Classe and Speaker Cable

[admin_exported]

I have a Classe CP500 preamp and a Classe CA5200 power amp which is use for hi fi and also for home cinema. I currently use Audiquest Indigo+ speaker cable. I am thinking of moving to Atlas Hyper bi-wire. Does anyone know if this would be a move in the right direction? This cable is at the price point I feel most comfortable with.

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone any advice here?

 

[Anonymous]

What speakers are you driving?

 

[JoelSim]

Sounds like a plan to me.

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

I'm using B&W 803D speakers which are currently biwired with the Audioquest cables.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi John

I know the amps and speakers. I currently own the massive CA-401 power amp.

I would suggest that you stay with your current cables. If you are happy with the AQ's cables presentation and want more of the same than (without spending a small fortune) see if you can find some Midnight cables. They are alot better than the Indigo's and should help your amps exert even greater control over the speakers.

If you want a big jump up in performance (at a price though) over the the Indigo's from modern cables than ideally you should also consider VDH's The Revelation Hybrid or the stunning Inspiration Hybrid (which is what i use).

http://www.vandenhul.com/p_C12.aspx

http://www.vandenhul.com/p_C10.aspx

Thanks

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Thaiman]

I love the Indego+ cables but with your relatively highend equipments may be more money could be justify. aAnd instead of go out there and buy them mass-market big name cables (nothing wrong with them but they seem to come up with new cables far too often for me to take them seroiusly) I would try a proper highend design such as Cardas or Vertex AQ silver. The latter is nothing short of magic! I was very sceptic about their concept until I hooked them up to my system and I was hook!

As for Cardas, it has that silky treble which well suited to B&W's diamond tweeters but make sure you get the higher spec (from cross upwards) and also be sure to get them from dealer as there are some fake golden cross about!

 

[Anonymous]

From my experience of Classe, B&W & Atlas, I'd say you might want a cable with more taut bass. Definitely worth spending more on the cables, I suggest Nordost - Valhalla ideally (that's what I have) - if not at least Frey. Supra Sword would also go well I think. Crystal Cable might be good too (altho I've not heard them)

 

[Anonymous]

Supra Swords going cheap here: http://www.divineaudio.co.uk/audio-cables/speaker-cables/supra-sword-speaker-cable-terminated-pair/prod_390.html

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all your advice. Am trying out a single wire pair of Atlas Ascent 2.0. (My Audioquest Indigos are bi wired with two runs of cable). Initial impressions are that its not an improvement - while there might be a tiny bit more clarity the bass isn't as good to my ears anyhow. Will let it run in some more and have another listen later. Maybe I should consider going in the direction of VDH Inspiration or Supra Sword as Valhalla are way outside my price range. As I live in Ireland its not always easy to get access to a range of speaker cables to try out. Cable technology has moved on, maybe I'll have to also!

Rick, from what you say it seems that the VDH Inspiration woud sound very good with my system

 

[MUSICRAFT]

johnbutler:

Thanks for all your advice. Am trying out a single wire pair of Atlas Ascent 2.0. (My Audioquest Indigos are bi wired with two runs of cable). Initial impressions are that its not an improvement - while there might be a tiny bit more clarity the bass isn't as good to my ears anyhow. Will let it run in some more and have another listen later. Maybe I should consider going in the direction of VDH Inspiration or Supra Sword as Valhalla are way outside my price range. As I live in Ireland its not always easy to get access to a range of speaker cables to try out. Cable technology has moved on, maybe I'll have to also!

Rick, from what you say it seems that the VDH Inspiration woud sound very good with my system

Hi John

Thanks for your post.

If you've got two runs of Indigo per speaker than as you have more or less discovered they are going to be hard to improve upon from many modern designs (unless you spend a small fortune) for use with your system. So why change? If you still seek an improvement than as i said earllier in the first instance try and find some AQ Midnight cables. I think the Midnight sat one or two models above the Indigo. Hopefully the Midnights should not be too hard to find as they were highly rated and sold well. You should be able to pick up the Midnights for not too much money at all. Even a single run of Midnight in two-two or two-four (bi-wired) form will easliy show two runs of Indigo a thing or two.

Btw, i also use Midnight cables and no they are not for sale.

I wonder why?

The VDH Revelation or the Inspiration Hybrid will provide a big improvement although at a cost. The 800 series floorstanders are bass heavy and need as much control as can be exerted on them. Either of the VDH's will do the trick (the Inspiration even more so - it's very fluid).

A combination (which i used for many years) for you to also consider would be using the Revelation for the bass and the Inspiration for mid/hf. This is a stunning combination and one that can be built up to in time.

I hope this helps.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Rick

Thanks for your response. You make quite a lot of sense - I agree there's not much point in changing unless there is a significant imporvement. I somehow assumed (based on what a dealer said!!) that the newer Atlas cables would be significantly better, but they're not! I'll look on ebay for a pair rof midnight cables and maybe in the future see if I can demo the VDH Inspiration as there is one VDH dealer in Dublin this might be possible.

I appreciate you really honest advice.

Thanks

John

 

[MUSICRAFT]

johnbutler:

Hi Rick

Thanks for your response. You make quite a lot of sense - I agree there's not much point in changing unless there is a significant imporvement. I somehow assumed (based on what a dealer said!!) that the newer Atlas cables would be significantly better, but they're not! I'll look on ebay for a pair rof midnight cables and maybe in the future see if I can demo the VDH Inspiration as there is one VDH dealer in Dublin this might be possible.

I appreciate you really honest advice.

Thanks

John

Hi John

Thanks for your post and for your kind words.

Please try and find some AQ Midnights and leave it at that for the next few years (as far as cables are concerned). Don't loose much sleep over this!

Please stay in touch and and i'll try my best to point you in the right direction of improvements in other areas of the system.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Rick

I'm going to see if I can source some Audioquest Midnight cables, hopefully on Ebay and leave things like that, as you say, at least for a few years!! I'm actually quite happy with the sound of my system so I'll leave well enough alone for now.

Once again thanks for your advice

John