Hi,
For the budget you mentioned; I would check out Blue Jeans Cable for the speakers cables and interconnects.
Later on; Look into Cullen Cable or PS Audio for Power cable upgrades; really good value/performance ratio on both.
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Blue Jeans
For interconnects (analog RCA, digital coax, optical, HDMI for I2S) , all quite strightforward: The Chord Company.
For loudspeakers, I bi-wire mine and have assembled my own. Cable is the indestructible Lapp Kabel Ćllflex out of Germany, and the connectors are Purist Audio -bananas on the amplifierās side and spades for the speakers.
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+1 on usedcable.com
+1 on Cullen Cable. Patrick does nice workā¦
Hello,
I started with DIY cables, all OCC copper.
I recognise that they can be bettered by market cables but the price is not the same at all.
I build my IC cables for approx 50 euros, I have changed for better cable HFC CT-1, look at their price!!! Could not find a better cable as my DIY at less money.
Still have my DIY cables for speakers based on neotech OCC bulk cables (too expensive to change to better market cables as I need long runs).
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I agree. Plus, chances ae the cables will be broken in.
I would go bit by bit and not do it all at once. Iconoclast by Belden will give you the largest upgrade per $. You might consider starting with interconnects in the standard (ETPC) copper. You can always return them if they are not up to your expectations but it is likely that just changing one set to Iconoclast will give you a larger improvement than spending $500 on an entire grouping of cables. They are available through Blue Jeans Cable.
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Iām using Belden 1313A with locking bananas as speaker cable, and Iāve stuck with Benchmarkās XLR cables for quite a while as I havenāt found a balanced cable that does any better. Both very inexpensive. I bought the Beldenās from Blue Jeans Cable.
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1313A is measurably different than ICONOCLAST, it was the reference for improvements. 1313A achieves good electricals at the lowest possible price. ICONOCLAST reaches the best performance at any priceā¦but still be far less than high-end pricing and with proven tested and calculated differences.
Interconnects are the same philosophy, true changes.
There are indeed better measuring cable. To evaluate if the changes are a benefit, you need to try them. The changes are very real.
The tech papers are at iconoclastcable.com. These principals apply to all cable.
Galen
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I am NOT one of those ācables donāt matterā guys, but Cablesforless.com made my two sets of plain-Jane Belken speaker cables, custom terminated. They were quite reasonable, and replaced a pair of Nordost Valhalla Ribbons that a friend had loaned me. The Nordost were good cables, at over $4,000, they should have beenā¦My point is that the plain copper cables, properly terminated and shielded will perform to a level ALMOST indistinguishable from more expensive alternatives.
+1 for both Bluejeans and anticables, I have them also in IC signal roles.
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Galen,
Not doubting that they are better, but itās a $1,680 investment for me to try out (speaker and XLR). Iāve been in this hobby for 50 years, and the one thing Iāve always had a hard time justifying is spending a lot on cables. I think the 1313A sounds pretty darn good in my system (and they cost $110). Based on the iconoclast usersā comments Iāve read, Iād be inclined to try them out if I was willing to spend that much.
Yep, been doing this for 40 years, too. Thatās why ICONOCLAST exists. And no, 1313A wonāt sound, āalmost indistinguishableā from ICONOCLAST. I know, I made them to be better.
The DIFFERENCE truly well made cable make canāt be made up with changes outside of different speakers. Trying them is free should you decide to.
Is better cable easy to make? Go to iconoclastcable.com and read the white papers. The physics is is true for ALL cables, not just ICONOCLAST. What is different, is how well the physics is applied. Apply far less and yes it costs far less and isnāt as transparent a network link.
Galen Gareis
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I found a great deal on a pair of used Kimber Kable BiFocal XL ( no bi wired for the extra gauge ). Great sounding cables, tight bass, natural mids, an plenty of air and space. Center image is great too. These are keepers. Work great with my Magnepanās.
I agree.
Wireworld platinum 8 balanced from dsd to Plinius Tautoro.
Wireworld platinum 8 rca from Plinius Tautoro to Plinius SA 103 monoblocs.
Philippe, why rca to your monos?
Hi Kyle,
The Plinius have to much gain (38 dB!) in balanced configuration, which leads to hiss.
Even in rca I have to much gain.
I am going to try a Placette RCV between preamp and monoblocs to reduce the gain.
Iām using Whirlwind 10dB attenuators at the amp. I think you may find balanced ics have the SQ edge over RCA.
Too late to go back, given the cost of 2m wireworld platinum 8 ā¦
I tried Rothwell 10 dB attenuators, but they killed the magic in my system.
I hope the Placette volume remote control will fare better ā¦
This video by Max Townshend demonstrates signal distortion by various different speaker cables. His cables, which have a unique geometry of two flat conductors extremely close to each other are demonstrably free of distortion and effectively immune to external interference as they are 0.7mm apart and very thin.
There is a review here.
http://www.the-ear.net/review-hardware/townshend-audio-isolda-edct-speaker-cable-speaker-cable
Max is a bit of a one off, he takes a rigorous scientific approach to specific issues and solves them, resulting in products that demonstrably work and sell very well for years on end.
I use the speaker cables and the vibration isolation/damping products.
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