Critical systems

[Blacksabbath25]

Yamaha A-S3000 connected to a Yamaha cd- 2100 by using sliver lined XLRs for a fully balanced connection unbranded XLRs as they where made for Colin at IQ speakers .

Speakers Dali opticon 8 using audioquest rocket 33 solid core speaker cable using 3m lengths

Yamaha WXC50 streamer connection though Yamaha cd2100 by using Coaxial connection and the Coaxial lead is made by audioquest which is the Forest cable .

and all power cords are standard power cords that where supplied with the product

Cost of stereo setup Yamaha A-S3000 £4000 , Yamaha CD2100 £1800 , Dali opticon 8s £2000 , Yamaha wxc50 £280 , XLRs £50 , audioquest rocket 33 £350 , Av rack £500 secondhand but it’s a Atacama rack that cost £1200 when new . Total cost £8,980

Home cinema setup Yamaha 1070 Av amplifier connected to a Oppo 205 using hdmi cables made by audioquest in total I have 4 pairs of Pearl audioquest hdmi ‘s cables connecting TV to , Oppo 205 4k player , Xbox 1 X ,Freesat Humax HDR-1100s , Sony 4k model KD-49XD8305 using ARC to link HDMIs to components .

Home cinema speakers Center speaker is a Dali opticon LCR speaker I am using my Dali opticon 8s as the L+Rs and using the Yamaha A-S3000 to run the main L+Rs though the Yamaha 1070 Av amplifier by using a atlas RCA connection between the two amplifiers and the surrounds are Monitor audio silver Fx series which are di-pole and bi-pole speaker and the subwoofer is a SVS SB2000 with a maplen’s subwoofer cable and the cables that run the surrounds are Audioquest speaker cable which was about £5 a meter which I have 34 meters .

cost of home cinema Yamaha 1070 £1300 , Oppo 205 £700 , Xbox 1 X £450 , freesat Humax £200 , SVS SB2000 £800 , Sony 4k Tv £650 ex displayed ,Dali opticon Center LCR £500 , Monitor audio Fx sliver £280 , audioquest hdmi cables £35 each 4 , 34 meters of audioquest speaker cable for surrounds at £5 a meter . Total cost £5,190

both setups together total cost is £14,170 and I have a second amplifier the Yamaha A-S2100 £1800 but might sell it so not counting this into total cost of setup .

 

[davedotco]

I can call you BS, if thats ok with you?

This is much more like at as it helps immensly in assessing your credibility as a poster. I think a spend of around £9k on your 2 channel setup will definitely enable you to hear the differences between speaker and other analogue cables though I think that the overall resolution of your setup might be marginal whan it comes to digital interconnects.

I am particularly concerned that your use of unbranded XLR connectors will diminish the resolution a little, something you should look at. In any case, I think you have a bit further to go (about £6k in my estimation) before you will be able to hear the 'night and day' differences between different mains extension blocks and mains leads.

 

[Andrewjvt]

Marantz sr7011 £899
Q acoustics 3020 £150
Stands: partington broadsides £350
Rears: cabridge audio mini minx 2nd hand with matching stands on eBay £69
Centre: tannoy precision 6c £349
Cables: no name 500 strand ofc 6mm from (can't remember) £25
Total price £1850 rounded off

I have other stuff but this is my absolute reference.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I can call you BS, if thats ok with you?

This is much more like at as it helps immensly in assessing your credibility as a poster. I think a spend of around £9k on your 2 channel setup will definitely enable you to hear the differences between speaker and other analogue cables though I think that the overall resolution of your setup might be marginal whan it comes to digital interconnects.

I am particularly concerned that your use of unbranded XLR connectors will diminish the resolution a little, something you should look at. In any case, I think you have a bit further to go (about £6k in my estimation) before you will be able to hear the 'night and day' differences between different mains extension blocks and mains leads.

The XLR cables I have where when I brought the abrahamsen 2up and Colin at IQ speakers buys them in they are basically made out Mic cable which are sliver based but well constructed I did try a audioquest XLR cable that cost around £275 but didn’t get on well with the XLR as it made the sound so flat and odd sounding but that was with a different setup when I tried them I think it was with the abrahamsen 2up and Marantz cd8005 .

and that £6000 short fall I would spend that on some Dali epicon 6s *smile*

 

[davedotco]

Marantz sr7011 £899 Q acoustics 3020 £150 Stands: partington broadsides £350 Rears: cabridge audio mini minx 2nd hand with matching stands on eBay £69 Centre: tannoy precision 6c £349 Cables: no name 500 strand ofc 6mm from (can't remember) £25 Total price £1850 rounded off

I have other stuff but this is my absolute reference.

I will have to mark this system down for the use of unbranded speaker cables but it gets a massive up tick for the expensive speaker stands, though overall I think the resolution is probably quite modest.

Still the resolution should be good enough that you will, by careful listening, be able to tell if anything is playing or not.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Mine

pmc twenty 5 23’ speakers - £3100

cyrus dac xp signature dual mono balanced pre amp / dac - £3000

cyrus psx-r regulated power supply for dac xp - £500

cyrus mono x200 signature balanced mono power amps - £4000 (£2k each)

cyrus cd-t cd transport - £845

cyrus stream x signature tidal/upnp streamer - £1400

chord epic reference speaker wire - £600

chord signature tuned array balanced XLR interconnect between pre and mono amps- £1000

chord clearway digital on cd-t £100

chord anthem tuned array digital on streamer £250

Titan styx 6 gang star wired proprietary hi Fi power block £150

titan Helios power cable between mains and power bar - £175

titan Helios power cable between Styx and streamer (to be changed)- £175

Rack - £400

total - £15,695

Av in top

 

[davedotco]

I can call you BS, if thats ok with you?

This is much more like at as it helps immensly in assessing your credibility as a poster. I think a spend of around £9k on your 2 channel setup will definitely enable you to hear the differences between speaker and other analogue cables though I think that the overall resolution of your setup might be marginal whan it comes to digital interconnects.

I am particularly concerned that your use of unbranded XLR connectors will diminish the resolution a little, something you should look at. In any case, I think you have a bit further to go (about £6k in my estimation) before you will be able to hear the 'night and day' differences between different mains extension blocks and mains leads.

The XLR cables I have where when I brought the abrahamsen 2up and Colin at IQ speakers buys them in they are basically made out Mic cable which are sliver based but well constructed I did try a audioquest XLR cable that cost around £275 but didn’t get on well with the XLR as it made the sound so flat and odd sounding but that was with a different setup when I tried them I think it was with the abrahamsen 2up and Marantz cd8005 .

and that £6000 short fall I would spend that on some Dali epicon 6s *smile*

Further marked down for the use of microphone cable, designed for low amplitude signals of a few millivolts, not the 4 volts of output available from a typical CD players balanced output, serious miss match.

 

[jimmy1]

denon pma 720ae - £189

mission mx4 speakers - £169

interconnects - £20

speaker wire - free from a friend

dacmagic xs - £100

laptop - £279

I'll get me coat haha

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I can call you BS, if thats ok with you?

This is much more like at as it helps immensly in assessing your credibility as a poster. I think a spend of around £9k on your 2 channel setup will definitely enable you to hear the differences between speaker and other analogue cables though I think that the overall resolution of your setup might be marginal whan it comes to digital interconnects.

I am particularly concerned that your use of unbranded XLR connectors will diminish the resolution a little, something you should look at. In any case, I think you have a bit further to go (about £6k in my estimation) before you will be able to hear the 'night and day' differences between different mains extension blocks and mains leads.

The XLR cables I have where when I brought the abrahamsen 2up and Colin at IQ speakers buys them in they are basically made out Mic cable which are sliver based but well constructed I did try a audioquest XLR cable that cost around £275 but didn’t get on well with the XLR as it made the sound so flat and odd sounding but that was with a different setup when I tried them I think it was with the abrahamsen 2up and Marantz cd8005 .

and that £6000 short fall I would spend that on some Dali epicon 6s *smile*

Further marked down for the use of microphone cable, designed for low amplitude signals of a few millivolts, not the 4 volts of output available from a typical CD players balanced output, serious miss match.

what would you recommend ?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

denon pma 720ae - £189

mission mx4 speakers - £169

interconnects - £20

speaker wire - free from a friend

dacmagic xs - £100

laptop - £279

I'll get me coat haha

it’s not about how much a setup costs it’s about how good it sounds to you *smile*

 

[jimmy1]

Yes i really do enjoy it and glad it was cheap to be fair, think i'll have a old skool metal listen after tidying up a bit

 

[davedotco]

Yes i really do enjoy it and glad it was cheap to be fair, think i'll have a old skool metal listen after tidying up a bit

Further marked down for 'tidying up' before listening to heavy metal music.

Entirely inappropriate, far better to spread a few more empty glasses or coffee cups around or if possible used pizza boxes to break up early reflections.

 

[jimmy1]

haha touche

 

[Blacksabbath25]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

Anthem isn’t reference. Epic and above is I think. But I wouldn’t buy interconnects. If you want to spend on cables get two second hand decent power cables and a power block. It will do the most.

 

[CnoEvil]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

Great, if you like Chord Cables - which I don't.

 

[davedotco]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

 

[davedotco]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

Great, if you like Chord Cables - which I don't.

But that comment is awaiting evaluation.

We need to know the cost of your system before we can apply the correct weighting, otherwise we have no baseline on which to evaluate your comment.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

Great, if you like Chord Cables - which I don't.

But that comment is awaiting evaluation.

We need to know the cost of your system before we can apply the correct weighting, otherwise we have no baseline on which to evaluate your comment.

idiotic.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

What do you reckon....Chord Anthem Reference XLR - XLR Interconnect cables 1m Secondhand on eBay

I basically didn’t want to spend loads on cables but chord do one for £150

Great, if you like Chord Cables - which I don't.

well I normally go for audioquest to be honest as I like there speaker cable

 

[CnoEvil]

But that comment is awaiting evaluation.

We need to know the cost of your system before we can apply the correct weighting, otherwise we have no baseline on which to evaluate your comment.

Then you haven't being paying attention over the years. There are system threads with photos and 3 long threads discussing my main components. You are just getting Too Old for this Schiit....as I think, am I.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I do not no if this is a giant piss take or it’s serious as it took me a long time this morning to see what I’ve actually got cable wise and so on if it is a piss take it’s very nice .

 

[CnoEvil]

well I normally go for audioquest to be honest as I like there speaker cable

I like copper cables, either cheaper designs, like from Linn/Naim...or more complictated designs from Atlas and Cardas. Audioquest are also sound (Sic) IMO.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

well I normally go for audioquest to be honest as I like there speaker cable

I like copper cables, either cheaper designs, like from Linn/Naim...or more complictated designs from Atlas and Cardas. Audioquest are also sound (Sic) IMO.

is there a issue with the unbranded XLR I’ve got as it sounds all right to me I thought theses cables are made out of mic cable anyway

 

[CnoEvil]

is there a issue with the unbranded XLR I’ve got as it sounds all right to me I thought theses cables are made out of mic cable anyway

I am not trying to tell you what you should do, or that what you have isn't fine. I'm only telling you my preference. IMO. You can only come to a conclusion, by trying stuff.

One way to do this, is borrow cables at different price levels eg. Very expensive; medium expensive; budget. Insert them in your system and then evaluate the benefit (if any) that you hear.

My standard advice is, never spend more on cables, than would bring a bigger improvement, by spending that money elsewhere in the system...eg. Spending 1k on cables makes no sense, if that money could get you (say) a Linn DS.

If you "believe" you are getting a benefit, that appears to give VFM...then that is worth considering.