Cabling - the truth will out .....

[Anonymous]

gpi:I don't have a problem with people spending a lot of money on lengths of wire but I do get annoyed when those same people tell me I'm deaf not to hear a difference and/or I obviously have no desire to improve my system if I don't buy more expensive lengths of wire and won't even try some.

Is a Goldring Eroica as good as an Ortofon 2M then? [sorry.......]

 

[JoelSim]

gpi:I don't have a problem with people spending a lot of money on lengths of wire but I do get annoyed when those same people tell me I'm deaf not to hear a difference and/or I obviously have no desire to improve my system if I don't buy more expensive lengths of wire and won't even try some.

Oh don't be so grumpy. You are correct, and I am correct, there's no right or wrong in hifi, it's all about what pleases you personally.

 

[gpi]

Graham_Thomas:gpi:I don't have a problem with people spending a lot of money on lengths of wire but I do get annoyed when those same people tell me I'm deaf not to hear a difference and/or I obviously have no desire to improve my system if I don't buy more expensive lengths of wire and won't even try some.

Is a Goldring Eroica as good as an Ortofon 2M then? [sorry.......]

Different

entirely. 😱)

I'm not grumpy at all, in fact I was sneezy today. ;o)

 

[jaxwired]

I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.

 

[carter]

mains filters, power leads ,digital and analoge cable upgrades have all worked for me some more than others but all have changed the sound/picture so thay all cant be the same

 

[gpi]

jaxwired:I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.

I haven't a clue how you arrive at that assumption but still... 😱)

 

[Anonymous]

My god - at last a sensible, polite, adult discussion on the topic, so I would like to thank all of y'all in that aspect!!

I am from the side of 'love tinkering' with cables etc and find they have made a big difference to my own system.

I agree that you absolutely have to get the physical boxes right first and cabling can then define/refine certain elements of the sound that you basically already like.

Anyone who can't hear a difference ... I am jealous ... to a point!

A) you will save money that I have spent and likely will spend more on .... damn it!

B) It MAY be a shame that you'll not experience some of the benefits I have heard in my upgrades of such bits, but maybe you bought a new amp along the way instead.....

C) there's no right or wrong either way

If something is less-worse as some have said - then I guess it's errr....... better!

e.g. if something is less-quiet .... it's .... louder.

.... on a relative scale of course. [but I know what you are getting at, describing it in that way, of course!]

Cheers all !!

 

[idc]

BigAir:

Anyone who can't hear a difference ... I am jealous ... to a point!

With the exception of some speaker cable, because of its length I have a self imposed limit of £50 on cabling. I have heard differences, but thankfully nothing I would regard as 'night and day', huge, startling etc. I dont want to become hung up on a probably fruitless search for the perfect sound by continually spending money on and changing cables.

I would go as far to say that I have made a decision that I am going to ignore the potential benefits of expensive cables. Instead I am satisfied to be almost there with cheaper cables.

 

[Anonymous]

jaxwired:I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.

so since i can only hear a tiny tiny bit with speaker cable and none with interconnects does that mean i should downgrade to a budget or a midrange setup

youll have to imagine the smiley cant do them on a mac

 

[Anonymous]

Smiley above done on a Mac - as I got curious as to whether it would work!

 

[Anonymous]

how did you do that

also what are you replacing the grand pianos with

 

[AEJim]

In my experience (and we get to play with a lot of flashy cables) you're best off going with a decent sensibly priced offering for your system. Cheapo cable doesn't usually sound great but also at the other extreme - every vastly expensive (£££'s per metre) cable I've heard has actually detracted from the system in which it's been used, usually adding harsh and forward elements into the balance.

This is just my experience so no-one has to take it as gospel, cables definitely do make a difference to the sound but you only need to go to the Audi/Merc sort of levels from the popular brands to get top notch performance, may as well save the difference and spend it on upgrading another area of your system (or in some exotic cases spend the money on the Audi/Merc instead!!)

 

[gpi]

one off:
how did you do that

Here's the code but obviously omit the spaces. I can't get the first part to appear in the post so it's (left angle bracket) img src =

"http://whathifi.com/emoticons/emotion-1.gif" alt="Smile" />

 

[Anonymous]

no i give up

 

[aliEnRIK]

I use mains conditioners and 16 core braided mains cables. They made a hugh difference to my tvs screen quality and av sound in particular

I have solid silver 8 core braided interconnects, another good step up from even the Russ Andrews I was using

32 (!) core solid silver braided with solid copper speaker cables. A hugh jump up from the QED Silver Spiral I was using before

 

[Anonymous]

hey it works now excellent

 

[True Blue]

The following is my experience (limited) with cables:

Interconnects:

I replaced my out of the box interconnects on an earlier system for a Chord Crimson. The sound became a lot more detailed, however it did seem a little lean in the Bass department.

This was then changed for a Chord Chameleon Silver screen which addressed the lack of bass issue.

So IMO interconnects do make a difference and you can tweak the overall sound to suit your tastes, but only within the limitations of your equipment.

Speaker Cable:

I swapped old cheapy wire for some around £5 per meter years ago and the difference was pretty negligable. However I then upgraded to Chord Silverscreen, which made an incredible difference to all sounds, almost like the cotton wool had been removed of the microphones used when recording.

My last upgrade was to Naim NAC A5, again it is a brilliant cable but I cannot comment subjectively on how it has affected my current system as I have never heard it with anything else.

Mains Products:

I changed my standard extension lead for my AV gear to a Tacima Conditioner. The differences again were not subtle. PQ improved a lot less noisy. The sound from my reciever was clearer and more defined.....however I felt the tacima was restricting the dynamics of my Reciever so I plugged that back into the wall socket.

The upgrade that has surprised me the most has been my most recent which was a Chord PowerChord fitted to my CDP. The sounstaging iproved as did the dynamics and the detail. I dont know how, baffles me but it did make a HUGE difference.

Fitted another Chord PowerChord to my TV and the picture quality has improved very slightly, however the sound from the TV speakers is now a lot clearer.

So as you can see I think cables do make a huge difference, but as others have said you are limited by the quality of your electronics, the quality of your hearing / sight, and in the case of mains equipment the quality of the incoming mains and the wiring of your house.

I am adding a seperate radial circuit for my HIFI to seperate from the normal ring main next month so I will feed back on that one.

 

[idc]

True Blue:

....... you are limited by the quality of your electronics, the quality of your hearing / sight, and in the case of mains equipment the quality of the incoming mains and the wiring of your house.

Excellent post True Blue and your summary hits the nail on the head for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi OneOff

Am replacing the Grand Piano's soon and have a dem booked next week to audition the following:

Sonus Faber - Cremona M

Sonus Faber - Elipsa

Martin Logan - Summit-X

I've tried various other stuff but so far it's not hit the spot. Have heard the Cremona M & Elipsa and was 95% sure I would get Sonus Faber again - until hearing the Martin Logan Vantage recently with a Moon i7 - which made me decide to put the Spire or Summit-X on my shortlist to hear.

Amps will be Moon - P8/W7 or P8/W8 pre/power.

Joy!

 

[jaxwired]

one off: jaxwired:I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.

so since i can only hear a tiny tiny bit with speaker cable and none with interconnects does that mean i should downgrade to a budget or a midrange setup

youll have to imagine the smiley cant do them on a mac

In my opinion, cables can be the difference between "sounds great" and "OMG! She's In The Room!" If a person can't hear cable differences, than I would question the wisdom in spending many times what a budget system costs for what you may not be able to hear.

 

[gpi]

one off:
jaxwired:I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.

so since i can only hear a tiny tiny bit with speaker cable and none with interconnects does that mean i should downgrade to a budget or a midrange setup

Of course. 😉

 

[JoelSim]

jaxwired:one off: jaxwired:I agree with Joel on this one. Interconnects and speaker cable make a noticable difference and anyone that cannot hear it is probably wasting their money on expensive hifi.
so since i can only hear a tiny tiny bit with speaker cable and none with interconnects does that mean i should downgrade to a budget or a midrange setup

youll have to imagine the smiley cant do them on a mac

In my opinion, cables can be the difference between "sounds great" and "OMG! She's In The Room!" If a person can't hear cable differences, than I would question the wisdom in spending many times what a budget system costs for what you may not be able to hear.

It is subtle, but I think you have the difference down to a tee

 

[gpi]

In my experience that difference is heard between different recordings.

 

[JoelSim]

gpi:In my experience that difference is heard between different recordings.

In my experience that difference is heard on the same recording

 

[gpi]

one off:

hey it works now excellent

So how did you do that? I have a Mac too and tried to use an emoticon the way I thought it would work but it didn't appear in my post.