Best Interconnects and Power Cables for your system? You'll probably NEVER know!

Scary thought isn't it? but most likely true. With the number of cable manufacturers on the market and then on top of that, the number of different products each makes it would be practically impossible to try every one in your system. You could read reviews but, unless the reviewer has exactly the same system you have it might not have much application in your situation.

I believe that more than most things cables are very interdependent on the individual unique components of your system and , if you find something that sounds good, stick with it. Will there be a better cable match out there? probably. Will you find it? chances are not, that is unless you spend your whole life acquiring cables and testing them in your system.
And even then if you change maybe even one major component you have to start all over again. Isn't Audio FUN?

 

digital cables

This is why I ended up getting rid of my separate transport/DAC combo and going with a single unit CD player.

I had, oh, five digital cables. Each one sounded different. After a long period of time, listening over weeks and months, I narrowed it down to two, and then I was stuck.

I have a favorite expression from Confusious: "The man with one watch always knows what time it is. The man with two watches is never sure." Confusious lived before the adoption of NTP of course.

It drove me crazy wondering which one was the 'right' sound, and which wasn't.

So as a corrolary I would caution people regarding too much experimentation. You might find that there is more than one answer to the 'which is the right cable' question.

 

Perhaps that's why people like The Cable Company. You can borrow a number of cables at a small fee which is refunded when you buy the one you like from them. A number of audiophiles have had success with this method. Another way is to find a manufacturer you trust and buy their cables. A third method is to make your own. All grist for the mill.

Regards,
Geoff

 

I guess you could say the above about ANY component in your system.

 

I think cables/interconnects are one of the hardest components to buy for a system. While companies like the Cable Company are a good place to start, I personally drive myself crazy hooking up and rehooking up cables trying to evaluate the sometimes subtle differences.

Like many, I found a cable that I like that is synergistic with my system and just go with it and don't look back. One of the biggest improvement to the dynamics and frequency extension of my system was replacing the plethora of various cables with one brand/type throughout my system. I eventually settled on some used Audioquest Lapis x3 and Sterling speaker cable. Saved a bunch of money on these fairly expensive cables and the difference this made over the monster cable, Kimber Cable, Straightwire and other assorted cables I had was INCREDIBLE.

Now are there better cables out there....defintely but I never worry about it. Maybe in another 5 or so years I'll upgrade all the cables again with something else.

 

I like this topic because I just found the two pairs of ICs that will stay in my system for a good interval. Initial experimentation with a variety of cables ended in a seemingly long dark tunnel trying to tune the systems' sound this way and that in an attempt to get things right. This didn't seem right, or at least I did not want to be tied to a random process of having to adjust my cable selection with every new component added into the system.

How should we conceptualize a cables place in our systems? Do cables created their own sonic signatures and can be viewed as a component in their own right, or do they mostly provide varying degrees of transparency and resolution of the components to which they are attached? (shrugs)

Anyway, I had a cdp that was always suspected of not being in sync with the rest of the system, so when it broke the new player seemed to be a much better fit. I then went with two pairs of ICs, both of the same model from the same manufacturer. I'd like to think that the system as a whole is much more intergrated in the sense that each component is not clashing with the other (ie. mating something very bright to balance something very dark), and the cables are there to pass on the signal with a degree of coherence and tranparency. Make any sense?

 

Cables with me are a little like shoes with one of the ladies I work with - I seem to have acquired so many over time that I'm not sure that they aren't breeding

Sometimes I pick up a cable because it is going for a song and I know that even if it is wrong in my system I can turn a quick buck if I resell it. That is the theory at least - I have never sold a cable in my life Big boxes and crates of wire in the Conservatory and up in the loft.

I went into my local dealer this week and I really do have more wire than they do

All the best - Andrew

 

Sooo KLM,

What model Kimbers did you test? Personally, I've had great results with their 8-TC speaker and the KS series IC's after trying about 7 different manufacturers. (shrug)

 

Dave, I bought the 8TC (or maybe it was the 4 TC - it was the more expensive of the two) as well as several of their PBJ interconnects. I did like the speaker cables a lot and in fact bought some additional pairs and moved them into my home theater where they still reside.

But as I said, I never had a complete line of them and really found IMO that it is better to have the same brand and at least similar if not the same model cable throughout your system. It really worked for me.

One interesting note for those who don't believe there is a difference between cables. I noticed a huge difference after replacing all the cable. Most notably was the fact that the Straightwire cables in my previous system sounded a lot more brighter than the Audioquest. I have some tube electronics and the silver wired Audioquest really made my system sing in many areas. It might have been the biggest single improvement to the overall sound of my system. I bought all the cables second hand and paid about half of retail. Mind you, these are not the most expensive cables around but I invested several thousands big ones-well worth it too.