Advice on new speaker cables for a beginner

[Bromiley]

Yeah, you can turn it on or off. What do you mean by good in some areas and not in others? Regarding DSP: I guess you mean 'Direct' mode vs 'Stereo' mode??

 

[DocG]

Yeah, you can turn it on or off. What do you mean by good in some areas and not in others? Regarding DSP: I guess you mean 'Direct' mode vs 'Stereo' mode??

First off: 'DSP' is 'digital signal processing': equalizing and more, in the digital domain. Audyssey is one example but there are others (Antimode, B&O, Lyngdorf, DEQX, ...).

The purpose of a system like Audyssey is to 'take the room out of the equation'. It corrects the signal (in the digital domain) to compensate for the position of the speakers, and for the changes the room brings to the sound. Audyssey can level out peaks (and to a lesser extent dips) in the bass, caused by the room, the so-called room-modes = GOOD.

OTOH, the processing can add an unnatural, digital edge to the sound. How bad that is, depends amongst others on the protocol used, the room, the signal (e.g. music vs. movie) and on the sensitivity of the listener. It's also more problematic at higher frequencies than in the bass.

So I suggest you do the calibration and listen for yourself: does the smoothening of the bass response 'overcome' possible 'digital glare' or do you prefer the pure sound? Maybe you like Audyssey for movies and not so for music. But there are no hard and fast rules here. Give it a try. And let your ears decide.

I hope that makes sense. If not, just ask!

 

[Bromiley]

Thanks, DocG. That's really helpful and I'll give it a go and report back.

In the meantime, I've had a mail back from a local HiFi dealer here in Cologne regarding speaker cables. He's offered me a cable from Supra called Rondo which is (4x2.5 terminated) for 2x4m for 60 Euros. That's about 44 GBP. He did say that the QED 79 Strand is a very good cable for the price but feels the Supra Rondo will be better.

Any thoughts?

 

[chebby]

I would go with QED 79 Strand ...

+1.

It's what I use (with soldered nickel plated banana plugs). A bit 'extravagant' i'll admit, but they - and the plugs and the soldering - were all free.

 

[bigboss]

Thanks, DocG. That's really helpful and I'll give it a go and report back.?

In the meantime, I've had a mail back from a local HiFi dealer here in Cologne regarding speaker cables. He's offered me a cable from Supra called Rondo which is (4x2.5 terminated) for 2x4m for 60 Euros. That's about 44 GBP. He did say that the QED 79 Strand is a very good cable for the price but feels the Supra Rondo will be better.

Any thoughts?

Better in what way?

 

[CnoEvil]

He did say that the QED 79 Strand is a very good cable for the price but feels the Supra Rondo will be better.

Any thoughts?

I'm of the opinion that S/Cs can make a worthwhile difference, but where to draw the line is something you need to decide. Until you can try different cables at different prices, in the context of your system, QED 79 Strand is a good place to start.

 

[DocG]

Thanks, DocG. That's really helpful and I'll give it a go and report back.

In the meantime, I've had a mail back from a local HiFi dealer here in Cologne regarding speaker cables. He's offered me a cable from Supra called Rondo which is (4x2.5 terminated) for 2x4m for 60 Euros. That's about 44 GBP. He did say that the QED 79 Strand is a very good cable for the price but feels the Supra Rondo will be better.

Any thoughts?

That Supra might be 'better' (more solidly terminated, nicer to look at, ...), but with a limited budget, that is not what I would spend my money on. I just saw a s/h Denon AVR-610, sold on the Bay, for... $60! Puts things into perspective IMO.

Seriously, save the cash and spend it on the new amp, whenever you're ready for it! Go for a generic 2.5 mm2 copper cable, or the QED!

 

[Bromiley]

I think you're right. I'll go for the QED 79 Strand and save the cash for a new amp. The Marantz PM6005 had a great review on this site and I actually heard the B&W 685 S2s with it at a local dealer. At 280 GBP, it seems to be a good buy right now. The PM6005 has an optical connection so I guess my bluray player and Apple TV would have to be connected to my TV first via HDMI and then optical from the TV to the amp. I hope this method doesn't result in lip-sync issues when watching a movie.

I'll let you know what the QED 79 is like with my current system when I get it.

 

[lindsayt]

Thanks, DocG. That's really helpful and I'll give it a go and report back.

In the meantime, I've had a mail back from a local HiFi dealer here in Cologne regarding speaker cables. He's offered me a cable from Supra called Rondo which is (4x2.5 terminated) for 2x4m for 60 Euros. That's about 44 GBP. He did say that the QED 79 Strand is a very good cable for the price but feels the Supra Rondo will be better.

Any thoughts?

It's simple. Ask the dealer if he can give you a set of cables that you can try at home in your system with absolutely no obligation to buy.

If he will and you prefer them to what you've already got and think they are worth the money in terms of euros spent per overall improvement then buy them (or look for 2nd hand equivalents).

If you try them and you don't like them enough, then don't buy them.

If he won't let you try them for free then look at other sources for your cable trials.