Upgrading Interconnect and Speaker cable

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Consider AudioQuest

Consider the AudioQuest cables. I have found the AQ cables to be supremely neutral and balanced in my tube based system. Comparisons of the higher end cables, especially the silver-based units leads me to think that they are among the finer cables available, YMMV.
 
upgrading interconnects

abhijit: Good evening, and Happy New Year. First, I would definitely write Frank and ask what his return policy is on the type of interconnect you may purchase. (you are going for the silver, not copper)?
Having said that, I am satisfied with the cost vs performance factor with these Silver ones I have bought. It has given me more detail and they are still "opening up" as I let them play more.
You may want to check the other threads on this web site: "decided to torture myself" is one, and there are a few written about interconnects from the past.
There are also a few good sites on the web that may take some time to read through the hype, but are informative never-the-less. I am sure you've been this route as well.
Obviously there is not going to be any magic answer to this because we all hear music differently. But with your equipment and those speakers, you should really be proud of your system.
Unfortunately I don't seem, (and apparently so do others), to be satisfied with one type of interconnect and continue to search for that perfect formula, (that probably will never exist). This would be fine if I could just enjoy the search, and not dwell on the time and cost it takes. However I can only spend what I find I can afford. Much to my own regret.
I wish you luck in your search. Like I said, I am happy with these Silver and Bullet ends that I just got. Maybe you can check other sites to see the reaction from the other customers. Happy hunting.
 
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audioraptured said:
Obviously there is not going to be any magic answer to this because we all hear music differently.
Excellent point made!! One must also include their components, and one of the biggest affects....the room.

Unfortunately I don't seem, (and apparently so do others), to be satisfied with one type of interconnect and continue to search for that perfect formula, (that probably will never exist).
I have/had been happy with what I previously used with the DIY, Nordost, Monster, DH Labs, Audioquest, JPS Labs, Bullet Plugs, Ultimate RCA's, etc. but my testing and searching was more of a curiosity than a desire to find the perfect forumla. I find it fun to get new cables, hook them up and find out what affect they have on my setup in relation to their cost.

With IC's and speaker cables, it is possible to tailor one's system to create the sound you are looking for. This sound could be one where you are sitting in a large orchestra type hall 10-15 rows back, or being in a small nighclub sitting just a few rows away. All of this is possible just by researching, auditioning, and finding your solution.

This is what makes it fun for me (my wife thinks I'm nuts), along with a learning process that hopefully I can pass on to others.

Dan
 
audioraptured said:
abhijit: Good evening, and Happy New Year. First, I would definitely write Frank and ask what his return policy is on the type of interconnect you may purchase. (you are going for the silver, not copper)?
Having said that, I am satisfied with the cost vs performance factor with these Silver ones I have bought. It has given me more detail and they are still "opening up" as I let them play more.
You may want to check the other threads on this web site: "decided to torture myself" is one, and there are a few written about interconnects from the past.
There are also a few good sites on the web that may take some time to read through the hype, but are informative never-the-less. I am sure you've been this route as well.
Obviously there is not going to be any magic answer to this because we all hear music differently. But with your equipment and those speakers, you should really be proud of your system.
Unfortunately I don't seem, (and apparently so do others), to be satisfied with one type of interconnect and continue to search for that perfect formula, (that probably will never exist). This would be fine if I could just enjoy the search, and not dwell on the time and cost it takes. However I can only spend what I find I can afford. Much to my own regret.
I wish you luck in your search. Like I said, I am happy with these Silver and Bullet ends that I just got. Maybe you can check other sites to see the reaction from the other customers. Happy hunting.

Thanx for your detailed info. Let me wish you and your family a Wonderful Year 2006. With my limited budget I have short listed the following speaker and IC cables : a) DH LABS Q10 speaker cables & Revelation Balanced Cable
b) Signal Cable's Silver Resoultion Speaker Cable & Silver Resolution Reference Analog Balanced IC Cable c) Black Dragon Bi-wire Speaker cable & Silver Dragon Balanced IC cable.

Can you please advice which would be the best buy?
 
abhijit said:
Thanx for your detailed info. Let me wish you and your family a Wonderful Year 2006. With my limited budget I have short listed the following speaker and IC cables :
a) DH LABS Q10 speaker cables & Revelation Balanced Cable
b) Signal Cable's Silver Resoultion Speaker Cable & Silver Resolution Reference Analog Balanced IC Cable
c) Black Dragon Bi-wire Speaker cable & Silver Dragon Balanced IC cable.

Can you please advice which would be the best buy?

You are going to get three different answers here based on what people have heard from your selections. You may just have to make a choice and live with it - I know this is not the answer you were looking for.

BTW, did you contact The Cable Company and see if they would deal with you being in Kuwait? If so, you could probably get two of the three choices for audition before puchasing. Also did you contact Frank at Signal to also see if he would do an audition living in Kuwait? Like we all have stated over and over, you really need to listen to see how they sound to you in your system.

Anyway...here is my take on the three:

  • I have heard the DH Lab cables and like them very much. The Revelation is the best sounding Silver IC that I have heard to date.
  • I have not heard any of the Moon Audio cables, but their equipment gets great reviews, so hopefully their cables fall in line...but I have not heard or read anything on their cables.
  • I have never heard the Signal Cables, but Frank at Signal has had nothing but positive things said about his products and his service.

Dan
 
upgrading interconnects

abhijit: Good evening. Thank you for your kind sentiments. I would add that DTB300 has again bowled a perfect answer here. And with his many evaluations of the different interconnect selections, (see other threads), I would go with his advice. After starting with "The Cable Company" and then seeing what deal suits you, email Frank , (I bought from him), and see if you can reach an agreement about either a used one that may have been swapped or paying for postage, (with a discount if you're not satisfied), there and back if you switch. The guy in N.C., (I think that's where Moon is), has a very good site and there is a lot of positive feedback, and he is enthusiastic and knowledgeable when you speak with him. ......
abhijit, it has come down to you picking from one of the three walnut shells. If price is the over-riding factor go with the cheapest. If music is the final reward, purchase all three, evaluate which to YOU sounds the best, send the others back for a credit or sell the two remaining on the U.K. sites. Please listen and write notes, (see DTB300 and Roberto's exchange), and let us know why you chose your final selection. Those DH Labs seem to be first in the running from the net, but I really would like to see if anyone finds someone who has evaluated them against each other. Best of luck with this.
 
audioraptured said:
abhijit: Good evening. Thank you for your kind sentiments. I would add that DTB300 has again bowled a perfect answer here. And with his many evaluations of the different interconnect selections, (see other threads), I would go with his advice. After starting with "The Cable Company" and then seeing what deal suits you, email Frank , (I bought from him), and see if you can reach an agreement about either a used one that may have been swapped or paying for postage, (with a discount if you're not satisfied), there and back if you switch. The guy in N.C., (I think that's where Moon is), has a very good site and there is a lot of positive feedback, and he is enthusiastic and knowledgeable when you speak with him. ......
abhijit, it has come down to you picking from one of the three walnut shells. If price is the over-riding factor go with the cheapest. If music is the final reward, purchase all three, evaluate which to YOU sounds the best, send the others back for a credit or sell the two remaining on the U.K. sites. Please listen and write notes, (see DTB300 and Roberto's exchange), and let us know why you chose your final selection. Those DH Labs seem to be first in the running from the net, but I really would like to see if anyone finds someone who has evaluated them against each other. Best of luck with this.


Hi DTB and Audiorapture, after reading all yours post and the reviews, I have decided to go for Q10 Bi-wire and Revelation XLR cables- one for the pre-amp and the other for CD Player to Pre-amp. Any suggestion/advise?
__________________________________________________________________
Amplifier - Plinius SA102; Preamp - SoniC Frontier Line 1 with Siemens NOS Tubes; Wadia 861 CD Player; Aiwa XK-S9000 Cassette Deck; Akai Tuner; DAKIOM STABILIZERS installed at all ends
 
upgraging Interconnects

abhijit: here may be something from John Dunlavy that's 10 years old, but may shead another view on things and or make for some fun or controversey:
Date: Tue, 5 Nov 1996 13:08:50 -0500
From: [email protected] (Dunlavy Audio Labs)
join the hunt my friend...
 
abhijit said:
Hi DTB and Audiorapture, after reading all yours post and the reviews, I have decided to go for Q10 Bi-wire and Revelation XLR cables- one for the pre-amp and the other for CD Player to Pre-amp. Any suggestion/advise?
__________________________________________________________________
Amplifier - Plinius SA102; Preamp - SoniC Frontier Line 1 with Siemens NOS Tubes; Wadia 861 CD Player; Aiwa XK-S9000 Cassette Deck; Akai Tuner; DAKIOM STABILIZERS installed at all ends

Hi Guys,

I received the 15' DH LABS Q-10 spaker cables and 2 pairs of 1.5m each Silver Revelation IC from DH Labs last week. Speaker and Interconnects have done about 20hrs of Burn-in. The sound has drastically change ever since I have installed. Speed and sound stage has improved tremendously. I think the IC requires at least 100 Hrs of break-in and and the speaker cables of about 50-60 Hrs. What do u guys think? I thought that the double-run speaker cable have been ordered but my mistake, I ordered the single run. Does one require Double Run? Greg is willing to exchange with an additional of about U$ 390. Is it worth? These single run ones are much thinner than my present MIT T2 speaker cables.
 
abhijit said:
Hi Guys,

I received the 15' DH LABS Q-10 spaker cables and 2 pairs of 1.5m each Silver Revelation IC from DH Labs last week. Speaker and Interconnects have done about 20hrs of Burn-in. The sound has drastically change ever since I have installed. Speed and sound stage has improved tremendously. I think the IC requires at least 100 Hrs of break-in and and the speaker cables of about 50-60 Hrs. What do u guys think? I thought that the double-run speaker cable have been ordered but my mistake, I ordered the single run. Does one require Double Run? Greg is willing to exchange with an additional of about U$ 390. Is it worth? These single run ones are much thinner than my present MIT T2 speaker cables.
Please somebody help me, everytime I read about a "cable" requiring hundreds of hours needed for breakin I don't know wether to laugh or cry. If somebody can offer a scientific explanation I'm all ears !! ??
 
twich54 said:
Please somebody help me, everytime I read about a "cable" requiring hundreds of hours needed for breakin I don't know wether to laugh or cry. If somebody can offer a scientific explanation I'm all ears !! ??
The only way to really tell if a cable changes if to own two of them. Use one and then compare to the new one over time to see what changes occur. From my experience with the JPS Labs cable that I now use, it did experience some changes. These changes occured just as the manufacturer described to me during a nice long concersation with him (Joe Skupinsky?). Now I wondered to myself, did these changes occur due to the conversation or did I get used to the sound, or did they change? The change I heard was the bass tightened up, then the high end became smoother. This was over a 2-3 week period, playing the system for 2-4 hours per day. (Total time would be 50-75 hours or so??)

I was able to do a comparison of my JPS Labs Superconductor FX IC as I had one in the system for over a month (running from CD to Pre) and then I bought a new one to run from Pre to Power Amp. I had both hooked up from CD to Pre and was able to switch back and forth between the two via my remote control for the Pre Amp. The new cable had bass that was not as tight and defined, and the high end was a slightly brighter. So the chnages that I thought I heard, did occur and was happy to finally be able to compare a new cable versus and broken-in cable.

Most people say it is due to the dialectric in the cable (that is why Audioquest has their DBS system). Some say it is the physical metal itself. Not sure what to say to this, but in my experience with the JPS, it did change, but it did not take hundreds of hours.

Dan
 
twich54 said:
Please somebody help me, everytime I read about a "cable" requiring hundreds of hours needed for breakin I don't know wether to laugh or cry. If somebody can offer a scientific explanation I'm all ears !! ??

The way I understand it, the dielectric in the cable is made up of molecules. Running the cable for extended periods of time causes the dielectric to change. If you were to look at the dialectic threw a microscope it would look like an unorganized pile of bricks. But when you pass a current threw the dielectric the molecules will realign them selves into a form that looks similar to a brick wall. Once the dielectric reaches that point it will repel RF and EMI better then in its cold state. I am also told the dielectric unbroken in can get in the way of the audio single, when it reaches its broken in state it does less damage to the single.

A better sounding cable is not adding anything to the single its only doing a better job passing the entire unbroken single.
 
abhijit, I replaced MIT cable in my HT system with Cardas and was pleased. I have used both Hexlink Golden Five (long ago discontinued) and Golden Cross interconnects and speaker cables. However, cables ARE really a personal decision and I would advise buying used cables if you are unable to listen before you buy. Let someone else bear the depreciation. If you don't like them you can resell them for about what you paid for them.
 
DTB300 said:
The only way to really tell if a cable changes if to own two of them. Use one and then compare to the new one over time to see what changes occur. From my experience with the JPS Labs cable that I now use, it did experience some changes. These changes occured just as the manufacturer described to me during a nice long concersation with him (Joe Skupinsky?). Now I wondered to myself, did these changes occur due to the conversation or did I get used to the sound, or did they change? The change I heard was the bass tightened up, then the high end became smoother. This was over a 2-3 week period, playing the system for 2-4 hours per day. (Total time would be 50-75 hours or so??)

I was able to do a comparison of my JPS Labs Superconductor FX IC as I had one in the system for over a month (running from CD to Pre) and then I bought a new one to run from Pre to Power Amp. I had both hooked up from CD to Pre and was able to switch back and forth between the two via my remote control for the Pre Amp. The new cable had bass that was not as tight and defined, and the high end was a slightly brighter. So the chnages that I thought I heard, did occur and was happy to finally be able to compare a new cable versus and broken-in cable.

Most people say it is due to the dialectric in the cable (that is why Audioquest has their DBS system). Some say it is the physical metal itself. Not sure what to say to this, but in my experience with the JPS, it did change, but it did not take hundreds of hours.

Dan


Hi, I replaced my MIT T2 biwired cable with DH LABS Q-10 Biwire 14' Single Run speaker cable. It has already burn in for good 60 Hrs. I replaced my Interconnects (Pre-amp to Power & CD player to Preamp) with DH LABS Silver Revelation. I think IC requires more burn-in time.They are great cables. Do you suggest to go for double run Biwire Q-10 cables? Thanx for your advise for DH LABS. I may change IC for my Tuner and Cassette Deck with DH LABS Air Matrix. I am planning to upgrade the power cables for Power Amp with Voodoo Black Dragon, CD player with Voodoo Silver Dragon , Pre-amp to MIT Z center with Voodoo Mojo and MIT Zcenter power cord with Voodoo Mana. Do you have heard about these cables? What's your opinion? http://www.voodoocable.net/VDPC.htm. Appreciate for feedback. All these are 6 foot in length and working out to be around USD 1500.
 
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Never tried the double-run of Q-10, nor have I heard the difference between single and double, so I cannot comment.

Power cords...Have not tried too many of those either, but have heard good things about the VH Audio PC's and there have been good writeups on the DH Labs PC too.

Sorry I cannot help you more with these issues...hopefully someone else can jump in to give their opinions and experiences.

Glad to hear the DH Labs are doing well for you. I really liked the Revelation IC when I tried it.

Dan
 
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