Could new interconnects make a difference?

jonomd

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Was looking to see if a change of interconnect could make a difference to the sound. I have a Yamaha hd/cd player which I think would benefit from a brighter more open sound. Not too familiar with what is on the market at moment.

The present interconnects are cambridge audio. Not sure what type but are green in colour. Got the interconnects with a marantz cd player but yamaha sounds a bit duller in presentation.

Thanks
 
T

the record spot

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Short of a change of component, and assuming your budget is a tad more limited. I'd suggest avoiding one copper cable with another and go for something which is really going to be a bit brighter - Nordost Blue Heaven (silver based) would do the trick. Can be tricky to match, but if you want brighter, it'll do it.
 

jonomd

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I think it would be worth an attempt . Although upgrading system the Yamaha I intend to keep for time being. Its sounds ok but I think there is is room for improvement . The interconnects were fairly cheap at time.
 
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Anonymous

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If you believe there will be a difference between different interconnects then there will be. There is a LOT of expectation bias when comparing interconnects, more so than any other component.

No-ones convinced me theres a difference yet between any of the well made interconnects. When I say well made I mean properly shielded and made with good quality copper. There's definately no measureable difference between interconnects costing £20 and those costing £3k - either in a room frequency sweep or the electrical properties that matter. But if you spend the money you expect there to be a difference so you might think you hear one.

I would rather put the money toward a different amp, source or speakers which can change the sound completely and I always suggest the same....
 
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Anonymous

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flakmonkey:

If you believe there will be a difference between different interconnects then there will be. There is a LOT of expectation bias when comparing interconnects, more so than any other component.

No-ones convinced me theres a difference yet between any of the well made interconnects. When I say well made I mean properly shielded and made with good quality copper. There's definately no measureable difference between interconnects costing £20 and those costing £3k - either in a room frequency sweep or the electrical properties that matter. But if you spend the money you expect there to be a difference so you might think you hear one.

I would rather put the money toward a different amp, source or speakers which can change the sound completely and I always suggest the same....

here we go again!

i'm saying nothing
emotion-16.gif
 
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Anonymous

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THESTIG08:
here we go again!

i'm saying nothing
emotion-16.gif


Lol I aint even going to get into a discussion about it....
 
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Anonymous

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went from chord crimson plus to chord chameleon plus and noticed a big difference once it burnt it properly. Was alot more bassier and far more detailed so yes, i do believe cables make a difference.
 
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Anonymous

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JezBaker:
went from chord crimson plus to chord chameleon plus and noticed a big difference once it burnt it properly. Was alot more bassier and far more detailed so yes, i do believe cables make a difference.
That's your ears getting playing tricks with the sound. Cables can't burn in because there's nothing to burn in.
 

ID.

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So to summarize, yes they can make a difference and I swear I can hear a difference, but there is absolutely no way they can make a difference, I have never heard a difference and differences you hear are because you want to hear.

Simple, huh?

Maybe the best way is if you can borrow some from your dealer and try a few out and see what you think before spending serious money, or if you can't do that, try buying some cheaper well made ones (some forumites suggest something from a pro-audio shop rather than HiFi,) and see how you like them. Something with silver should brighten things up a bit, so maybe some silver high breed as they seem a bit cheaper than the Nordost. I personally love Nordost, in the right system.
 
T

the record spot

Guest
Yup, I only mentioned Nordost as it's the only cable that sounded like it made a difference. Everything else I've used was made of copper, which is what I use now in the QED Qunex 2s and the generic cable I also have. The guy wanted brighter and a silver cable will do that, based on what I heard when I heard the Nordost Blue Heavens. I've not yet heard a difference in a single copper cable yet, and that's using anything from Audioquest (two of theirs), Monster, van den hul, Computergear and QED. Reckon I've done enough research to satisfy my own ears now.
 

Big Chris

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the record spot:The guy wanted brighter and a silver cable will do that,.

Agreed. My old Kimber Silver Steaks are much brighter than my current Titans.

If you want bright and open, try the Silver Streaks.
 

jonomd

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I will be upgrading my system over time. Will replace yamaha one day. A lot more alternatives with a hard drive based systems than there was when I got machine.

I am going to be doing demos anyway so should be able to try silver interconnect. I'm not looking for any radical change in sound. If it's provides what I'm looking for then great. If it does not the will look to replace Yamaha.

Thanks for suggestions.
 
Hi jonomd

I'll suggest holding on to your existing cables or changing them for some standard interconnects instead. Thereafter if you still feel the need to alter the presentation then look at using the tone controls on your amplifier.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 
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Anonymous

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don't bother spending silly money on cable. the best upgrade on budget cables is van damme unbalanced & neutrik phono plugs. less than £10 to make a pair of 1m cables. a low capacitance cable will give a bright sound with no rounding of the treble, high cap will round the treble off & make it sound duller in basic terms. any good low cap cable will give these results. in the pro recording world you will never see silly priced cables. most use van damme or similar terminated with neutrik jacks or xlr's. all low capacitance cables with excellent screening, silver plated where appropriate etc. the most i ever pay is £3 per meter + termination, even when wiring a £50k midas console! anyone advising you to spend more is either ill informed themselves or is trying to make money from you. the most noticeable & worth while difference you can make to your sound quality is sorting your room acoustics & get a decent balanced mains transformer from airlink or similar.
 

SonofSun

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Studio1:
don't bother spending silly money on cable. the best upgrade on budget cables is van damme unbalanced & neutrik phono plugs. less than £10 to make a pair of 1m cables. a low capacitance cable will give a bright sound with no rounding of the treble, high cap will round the treble off & make it sound duller in basic terms. any good low cap cable will give these results. in the pro recording world you will never see silly priced cables. most use van damme or similar terminated with neutrik jacks or xlr's. all low capacitance cables with excellent screening, silver plated where appropriate etc. the most i ever pay is £3 per meter + termination, even when wiring a £50k midas console! anyone advising you to spend more is either ill informed themselves or is trying to make money from you. the most noticeable & worth while difference you can make to your sound quality is sorting your room acoustics & get a decent balanced mains transformer from airlink or similar.

Sound advice, room acoustics can make a big difference and it's a free upgrade,
 

Helmut80

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slightly off topic, but can someone give me a quick run down down of what these electrical accessories (balanced mains supply, balanced mains conditioners? others?) do exactly? I am assuming these are not quite as controversial as cables, so I am not starting a board war :)
 
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Anonymous

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Helmut80:slightly off topic, but can someone give me a quick run down down of what these electrical accessories (balanced mains supply, balanced mains conditioners? others?) do exactly? I am assuming these are not quite as controversial as cables, so I am not starting a board war :)

a balanced mains supply is effectively a 1:1 mains isolation transformer with center tap to ground, giving two legs of ac which are 180' out of phase with one another, with respect to ground that is. in even more basic terms it works by phase cancelation which cancels the ground voltages.
 
T

the record spot

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I wouldn't even go as far up the financial scale as the Van Dammes, plenty of chat about them, but unless they';re doing something significantly different from any other copper cable up to £100, computergear (or any other similarly built pro-audio cable) will do the job perfectly well. Less than £10 and it's job done. Like many others, by all means, spend the cash if you want to, but frmo someone who's walked that cable path and found out (to some cost over the years) the money is better spent on the core components or save it and reposition your speakers first. Both significantly better options.
 

idc

Well-known member
I spent a good few hours over the weekend reading through two threads on another forum where an occasional poster on this forum has been testing the frequency response of different speaker cables and interconnects. There are differences between them, but the biggest difference was 0.056 db and the average was 0.032 db for the interconnects. That is outwith any human ability to detect a difference.

It does not matter what you make the cable out of or how much shielding there is, under frequency response testing they are the same.

I made my own cables with Neutrick Rean plugs and Van Damme cable. They are as good as any other cable out there with the advantage that they are very flexible.
 
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Anonymous

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MUSICRAFT:
Hi jonomd

I'll suggest holding on to your existing cables or changing them for some standard interconnects instead. Thereafter if you still feel the need to alter the presentation then look at using the tone controls on your amplifier.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

so in your opinion rick they'll be no point me changing my chord cameleon silver plus to the van den hul intergration hybrid interconnect?
 

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