Substantial testing has been done by forum members. Decades, tens of thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent, begging a practical summary sooner or later.
Is there any consensus on technology, brand, performance (including specific findings re muddiness, openness, air, focus, staging, solidity, etc)?
Perhaps not if only few have examined several or ‘good’ cables all seem better when they are tried, including returning to one after a ‘good’ cable replacement. Or cable performance is modified by the equipment interconnected such that a cable great in one set up might be terrible in another. Or perhaps cables will always be an endless enigma.
I posed the question about a audiophile matrix, that laid out what equipment people used, cables, room size and preference, but it’s such a broad topic based solely on the opinion of the individual, it’s almost impossible to nail down. You might get 20 or 30 answers with some being more common, but if you get 7 votes out of 30 responses, is that really compelling enough to make a purchase? Now that I’m thinking of it, a poll might serve you better and including 5 brands you’ve heard the most positive feedback about.
All kidding aside, Belden/Iconoclast Loudspeaker and Signal Cables (AES & “RCA”) earn nearly universal praise among this forum’s denizens, but I am not so sure how wide spread their reputation is outside of these virtual walls. The Iconoclast line is fairly new.
PSA has been using Audioquest topline cables and power cords for their Octave Studio recordings as well as their demo rooms. I personally love what they do in my PSA system too.
Who here uses wireworld speaker cables? Their conductor geometry is very interesting, very ethernet cable like. just want to have a feel what is the brand price/value ratio? Is 2k for pair(new) of wireworld speaker cables the sweet spot or I have to spend more?
Haha! for more “down-to-earth” power cords, I like Zavfino Silver Dart OCC (very few uses it here, so it is not a consensus, but a personal favorite). They replaced my AQ Thunder cords with M1200s. Well, they are still over $1k each. AQ Dragon HC and Source are in different leagues though. I am getting another one soon for PST. It is a must-have drug for me at this point.
After all our comments and personal preferences, you can take your shopping list and contact the Cable Company and get some to try in your own system. Then will you only know for sure if you have chosen the right one. Cables are like a marriage, they can better or worse over the long haul and will cost you a bundle either way.
