DTB300
Well-known member
Here are the cables that I compared in my test and their cost to me:
Audioquest Copperhead 1.0 Meter - $75 ($50-$60 used)
Audioquest King Cobra 1.0 Meter - $175 ($100 used)
DH Labs BL-1 II 1.5 Meter - $115 (1.0 Meter is $99) Free Shipping from DH Lab (don't see too many used)
Here are my notes as I wrote them down while testing and listening
BL-1 vs Copperhead
BL-1 vs King Cobra
NOTE: This buzzing, raspiness, zzzzz, type sound was not a speaker vibrating or something in the room, as it was not present with the BL-1 cable at all. I even tried to turned up the volume higher than the levels that I listened to the AQ cables at just to make sure something else was not happening.
In my testing the King Cobra is a better cable than the Copperhead. But now for the cost of just $25 more than a Copperhead, you can get a 1.0 Meter DH Lab BL-1 II and get a much better sounding cable - at least in my system. Realize that your system and your room may product different results.
In the end, the high end, vocal buzzz (or whatever term fits here) that I heard in the Audioquest cables, was not present in the BL-1 at all. The bass and low mids were also better with the DH Labs. Hence for me the BL-1 is a better cable than either of the Audioquest cables and is the same price as a used King Cobra.
Now I just need to pick up a DH Lab Air Matrix again, and see how that sounds. But I also have some others on my list....JPS Labs and Groneberg are two others out there with great reviews.
My IC testing sickness may never end.....but it sure is fun playing around with them
Dan
Audioquest Copperhead 1.0 Meter - $75 ($50-$60 used)
Audioquest King Cobra 1.0 Meter - $175 ($100 used)
DH Labs BL-1 II 1.5 Meter - $115 (1.0 Meter is $99) Free Shipping from DH Lab (don't see too many used)
Here are my notes as I wrote them down while testing and listening
BL-1 vs Copperhead
- BL-1 has better bass reproduction compared to the Copperhead
- BL-1 has better detail between instruments compared to the Copperhead
- Copperhead Bass and low midrange seems more subdued or more back on the soundstage
- Copperhead instruments are not as delineated - more jumble
- BL-1 midrange is more full sounding compared to Copperhead
- Copperhead midrange sounded thinner possibly due to the low mids being subdued
- BL-1 vocals are smooth and seperated better from the other parts of the music. You can hear and listen to the vocals better with the BL-1
- Copperhead has a "ZZZZZ" or buzzing sound in the upper registers of vocals or when vocals are pushed. This tended to cover up other parts of the vocals with this buzzing type overtones
- BL-1 never exhibited the vocal problems I heard in both AQ cables
BL-1 vs King Cobra
- King Cobra had the same vocal issue that the Copperhead had as listed above - the buzzing type sound
- King Cobra was better than the Copperhead in the Bass department and it was hard to tell at times which was better the King or the BL-1
- King Cobra still had the thinness in the lower mids that the Copperhead exhibited but not as much
NOTE: This buzzing, raspiness, zzzzz, type sound was not a speaker vibrating or something in the room, as it was not present with the BL-1 cable at all. I even tried to turned up the volume higher than the levels that I listened to the AQ cables at just to make sure something else was not happening.
In my testing the King Cobra is a better cable than the Copperhead. But now for the cost of just $25 more than a Copperhead, you can get a 1.0 Meter DH Lab BL-1 II and get a much better sounding cable - at least in my system. Realize that your system and your room may product different results.
In the end, the high end, vocal buzzz (or whatever term fits here) that I heard in the Audioquest cables, was not present in the BL-1 at all. The bass and low mids were also better with the DH Labs. Hence for me the BL-1 is a better cable than either of the Audioquest cables and is the same price as a used King Cobra.
Now I just need to pick up a DH Lab Air Matrix again, and see how that sounds. But I also have some others on my list....JPS Labs and Groneberg are two others out there with great reviews.
My IC testing sickness may never end.....but it sure is fun playing around with them
Dan