Interconnects - Can You Justify Them Anyone?

[admin_exported]

Dear All Valuable Readers & Experts,

I am in need for some advice. I have a pretty high end system (Musical
Fidelity KW Pre/Power and KW DAC/Transport) with very good mains cables &
conditioning throughout. My only upgrade path left really would be the interconnections.
I am pretty experienced with Hifi equipment and have an ear to hear quality
music reproduction, and have tailored my system over the years to sound like I
would imagine a reference system to sound. (A few hurdles remain)

At the moment I am using a Van Den Hul THE SECOND XLR between my DAC and
transport and Chord Signature RCA cables throughout the rest of the setup. (The
Chord Signature Cables were bought ex dem for £250 each pair)

I have been advised by a lot of people to firstly upgrade my Van Den Hul THE
SECOND XLR cable as that is the weakest link in the set up.

This I totally agree with - however the reason I post on the forum is
because I can obtain one of two XLR cables.

The Chord Anthem XLR 1m Pair - £70 - Yes I know its old but it is still a
good cable and has many plus points to it.

Or one that Chord and most HIFI stores I have spoken with recommends with my
set up:

The Chord Indigo XLR 1m Pair £1200 - Yes this is where the problem lies -
can you justify really spending that much on a cable and will the benefits (if
any) be VERY obvious or are there just subtle differences between the two
cables.

Also my friends think I am completely mad and need to seek medical attention
for spending £250 on some phono cables – wait till they hear about my latest
idea

Experts and Readers - any advice would be welc0med.

 

[John Duncan]

I personally can't imagine 1200 quid on a cable sounding better than 1200 quid on improving speakers, for example. However, I do believe in cables bringing improvement so would suggest you try to borrow some Indigos from a dealer - if they make you go 'wow' then maybe they are worth that much.........

 

[Anonymous]

I was told directly by Chord that with the Indigos its almost like having a completely new DAC inplace. But I agree with yourself - £1200 surely is better spent elsewhere than on an interconnect
I have been organising a deal to borrow the cables, fingers crossed this works and I shall let you know what happens.

 

[John Duncan]

Vinny7:I was told directly by Chord that with the Indigos its almost like having a completely new DAC inplace.

They would say that, though, wouldn't they?

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:Vinny7:
I was told directly by Chord that with the Indigos its almost like having a completely new DAC inplace.

They would say that, though, wouldn't they?

Yes, I thought that too........

 

[Anonymous]

Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near a £1200 set of cables. I can imagine buying quality components though, such as upgrading the speakers.

If it were me, and based on my own experience, I would compare those fancy cables from Chord with some Blue Jeans LC-1 interconnects. Cheap - yes, but made from high quality components, and used in high end systems as well. I would also compare the electrical characteristics of the cable as well. Am I being naive in thinking that if a £10 interconnect has the same electrical characteristics as a £100 interconnect then they must, to all intents and purposes, perform the same?

Of course, if you can spot a difference and believe in the value of the purchase, I'd say go for it.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Vinny7:
Dear All Valuable Readers & Experts,

I am in need for some advice. I have a pretty high end system (Musical
Fidelity KW Pre/Power and KW DAC/Transport) with very good mains cables &
conditioning throughout. My only upgrade path left really would be the interconnections.
I am pretty experienced with Hifi equipment and have an ear to hear quality
music reproduction, and have tailored my system over the years to sound like I
would imagine a reference system to sound. (A few hurdles remain)

At the moment I am using a Van Den Hul THE SECOND XLR between my DAC and
transport and Chord Signature RCA cables throughout the rest of the setup. (The
Chord Signature Cables were bought ex dem for £250 each pair)

I have been advised by a lot of people to firstly upgrade my Van Den Hul THE
SECOND XLR cable as that is the weakest link in the set up.

This I totally agree with - however the reason I post on the forum is
because I can obtain one of two XLR cables.

The Chord Anthem XLR 1m Pair - £70 - Yes I know its old but it is still a
good cable and has many plus points to it.

Or one that Chord and most HIFI stores I have spoken with recommends with my
set up:

The Chord Indigo XLR 1m Pair £1200 - Yes this is where the problem lies -
can you justify really spending that much on a cable and will the benefits (if
any) be VERY obvious or are there just subtle differences between the two
cables.

Also my friends think I am completely mad and need to seek medical attention
for spending £250 on some phono cables - wait till they hear about my latest
idea

Experts and Readers - any advice would be welc0med.

I'd love to be in your predicament! You will only know by trying. This is a good deal.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Chord-Indigo-Interconnects-XLR-1m-Pair_W0QQitemZ220290608972QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220290608972&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

 

[Anonymous]

Maybe the £1.2k Chord will sound a little bit better than a cable of £250 but it's a lot of money and the line has to be drawn somewhere. Personally I would stick the money in an ISA and wait for the next step-change in DACs to come along.

 

[professorhat]

Septicman:....
No comment on the thread, but you must be one of the more unpopular super heroes...

 

[John Duncan]

Oh I dunno, it worked for Tank Girl.

 

[Anonymous]

QED QUENEX 1 for me - £18 worth of cable is just as good as £1800 worth to my ears!

 

[professorhat]

Hughes123:QED QUENEX 1 for me - £18 worth of cable is just as good as £1800 worth to my ears!
Have you heard an £1,800 cable?
Surely, this is all dependent on the system you're putting it in anyway?

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:Hughes123:QED QUENEX 1 for me - £18 worth of cable is just as good as £1800 worth to my ears!
Have you heard an £1,800 cable?
Surely, this is all dependent on the system you're putting it in anyway?

Yep: I had some Nordost Valhalla for a short while because my dealer let me have it for a month as a thanks for helping them redo their demo room: It was only 1m long and it cost £2200!!! On my system, there was hardly any difference and if there was, I put most of it down to a placebo effect.

 

[Anonymous]

It costs us less to design & build, state of the art of class D amps than a 1 metre pair of copper wires, you must be mad...sorry.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all your responses, very helpful indeed.
I agree - Chord would say that their reference cable is simply sublime - however as always with Chord the customer always comes first in my experience.

They will send me a fully burned in Anthem XLR and Indigo XLR free of charge to demo for 20 days and then after which I can decide which one or neither I would like. Thats excellent customer service in my eyes and something you just do NOT get these days when dealing with many Hifi stores (I shall stop before I start another post )

I also agree there should always be a limit to how much you spend - and for me this is on my limit simple due to my financial situation. Never been a person to throw away money I struggle to make - but music is my only passion, so lets just see if its worthwhile - however if I had lots of it......then my situation changes as I am sure it will do for most people.

As mention the best way for me to decide is for a demo, so I shall post my results next month after I have spent some time with the cables..........alone........at night........maybe with a drink........anyway.........

ps Thanks for the link for a cheaper set of cables WOO!

 

[professorhat]

Hughes123:professorhat:Hughes123:QED QUENEX 1 for me - £18 worth of cable is just as good as £1800 worth to my ears!
Have you heard an £1,800 cable?
Surely, this is all dependent on the system you're putting it in anyway?

Yep: I had some Nordost Valhalla for a short while because my dealer let me have it for a month as a thanks for helping them redo their demo room: It was only 1m long and it cost £2200!!! On my system, there was hardly any difference and if there was, I put most of it down to a placebo effect.
Yes, but do you have a system which might be restrained by a less expensive cable - that was kind of the point I was making. Putting a £2,200 cable into my setup would be madness since it's only worth around £2,500 in total, but if I had a well put together system worth £25,000, then it might suddenly be an obvious improvement over a £20 or even a £1,000 lead.
I'm not arguing either side here, just saying you can't really tell unless you have a setup like the one I mention. If you do, then I take it all back, but knowing you're still at school makes me either (a) doubtful you do or (b) insanely jealous of your rich and generous parents!

 

[John Duncan]

silly:It costs us less to design & build, state of the art of class D amps than a 1 metre pair of copper wires, you must be mad...sorry.

Ooo. I had always taken your signature to mean that you own Huygens amplifiers, as opposed to make them, so have just checked out your website. Great knobs........

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan: Great knobs........

John, don't take this the wrong way, but do you have a fixation with....er....knobs?

Hobknobs, Primare knobs and now Huygens' knobs...is this foreboding anything at all?

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:

Ooo. I had always taken your signature to mean that you own Huygens amplifiers, as opposed to make them, so have just checked out your website. Great knobs........

Huygens is just two of us, he is the engineer, i'll let him know you like his knobs, hahaha.

 

[Anonymous]

silly:JohnDuncan:

Ooo. I had always taken your signature to mean that you own Huygens amplifiers, as opposed to make them, so have just checked out your website. Great knobs........

Huygens is just two of us, he is the engineer, i'll let him know you like his knobs, hahaha.

Bet he'll be as happy as a dog with two, er, knobs.......

 

[floyd droid]

Now you are realy showing your dark side Mr duncan. Whoops my secrets out too now !!. Re tank girl that is.

 

[John Duncan]

silly:JohnDuncan:

Ooo. I had always taken your signature to mean that you own Huygens amplifiers, as opposed to make them, so have just checked out your website. Great knobs........

Huygens is just two of us, he is the engineer, i'll let him know you like his knobs, hahaha.

Hey, lend me one and I'll review it for you, knobs 'n' all

 

[Anonymous]

The last one that got "lent out" I didn't get back, so no more lending out. sorry.

 

[JoelSim]

igglebert:Maybe the £1.2k Chord will sound a little bit better than a cable of £250 but it's a lot of money and the line has to be drawn somewhere. Personally I would stick the money in an ISA and wait for the next step-change in DACs to come along.

I would imagine buying a £1,200 quid cable was one of the better ways to invest your money currently.

ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

I am contemplating replacing my The Chord Company Cobra 3 analogue interconnects with The Chord Company Anthem 2 analogue interconnects. The Anthem 2's are expensive enough, as it is. In Australia, the Indio retails for AUD$2,800.00! There is no way I would pay $2,000.00 (my hi-fi dealer whom I have spent heaps of money on looks after me) for a pair of 1-metres analogue interconnects - unless I am a Millionaire, which I most definitely am not. However, it is all to do with the rest of your set-up.

I have The Chord Company Epic Super Twin loudspeaker cables for my front loudspeakers, so price-wise and recommended by The Chord Company for interconnects would be the Anthem 2.

I have always thought of hi-fi cables as tyres are to cars. Sure, any tyre with tread can do the job. However, if you have a high-performance car with a stonking big powerful engine, would you really want to put poor tyres on the car? A car that is capable of say doing the quarter-mile in under 12-seconds would need super-grippy tyres that can put all that power down instead of wheel-spinning in every gear. A car capable of high G forces during cornering needs tyres which are able to grip the road as well as power down - especially in the wet.

While I am not saying that we all need to go over-the-top with cables, I have had el-cheapo cables before, and then some decent cables, and the difference is significant.