Hi all -
Which interconnect would you recommend to use between the BHK preamp and the BHK 300 monoblocks?
Currently, I am using Audioquest Water interconnects.
I’d like to hear your thoughts and opinions before I join in
thanks in advance….
Depends on your taste and budget. I found the AQ Earth was a big improvement over water in the AQ line. There is plenty of choices out there. I ventured away from AQ and found it worth my while.
Fidelium XLR is excellent in the $1k price range, and I could not think of another one to recommend until climbing up above $2k. Their IC is more neutral sounding than SC in my opinion.
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I am using Audioquest Water between my CD player and BHK preamp, and BHK preamp to BHK monoblocks. Speaker cables are Audioquest Indigo.
I think it’s the Audioquest cables that are making my system a bit too thin and bright sounding
I had Water IC throughout my system (BKH pre to 1200Ms etc.). I switched to Veritas Cables Argentum X and found a new level of improved SQ. The biggest difference was the ICs between the pre and amps. A few folks on this forum recommended Veritas Cables and I am not disappointed. They have a 30 day in-home trial if you are so inclined to try. I am not affiliated with them in any way, just a happy customer.
You could be correct. The silver AQ cables seem to be the biggest culprits of brightness imo. I was a big AQ fan and Imo there are better options out there.
Are the Audioquest Water cables Silver?
You might visit the Iconoclast by Belden thread and consider an audition. Nothing to risk except hearing the best value in audio!! 124-years of technology, produced in Richmond Indiana, cut to your “exact length,” terminated, tested and shipped from Seattle. You might Google Galen Gareis, Iconoclast, watch a YouTube video and read the thread. What do you have to lose? You simply not find a better IC than our UPOCC cables.
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Like Tom I am a fan of the Veritas IC’s and use the Argentum X throughout my main system. However, if you are looking to warm up the sound a bit and add a little more fullness you might also want to look at the Magnus IC which is a combination of OCC Copper and Silver. I would also suggest you give the guys as Veritas a call and discuss your system with them and what you are trying to accomplish.
Also as they have a trade-in policy for customers moving up the line you might also want to check this link at US Audiomart for trade-in or demo cables they have for sale at discounts. I have bought several as new cables this way already “broken in.”
https://www.usaudiomart.com/search.php?keywords=veritas+cable
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No. Copper
You have $20K+ of highly-resolving high-end gear feeding your likely expensive speakers. If, like me until recently, you figure spending more than, say, $1K on interconnects will only make a marginal improvement that you’ll have to strain to hear, you should dispel yourself of that idea. I used a $1,000 set of Analysis Plus Solo Crystal Oval XLR interconnects for years because they’d made such an improvement over a less-expensive set from another vendor. I always figured that well-constructed, science-forward cables wouldn’t really sound much different, regardless of their cost.
After reading Galen Gareis’s design papers on the Iconoclast site, I figured I’d give the 30-day trial a shot. I’m glad I did, because before then I didn’t know just how good my gear really was. I ended up with the ultra-pure Ohno continuous cast copper version because, well, it sounded even better than the less expensive TPC version. I really didn’t want it to because it was more expensive, but given the total cost of my speakers and electronics and the improvement it brought to my listening experience, it was a bargain to hear what my system was actually capable of.
I’m sure there are a lot of brands of interconnects that will markedly improve the sound you hear, and you can usually try them for 30 days from a number of online audio vendors to see which you like best. But I strongly suggest you don’t relegate yourself to listening only to <$1,000 cables, even if you end up there.
Good luck!
— Chris
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A strong and sincere recommendation. I had considered Iconoclast speaker cables but once I calculated the cost of OCC biwire those cables became quite prohibitive for me. I just cannot justify spending over $1000 for a set of cables. I also have to admit that Galen’s posts come off to me a bit over the top, plus I don’t understand 80% of what he is saying so that also has turned me off. There are a lot of strong and sincere opinions about brands like Audience or Stealth from other experienced forum members. This hobby does bring out the passion for sure.
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I am one of those still on the fence about cables. I have a quite decent system, PMG DAC → PMG Pre → M700 → FR20 so IF cables make a difference, my system would seem to be a candidate. Two questions still nag. If cables can make such a difference, surely studios would use $1-2 K XLR interconnects, but they don’t even though they will spend tens of thousands on mics. And, so much of the qualitative info is coming from high end cable users that swear that significant improvement will only come after hundreds of hours of burn in, but NO one has an accurate auditory memory remotely that long. My main hesitation is this latter point as I don’t know how I would know my money was wisely spent. Note that when I transitioned from the MKII DAC to the PMG I didn’t need to wait or A/B compare to hear the improvement.
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Iconoclast cables all offer free trial, and I strongly suggest you try it. I had their UPOCC but the price range is a bit higher so I did not make a recommendation earlier ($2k+).
The cable made so much difference that I spent a lot on cables now.
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Galen loaned me a set of Iconoclast cables back in Beta days. They made a substantial improvement. Impressive cables.
As already suggested, try them.
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My opinion—and I’m confident there are many who strenuously disagree—is that if you have to allow a protracted amount of time to pass, or any time really, before you hear a worthwhile improvement in your cable, there wasn’t really any worthwhile improvement at all. You just believe it’s better later on because it must be, given how expensive it was and how beautiful it looks and thus how you think you remember that a few weeks ago that your system didn’t sound nearly as good.
In my (Iconoclast) case, I didn’t have to wait for some alchemical transmutation of the copper to occur or for the dielectric to realign its molecular bonds to immediately hear an improvement. If I hadn’t heard an improvement, the cables would have been on their way back. But as good as the interconnects are, as I’ve said elsewhere in this forum ad nauseam, the Iconoclast speaker cables left me, as the British say, gobsmacked. I highly recommend you try their speaker cables, if nothing else, and audition a bi-wire set. I have the basic TPC copper, series 1 for the lower frequencies, series 2 for the upper frequencies as recommended by Galen. And, if you really don’t hear an improvement, or you do but it doesn’t seem worth the cost, send 'em back. FedEx second-day flat-rate shipping for a FedEx Large Box is $30. Cheap to find out.
— Chris
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I would swap out the M700s before spending money on cables. Fine amplifiers, but there are quite a few better and at prices you might be able to afford. Think of spending $2000 on cables, but not the amps? Understandable but maybe backwards.
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Improved interconnect and power cables will most certainly improve your system. Choosing the right cables is not easy, and takes lots of research, time and listening. You have a fantastic DAC, fantastic preamp and fantastic speakers. Replacing your amps first, so they are on par with the rest of your system, might be a much smarter move. Cables can be later improvements.
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Good advice for @JKWAustin from @aangen and @adifferentpaul. I sheepishly admit I didn’t know what the M700 amps were and made an invalid assumption based on his DAC, preamplifier, and speakers.
Regarding OP @onehorsepony, it looks like we’ve strayed off-course, a situation for which I accept a large chunk of culpability. I don’t know what else we might add, except perhaps for more vendor recommendations.
— Chris
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