How much for Interconnects and Speaker Cable??

[Jason36]

Hi guys,

If I am spending £1,500 on an Amp, £1,400 on a CD Player and £1,500 to £2,000 on speakers.....how much should I realistically look to spend on interconnects and speaker cable??

I was probably thinking along the lines of up to £150.00 on an interconnect and maybe up to £25.00 meter on speaker cable.....is this likely to be overkill??

 

[seasiders rock]

bottom of the page, as little as possible.

google silver hi breed for interconnects, less than £30, unless you want the fancy packing, pay the makers profit, the dealers profit etc.

speaker cable about £2.50 to £3 mt, atlas hyper , silver hi breed etc....

 

[JoelSim]

Jason36:

Hi guys,

If I am spending £1,500 on an Amp, £1,400 on a CD Player and £1,500 to £2,000 on speakers.....how much should I realistically look to spend on interconnects and speaker cable??

I was probably thinking along the lines of up to £150.00 on an interconnect and maybe up to £25.00 meter on speaker cable.....is this likely to be overkill??

No it's not overkill. Standard practice is about 10% of total spend on cables. There are, however, many cable detractors. I haven't heard the SHBs that people have been talking about but the last 'big thing', the Gotham interconnect received less than decent reviews by the WHF team so we all need to keep an open mind.

 

[seasiders rock]

google silver hi breed.

read the comments and be amazed.

 

[d_a_n1979]

It all depends pon musical tastes and the speakers as well.

I've found that silver cables work very well but they can be harsh and too bright when partnered with the wtong speakers (i.e. QED Silver Anniversary etc...)

On the otherhand good copper cabling (i.e. Chord Carnival Silverscreen / Chord intercvonnects) etc work very well with the same system with better, improved bass and smoother treble etc...

I appreciate that the Silver cable as mentioned above gets good reviews but it's like the rest of your system; you could do to demo the system with various cables so you know whats best for you.

 

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with your budget for cables, but the budget for your components is WRONG!

If you have £5,000 to spend, then I would split it as:

£2,000 CD player

£2,000 Amp

£1,000 Speakers

Some will disagree, but demo a combo like this against your proposed system and I think I know which you'll choose in the end...

 

[Anonymous]

Azim1979:

Nothing wrong with your budget for cables, but the budget for your components is WRONG!

If you have £5,000 to spend, then I would split it as:

£2,000 CD player

£2,000 Amp

£1,000 Speakers

Some will disagree, but demo a combo like this against your proposed system and I think I know which you'll choose in the end...

I agree with OP's split and disagree with yours - more should be spent on speakers IMO as they make the most difference past a certain threshold (once you are beyond 'budget' range components).

Interconnect: Look into Silver High Breed Coherence LE - cheap and plain amazing.

Speaker Cable: Try Odyssey 2 (or 4 for biwiring). Great cable. Very very thick copper conductors coated with silver.

 

[Thaiman]

I really hate posting in cable thread but as I have nothing else to do at the moment!

Don't look at the price of cables as in percentage of your system but look at it as a little tweak that MAY help bringing the best sound out of your system. if a pair of £20 QED suited to the rig, you have no need to spend any more, look at it the other way round though, if £1000 per metre cables can upgrade the sound of your system beyond other hardware ever could then you might be able to justify the price tag. Before go off to the shop with a gold card, try to understand the logic behide "Audio grade cables" first, keep talking to your common sense while you demo and don't rush into the first metre that dealer recommend.

 

[gbhsi1]

Spend as much as you want here. Never ever skimp on cables and interconnects- they are so vital in shaping your overall sound and bringing out the best from your equipment. I love cables & yes, they do make a difference.

 

[Anonymous]

Thaiman:

I really hate posting in cable thread but as I have nothing else to do at the moment!

Don't look at the price of cables as in percentage of your system but look at it as a little tweak that MAY help bringing the best sound out of your system. if a pair of £20 QED suited to the rig, you have no need to spend any more, look at it the other way round though, if £1000 per metre cables can upgrade the sound of your system beyond other hardware ever could then you might be able to justify the price tag. Before go off to the shop with a gold card, try to understand the logic behide "Audio grade cables" first, keep talking to your common sense while you demo and don't rush into the first metre that dealer recommend.

Great advise there..

 

[Anonymous]

Thaiman:
I really hate posting in cable thread but as I have nothing else to do at the moment!

Don't look at the price of cables as in percentage of your system but look at it as a little tweak that MAY help bringing the best sound out of your system. if a pair of £20 QED suited to the rig, you have no need to spend any more, look at it the other way round though, if £1000 per metre cables can upgrade the sound of your system beyond other hardware ever could then you might be able to justify the price tag. Before go off to the shop with a gold card, try to understand the logic behide "Audio grade cables" first, keep talking to your common sense while you demo and don't rush into the first metre that dealer recommend.

The oracle has spoken........excellent answer......

 

[pwiles1968]

On top of any cables you decide on I would recommend A Filtered Mains Block such as Lindy/Tachima, you may also like to look at replacing the Standard Mains Leads.

 

[Jason36]

Thanks guys,

I have recently domo'd three systems and will be making a decision shortly, the systems are:

Cyrus Pre / Power Combo with CD8SE and Spendor A6 speakers - total cost £4,500

Moon I-3RS Amp and Equinox CD Player with Tannoy Dimension DC8 Speakers - Total Cost £4,070 (Both the amp and CD are ex demo so half price £1k a box (bargain) and 20% off the Tannoy speakers usually £2,500 down to £2,000) - This system I love!!!

Sugden A21 amp and CD21 with Monitor Audio GS20 speakers - Total Cost £4,533 (although I am trying some ProAc and standmount MA's as well)

At the end of the day it is coming down to the Sugden and Moon setups.........Maybe leaning more to the Moon as this is just an amazing deal on a system that should cost £6,500!!!!!

I ask about cables because I demo'd the Spendors with the Sugden and just found them to restricted, vocals sounded like the artist was singing into a paperbag and just sounded terrible, but the MA's just seemed to open up the sound and sounded brighter.

Now obviously I am not likely to buy bright speaker cable and interconnects with the MA and Sugden setup.....but then on the flip side..when I move and my room is likely to consist of wooden floors and open plan lound / kitchen with blinds (modern appartment) the MA's may sound to bright and the Spendors could or might sound better.

Who would have thought that enjoying music would be so difficult and confusing lol.

 

[Anonymous]

Well with my current setup, I use £1,900 exposure pre/power amps and have tried it with about 10 different speakers ranging in price from £200 MS20i to £2500 Celestion A3 and I have to say the best sound came from using my current £900 MS40 Classics and similar sounding £1,200 Epos ES22s.

I trust an article I read in Hifi World magazine, when the editor wrote he lost count of the number of £1,000 speakers that sound better than speakers cost 3 times as much!

Its all about system synergy, back in the 1990s, whf? reviews were far better and they often recommended spending the most on the CDP, then the amp, then the speakers. I remember a recommendation of the 1990s by whf? as £1,600 exposure 17/18 pre/power amps with £400 Epos ES11 being part of a best recommended system for £3,500.

In my experience, at mid to high end territory, amps make the biggest instant difference, CD players make the biggest difference over long term listening.

Good quality speakers often getting just 4 stars (because they're difficult to drive say) can sound much better than 5 star speakers costing twice as much if they have superior amplification. But picking them out though is the real trick...

 

[JoelSim]

I would go for the very best system to you, and if you are moving to a wooden floored house with little soft funishing then don;t go near the Cyrus or MAs.

At the end of the day, it's not about how much budget you spend but what makes the best sound to you. Go with you ears and buy the Moon/Tannoy set-up. And given you are spending loads see if you can get some good cables thrown in or discounted. Personally spending that amount of money I would be looking at Nordost cables or suchlike to bring out the very best sound. And then follow it up with Nordost mains leads. Controversial, but once you've heard it you won't regret it.

If you can't get something thrown in then there's always plenty around second hand on fleabay, and if you don't like the sound you can sell on without a loss.

That's my 4 grand's worth anyway.

Joel

PS have a listen to some Kudos speakers, C2, C10 or C20.

 

[Jason36]

Hi JoelSim,

I keep coming back to the Moon setup, this really did produce the best sound to my ears. The soundstage with the Tannoy's was wide and engaging. Mark Lannegans vocals have never sounded so gravilly. The seperation between the low, mid and high ranges was spot on and it sounded like the bands were in the room with me.

I think you mentioned the Nordost cables on a previous post of mine and yes I would be looking to upgrade the mains cables and leads in due course, or at least demo and see what a difference they make.

When I move, I will do a seperate demo with the speakers again and would also like to try the Dali Mentor 1's, ATC SCM40's, Tannoy Dimension DC8, Dali mentor 5 & 6 and focal-JM lab Chorus.

 

[Anonymous]

Thaiman:
I really hate posting in cable thread but as I have nothing else to do at the moment!

Don't look at the price of cables as in percentage of your system but look at it as a little tweak that MAY help bringing the best sound out of your system. if a pair of £20 QED suited to the rig, you have no need to spend any more, look at it the other way round though, if £1000 per metre cables can upgrade the sound of your system beyond other hardware ever could then you might be able to justify the price tag. Before go off to the shop with a gold card, try to understand the logic behide "Audio grade cables" first, keep talking to your common sense while you demo and don't rush into the first metre that dealer recommend.

Couldn't agree with you more! One of the best cable advice that made some real sense.

 

[chebby]

It also depends on whether the manufacturer makes cables that are optimised or 'voiced' for their own systems.

I am thinking of Naim specifically. (Given that is what I use). I would be loathe to use anything other than their own interconnect for the CD player and NAC A5 for the speakers.

At first I had my doubts, but the synergy between the CD and amp (using their own DIN cable) is superb and I also had doubts about the NAC A5 cable - with soldered Naim connectors - until I tried it.

I don't know which other companies make/source their own cables (apart from Rega and Linn) but I would certainly heed the manufacturer's own recommendations wherever applicable.

I am not going to get into mains cables. It is a minefield! (I preferred the old days when mains leads were 'captive' and such debates could not exist except for electrically competent DIYers.)

 

[Anonymous]

In my experience surge&spike protection is a lot more important than cables i use a monster hts900 with some of my equipment and i might just get another for the rest. however some other surge protectors will be just as good.

As for cables 5-15% of your budget will do . some cables are way over hyped start with a vivanco sound and image move up to a monster cable etc if you are not happy.

i myself got a chord cobra awhile ago and i am 50/50 happy with it while compared to cheaper while good cable brands out there.

A good solid cable with good spec good copper and good overall build is much better than how nice it looks .