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Cable confusion

Help. Am replacing my system after 30 years. (Former system Pioneer integrated amp, Alison One Speakers, Thorens turntable, nice stuff in its day). Have chosen speakers - Wilson Audio Watt Puppies 5.1 (got a great price used); BAT Preamp; Sim Audio W-3 amp, CD player TBD (maybe a Sim or a BAT). Hard enough sorting through all these possible choices. Now I have to pick speakers cables and interconnects (interconnects need to be balanced because BAT and Sim amp are balanced). 30 years ago store would just throw cables and interconnects in. If you had driven a particularly hard bargain they'd charge you $10.00 for a 50' spool of copper wire. Now people are paying $1,000 for speaker cable (Geez my Alison Ones, which were considered fairly high end speakers at the time cost less than that). Interconnects can be equally expensive. Silver? Copper? Titanium? Read all the hype and it sounds like, if you make the wrong choice your $20,000 system ends up sounding like a transistor radio. I just want a decent speaker cable and the necessary interconnects that won't sound like crap and will cost under $1,000 for the whole shebang. Am willing to buy used or demos if it will save me some money. Can anyone help me out here? Just want a cables and interconnects that isn't going to change the sound of my pretty expensive components. Isn't that the whole point?
houndog1
sdatch
204 posts
 
Houndog1, those are some top notch components that should yield a really satisfying listening experience. Another potential cable solution is to use the UsedCable.com site. You can actually do a consultation from their site, wherein you can enter your components, the types of cable you need, and price range, and someone gets back to you with suggestions, and at used or demo prices. I am not affiliated with the company in any way, just someone who has used the service and found it helpful.

Happy Hunting,
eagle
154 posts
 
Houndog:"My general approach to purchases is to buy quality once and then stick with it, rather than buying something that's less expensive and then upgrading every few years."

I generally agree with that, except I have found "less expensive" is not always lower quality when it comes to audio cables. It has been my experience that the $80/8'pair Speltz Anti-Cables speaker cables sound better in my system than an $1100, and other highly regarded and well known cables have. This same experience has been shared by others, on this forum and in emails, when comparing the same and other higher priced cables with the Speltz Anti-Cables.

There may be other great cable values out there, like the Speltz Anti-Cables, and now the new Anti-Interconnects. Most come with a trial period. My advice would be to start with high value cables while you are experimenting with system setup, room placement for the speakers and room treatments for the acoustics before sinking hundreds of dollars into cables.
jay_douglas_2879b79
239 posts
 
the new allison one is 'still reference' quality and works fine with wire of the radio shack variety. the wilson is much more fussy about location, but should also work nicely with any quality copper wire.
digsmithd
913 posts
 
your on the right track H,DOG.at the end of the day youll always be wondering what would sound like?youll always get your moneys worth with quality,and be able to sell it to boot!
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mattkimb96
107 posts
 
As solid a bargain as any...Element Cable...the twisted interconnect is available in XLR and the twisted speaker cable is availble in bi-wire & single wire configurations. I am running an all Ayre system with Aerial 10-T's and am hard pressed to spend the $1,000 plus dollars it would take to outfit the rig with "higher" end cables. Not debating that there may be marginal improvements availble but will say that a $2,000 amp, pre-amp, CD player, or speaker upgrade will deliver far better sonics than the same incremental spend in cabling. Just MHO!
You can check 'em out at Elementcable.com

Best of luck in your search!
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