She wasn't even in the door 2 minutes when she made that comment. The change between cables was phenomenally obvious.

Obviously, the AP's just weren't a good match for anything that i owned. Needless to say, i didn't keep them. Then again, i'm sure that others have similar stories with cables that i tend to like in my systems. As such, one has to take ANY cable recommendation or comments with a grain of salt. Mine are no different and as such, are subject to personal interpretation within the confines of my systems. Sean
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Very interesting Sean. I think it's important that people hear testimonials both positive and negative in order to make a more educated decision. It just proves how so much of what we use is system dependent. What are you currently using for speaker cables?

Regarding your girlfriend's comments. Isn't it always that way? Whether our women are audiophiles or have no interest at all, they always seem to notice when we make a change to our systems. Amazing.

Alb, all my comparisons with the T14s and Ap9s were done using Sonus Faber and ProAc mini monitors. That's possibly something to consider when evaluating cables for your own system.

In the specific system that i was trying the AP's in, i currently have some Nordost's. I'm not saying that these are "best" by any means, just that this is what is currently thrown in there. Like anything else, they have some good and bad points.

I've also used Goertz MI-2's and MI-3's, YBA Diamond's, various Audioquest's, Axon, various Kimber's, various XLO's, Fulton Gold, CVH's CAT 5 cables, etc... along with a slew of homebrew designs in that system. I've also changed amps, transports, dac's, tuners, interconnects, etc... in that system, so it would be hard saying what was responsible for what. At the time that i had the AP's handy, i did do a direct head to head shoot-out with several other cables. I posted the results of that over on the Cable Asylum quite a long time ago. I know that it's still in their archives, as someone emailed me about it within the last few weeks. Sean
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