Both my Tidal Piano Cera speakers and new acquired PSA M1200 monos can have exuberant treble characteristics if not carefully matched with the right ancillaries. After six weeks of experimenting with many cables I settled on;
Interconnects: Luminous Audio Synchestra Reference between RCM Sensor Prelude phono stage and BHK preamp.
LessLoss Homage to Time XLR between Luxman D-08u and BHK preamp.
Furutech FA-aS22 XLR (13’ long) between BHK preamp and PSA M1200 mono amps.
Power cords; Wireworld Eclipse 5.2 for RCM Sensor Prelude phono stage
DH Labs Red Wave for PSA Stellar P3 regenerator feeding front end
Furutech FP-S022n with FI-11 ends for BHK preamp and Luxman D-08u
Furutech 950 Piezo Powerflux for PSA M1200 amps
Speaker cables; Luminous Audio Synchestra Signature for Tidal speakers
DIY subwoofer cables based on DH Labs Q-10 bulk cable for the two REL SHO S/3s.
Anyone looking for a killer deal on a great set of speaker cables I stumbled upon this deal on Audioquest Thunderbird speaker cables on US Audio Mart. $1500 for cables that MSRP for $4550. If I’d didn’t already own a pair I’d be all over these!
How long are the leads on both ends of the cables, if you don’t mind my asking?
The speaker terminals on my mono amps are about 13” apart, and my next set of cables need to be made up of four sets of wires (like my current AntiCables) or the amp-end leads need to be long enough to reach the amp terminals.
I’m running the Robin Hood Zeros, upgrade from Rocket 88 biwires. The increase in SQ was amazing. So much more open, sound stage clarity and size took huge leaps up in quality. BHK Pre, BHK 250, DS Dac, SPP, PW SACD, and P15. All interconnects are Water XLRs.
I really like AQ RH speaker cables too! I wish I had kept them. Now I know AQ needs a few hundred hours of breaking in and I sold mine when they were almost new.
I went through cables and interconnects comparos back in the 80’s as a hobbiest/dealer and ended up choosing Straightwire LSI and Van den Hull interconnects and an unbranded knock off of Monster for speaker cables.
In the last decade I’ve migrated to AudioQuest after several trials. Their product line does offer many price points. I’ve settled on the MacKenzies (SE or Balanced depending on the components), and Rocket 88 DBS 72 for speakers. For me these are the sweet spot in their line up. There are debatable returns for spending more, but the MacKenzies and Rocket 88 offer a lot of bang for the buck.
Virtually all cables and interconnects have very generous dealer margins, so it’s often possible to get great pricing from local dealers if you ask.
FWIW, my gear is recent or current Conrad Johnson, ARC, Levinson, and Marantz.
Welcome to the Forum!
I assure you none of us pay a lot of attention to cables. We are more fuse guys.
And rubber things, and special foils. And the Matrix of course.
A symptom of the glaze over this hobby is that since I don’t know you, I can’t tell if you’re sincere or facetious. Either is possible, and defendable. I’ll assume sincere .
My own recent experience with a used P12 has shaken the foundation of my beliefs of over 50 years as a “HiFi hobbiest”… As a consequence, I’m seriously wondering about fuses. Rather than hijack this thread, I’ll search.
It is such a slippery slope.
I ignored any and all fuse shenanigans until late in my 65th year. Now I have three of them, a fourth planned, and the likelihood of a half a dozen more. And I also bought a MacBook after so many years of dissing people who use them for audio.
Dementia has me in it’s grip. I’m a goner.
Al is both a wise sage and a wise ass. You will learn to separate his humor from serious advice disguised as humor.
He might just own an expensive cable or at least 3 to 4 dozen.
In audio the strange and simple modest tweaks can surprise. The expensive stuff often wraps a lot of the same technology in their glamorous and expensive wrappers. As Al and rest of us can agree with. Even the most expensive wares can often be improved upon with bizarre simple tweak’s that are cost effective. Check out my regenerator thread if you wish to improve the P12 sound.
I was pretty shocked by what the P12 did in my system. It has made me rethink the impedance match between the wall and the gear. Fuses, power cords … all seemed silly, but what if …
There’s lots to digest. But many ways to improve your regenerator past what it now does. Plus it can be done relatively inexpensive compared to its acquisition costs.
Just be done with it …you got your 1st dose of unsnaking
the snake oil…your P12 tells you that right off the bat…now
go ahead and upgrade the P12’s small slow blow 5amp fuse
with a Purple or M1 fuse…time to unsnake the fake news snake
oil myth on fuses…cheaper than buying cables!!
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