Cabling Question

[admin_exported]

Hello all, I'm a new member to this great forum so be gentle!

I've recently bought the Marantz CD6004 & PM6004 paired with Q Acoustic 2020i speakers.

I was wondering what cabling would bring the best of this system? I am a complete novice regarding this so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[acalex]

Hello all, I'm a new member to this great forum so be gentle!

I've recently bought the Marantz CD6004 & PM6004 paired with Q Acoustic 2020i speakers.

I was wondering what cabling would bring the best of this system? I am a complete novice regarding this so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Welcome to the forum! I must say you didn't chose the easiest topic as your first one :rofl:

You will see people are more or less split between believers and not-believers regarding the effect of different cables on system. What in my opinion is best to do is to check with your usual shop if you can borrow a few cables and try by yourself.

If you can feel any difference then go for the one you like the most, if not than it's even better as you saved some money

Sorry if I didn't answer completely to your question

 

[Superaintit]

Just keep what you have or buy ofc copper speaker wire and a decent interconnect like a van damme (pro audio). All this will set you back about 20 pounds. IMO investing more gives marginal benefits whereas the money spent elsewhere (speakers, amp and to a certain extent CD players) gives much more sound per pound value.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help acalex & superaintit, at the time of purchase I was given Cambridge Audio Ultra 100 speaker cable, I don't actually know what interconnecters I have but they are Cambridge Audio banana plugs. I will try and test a few cables and go from there. Thinking of getting a Mains Conditioner too as I have read that they give a boost in performance.

Thanks again for the help guys!

 

[acalex]

Thanks for the help acalex & superaintit, at the time of purchase I was given Cambridge Audio Ultra 100 speaker cable, I don't actually know what interconnecters I have but they are Cambridge Audio banana plugs. I will try and test a few cables and go from there. Thinking of getting a Mains Conditioner too as I have read that they give a boost in performance.

Thanks again for the help guys!

Just something to bear in mind...don't take things for granted by tried for yourself. And make sure you choose a chose willing you to borrow stuff and to return with no loss if you don't feel any difference.

Power conditioning is like anything else...in certain systems you might be a solid difference for the better...also for the worse...on some other you might not hear any difference...

 

[The_Lhc]

I don't actually know what interconnecters I have but they are Cambridge Audio banana plugs.

That's not what they mean by interconnects. Interconnects are the cables that go between the amp and your source (ie CD player, turntable etc).

 

[Anonymous]

I must be getting myself confused, they do go from my CD player to Amp, I must have called them wrong, they definitely are Cambridge Audio though! See total novice! :rofl:

Regarding the Mains, do you think my system isn't high-end enough to hear audible gains? I will try and find a company that'll let me borrow and return if needed.

Thank you for all this info, it really is helping me build up some sort of idea and knowledge.

It's just a case of taking all the advice but letting my ears decide?

 

[The_Lhc]

I must be getting myself confused, they do go from my CD player to Amp, I must have called them wrong, they definitely are Cambridge Audio though! See total novice! :rofl:

Ah ok, banana plugs go on the end of speaker cables to make connection to the amp or speakers easier. What you've got are RCA or "phono" cables.

Regarding the Mains, do you think my system isn't high-end enough to hear audible gains?

It'll probably depend entirely on how "dirty" your mains supply is now, if you have a good supply you may not notice any difference.

It's just a case of taking all the advice but letting my ears decide?

Just? No. ALWAYS a case of letting your ears decide. No matter what anyone else says, if you can't hear any difference or you don't like what you're hearing from a new piece of equipment you don't need it. You have to live with the results, it's always your ears that matter.

 

[acalex]

I must be getting myself confused, they do go from my CD player to Amp, I must have called them wrong, they definitely are Cambridge Audio though! See total novice! :rofl:

Regarding the Mains, do you think my system isn't high-end enough to hear audible gains? I will try and find a company that'll let me borrow and return if needed.

Thank you for all this info, it really is helping me build up some sort of idea and knowledge.

It's just a case of taking all the advice but letting my ears decide?

Always...as absolute truths do not exist and everybody will always have a personal opinion on this stuff. Just let your ears decide and try to demo as much as possible before jumping to a conclusion

 

[acalex]

Just keep what you have or buy ofc copper speaker wire and a decent interconnect like a van damme (pro audio). All this will set you back about 20 pounds. IMO investing more gives marginal benefits whereas the money spent elsewhere (speakers, amp and to a certain extent CD players) gives much more sound per pound value.

Not entirely true...it all depends on the system I guess. For me one of the best vfm improvements was the 600 power cord behind the phono stage which replaced the original one...a terrific difference which was impossible to miss...

 

[danrv]

Hi

I'm getting very good results with Chord Company Silver screen speaker cable and Crimson Plus VEE interconnects. Smooth sound and good detail. Bought from Hificables who have a handy 30 day return / money back policy on interconnects. Doesn't apply to cut speaker cable though, understandably.

Just my experience but I wouldn't rush into it. Can get expensive as I've found out!

Hificables have a huge choice.Only thing is you need to cover postage costs if returning anything which shouldn't be too much. Speaker cable is a tricky one if not happy with it. Here you would need to find a local hifi dealer who could exchange it if need be.

There's always Van Damme's UPOFC speaker cable which is popular and cheap. I don't think you can go far wrong with that.

 

[Superaintit]

Just keep what you have or buy ofc copper speaker wire and a decent interconnect like a van damme (pro audio). All this will set you back about 20 pounds. IMO investing more gives marginal benefits whereas the money spent elsewhere (speakers, amp and to a certain extent CD players) gives much more sound per pound value.

Not entirely true...it all depends on the system I guess. For me one of the best vfm improvements was the 600 power cord behind the phono stage which replaced the original one...a terrific difference which was impossible to miss...

Just out of curiousity... looking at your avatar I suspect that phono stage is connecting to quite a nice tube amp. And I suspect there will be an upmarket turntable too

 

[Superaintit]

I must be getting myself confused, they do go from my CD player to Amp, I must have called them wrong, they definitely are Cambridge Audio though! See total novice! :rofl:

Regarding the Mains, do you think my system isn't high-end enough to hear audible gains? I will try and find a company that'll let me borrow and return if needed.

Thank you for all this info, it really is helping me build up some sort of idea and knowledge.

It's just a case of taking all the advice but letting my ears decide?

Regarding mains... this is a contentious issue, with some reporting big differences, others nil.IME it can help cd players. Amps I noticed pratically no improvement. I can vouch for the tacima cs929 as it is cheap and also protects your equipment against current spikes. Should be 25,- or less on ebay. BT MCU conditioner (an ugly beast) also works. IME the gains are modest in hifi and clearly noticable in tv and blu-ray.

 

[acalex]

Just keep what you have or buy ofc copper speaker wire and a decent interconnect like a van damme (pro audio). All this will set you back about 20 pounds. IMO investing more gives marginal benefits whereas the money spent elsewhere (speakers, amp and to a certain extent CD players) gives much more sound per pound value.

Not entirely true...it all depends on the system I guess. For me one of the best vfm improvements was the 600 power cord behind the phono stage which replaced the original one...a terrific difference which was impossible to miss...

Just out of curiousity... looking at your avatar I suspect that phono stage is connecting to quite a nice tube amp. And I suspect there will be an upmarket turntable too

Yes

The phono stage connects a Clearaudio Performance SE turntable to a Jadis DA50RC Signature tube amp. The phono stage itself is a tube-one also...

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the help everyone, I'm going to with the Tacima CS929 Mains conditioner first and then get the speaker and phono cables after some deliberation.

Appreciate the help once again!