Speaker cable advice!

[hybridauth_Google_114403288291276137908]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

That right there is the kind of advice I came looking for - I can make my own mind up. Many thanks.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

9 hours in and we are only 44 posts deep.

This is not good. Normally we are at each others throats by now.

Whats wrong?

maybe we just lost the will to carry on *bad* anyway what's happened to Vladimir not seen him on here for a long time

 

[CnoEvil]

For your own sanity, walk away from this thread now.

Best piece of Cable advice I've seen in many a year!

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Out of interest, would any potential money saved be better spent on some other peripheral system improvement? Acoustic tiles, upgraded power cords, etc?

Think about it logically. Why would changing a power cord change the sound? And if it did, why would manufacturers of decent quality hi-fi equipment supply a power cord that doesn't show off their product at it's best?

That is a blindingly good point and it has occured to me. Unless I get the chance to play with tons of different kit to dispell the myths and conduct blind tests it really would just be money wasted. Placebo effect at best until you can quantify it. 

Again, it's cool to see all of you forum-dwelling audiophiles aren't just blindly subscribing to the satus quo *drinks*

There are a few people on here that will try to convince you that power cords, and even fuses will make a difference (Ellisdj), but I think you've already realised that this is highly, highly unlikely, and any difference will not be audible to anyone but dogs.............and Ellisdj. I'm not sure which breed he is, but it's definitely a rare one. *biggrin*

One word - Cyrus!

 

[BigH]

Add a Tacima or other surge protected distributor to keep your priced toy safe.

All imho, which we all know, is the only one that counts ;-)

Not according to one user who had some air filter fried. "The brief version is that “surge protectors” in this price bracket such as Tacima, Belkin, Masterplug and the like use cheap varistors (the round blue things under the clear cover) that simply shunt surges from live onto neutral and earth, all of which remain connected to your delicate electronics. So damage is not in fact prevented. Often it’s actually made worse because electronics use the ground line as a reference voltage. In order to fully protect your valuable equipment you need to spend rather more money unfortunately."

 

[BigH]

Out of interest, would any potential money saved be better spent on some other peripheral system improvement? Acoustic tiles, upgraded power cords, etc?

Think about it logically. Why would changing a power cord change the sound? And if it did, why would manufacturers of decent quality hi-fi equipment supply a power cord that doesn't show off their product at it's best?

That is a blindingly good point and it has occured to me. Unless I get the chance to play with tons of different kit to dispell the myths and conduct blind tests it really would just be money wasted. Placebo effect at best until you can quantify it.

Again, it's cool to see all of you forum-dwelling audiophiles aren't just blindly subscribing to the satus quo *drinks*

There are a few people on here that will try to convince you that power cords, and even fuses will make a difference (Ellisdj), but I think you've already realised that this is highly, highly unlikely, and any difference will not be audible to anyone but dogs.............and Ellisdj. I'm not sure which breed he is, but it's definitely a rare one. *biggrin*

As I've said, I'm not really adverse to any new ideas but I understand it's fairly risky (probably pointless) spending actual money until I can experience said improvements. Even then, you'd be looking at minute returns in investment.

Warning heeded - I'lll be sure to watch out for him.

No, he's a nice guy, but he's a total believer in everything can make a difference, and if you start down the road he's on, you'll drive yourself mad.

You've got decent speakers, a decent amp, and when you get some decent speaker cable, you'll have a great system, so enjoy it. They'll be times when you think 'what if I change this or that', but always try to evaluate logically, and wherever possible, try before you buy.

Speakers and amps make the most difference to the sound you hear, so if you're happy with both of those, enjoy the music.

And by the way, you'll soon be approaching the point when you wish you'd never asked. *biggrin*

I feel like I've opned Pandora's box. I was just thinking, wouldn't it be cool if audiophiles could just live and let live?

Thanks for the wise words, anyway.

I would not go calling people audiophiles, some consider that an insult, its like saying you are nuts.

 

[CnoEvil]

I would not go calling people audiophiles, some consider that an insult, its like saying you are nuts.

I'd rather be called "Nuts".

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

For your own sanity, walk away from this thread now.

Well done Matty. *good*

 

[Blacksabbath25]

We are all nuts well I am *wacko**wacko**wacko*

 

[drummerman]

Add a Tacima or other surge protected distributor to keep your priced toy safe.

All imho, which we all know, is the only one that counts ;-)

Not according to one user who had some air filter fried. "The brief version is that “surge protectors” in this price bracket such as Tacima, Belkin, Masterplug and the like use cheap varistors (the round blue things under the clear cover) that simply shunt surges from live onto neutral and earth, all of which remain connected to your delicate electronics. So damage is not in fact prevented. Often it’s actually made worse because electronics use the ground line as a reference voltage. In order to fully protect your valuable equipment you need to spend rather more money unfortunately."

One user?

 

[andyjm]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

That right there is the kind of advice I came looking for - I can make my own mind up. Many thanks.

Matty,

You may have given up on this thread, but if not, something to consider.

The study of the flow of electricity along a conductor has been going on since the mid 1700s. Ampere, Volta and Ohm did their original work in the late 1700s and it has been built on ever since. The body of knowledge on this subject is both wide and deep.

Now it is always possible that a bunch of guys with little or no technical training posting on an internet forum have stumbled across a truth that so far has passed mainstream science by, but my guess is probably not.

If you want to rely on science rather than voodoo, then a bit of googling will show that the only thing that matters for a speaker cable is size. You don't need to go mad unless you plan to also use the cables to arc weld - for the length you are planning to use 2.5mmsq cross sectional area is fine. Good quality cable can be had for less than £1 per metre.

A little more googling (try to stay away from HiFi sites) will show that OFC is completely irrelevant for audio cables, and 'burn in' has nothing to do with audio cables at all.

Good luck.

 

[davedotco]

Try as many things as you can without spending money, beg and borrow what you can and see what you think.

But be aware that your hearing is extremely unreliable in normal use, sighted testing is more or less useless in determining cable differences.

Furthermore be aware that some caples are deliberately engineered to sound different, for example, some VDH cables are high impedance which rolls off the high frequencies giving a 'smooth' sound, Nordost ribbon type cables are capacitive so sound bright and 'detailed' but these effects are known because they can be measured, they are also fairly rare.

Try the cables, sometimes you just feel more 'comfortable' with a better, heavier, properly constructed cable, a bit of peace of mind can work wonders, do not underestimate it's effect.

In his heyday I have seen Peter Belt convince a roomful of enthusiasts and jounalists that sticking silver foils onto the light bulbs in the listening room improves the sound of the system, beware the mind is both powerful and unpredictable.

 

[TrevC]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Why would anyone be curious about power cords? They either work or they don't.

 

[drummerman]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Why would anyone be curious about power cords? They either work or they don't.

Probably because this is a Hifi forum.

Something you'll sadly never understand.

 

[RobinKidderminster]

Whatever links we may like to share, surely a cable seller is hardly an unbiassed authority? I am not taking sides here but how many links have been shared here from people selling complete rubbish for lots of money?

 

[iceman16]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

 

[BigH]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

 

[iceman16]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

It's what I hear and I trust my ears. and not imagination. Thumping bass in my body is not an imagination!

 

[TrevC]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Why would anyone be curious about power cords? They either work or they don't.

Probably because this is a Hifi forum.

Something you'll sadly never understand.

Do car forums obsess about the tubing that feeds the fuel to the engine? Power cords cannot, and therefore do not, affect performance. I know you are clueless about technical things but do like I do, refrain from commenting on stuff you have no clue about.

 

[TrevC]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

It's what I hear and I trust my ears. and not imagination. Thumping bass in my body is not an imagination!

It's your imagination, silly.

 

[Blacksabbath25]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

It's what I hear and I trust my ears. and not imagination. Thumping bass in my body is not an imagination!

It's your imagination, silly.

the only person on here who is silly is you TrevC ! This site is about Hifi and cables are part of Hifi whether you think this is wrong or not .

if iceman knows he can hear a difference then you have to respect that and not going round each thread putting the spanner in the works on everyone threads on this Site everyone on this site has opinion respect that ! You seem to have fun turning a thread into an argument the OP asked a simple question which out of the 2 cables do you think is best I am sure the OP did not want this thread to turn into a 300 post thread he just wanted a simple question answered !

Because at this rate we are just going to put off new members a specially when it turn into a war of words

 

[Native_bon]

Cables are very tricky things. Cables sometimes do different things in different systems. Some times they make no change at all to the sound. Most mains conditionals I have borrowed and tried actually made my system sound worst as in clinical sounding.

I still use Russ Andrew's crystal 24 speaker cables( bought second hand) till today. Tried lot of other cables and dnt see the need to change. Did I waste my money?.. may be. Are there well made, yes. Are they made to last yes. Am happy.

 

[TrevC]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

It's what I hear and I trust my ears. and not imagination. Thumping bass in my body is not an imagination!

It's your imagination, silly.

the only person on here who is silly is you TrevC ! This site is about Hifi and cables are part of Hifi whether you think this is wrong or not .

if iceman knows he can hear a difference then you have to respect that and not going round each thread putting the spanner in the works on everyone threads on this Site everyone on this site has opinion respect that ! You seem to have fun turning a thread into an argument the OP asked a simple question which out of the 2 cables do you think is best I am sure the OP did not want this thread to turn into a 300 post thread he just wanted a simple question answered !

Because at this rate we are just going to put off new members a specially when it turn into a war of words

Facts are facts. Sorry if you don't like them, but I think you will find most people prefer fact to fantasy even on a forum like this.

 

[iceman16]

- Ref power cords etc: Pretty cool suggestions. If I only spend a small amount that makes me less of a raving lunatic - I'm not harming anybody, right?

Either way, you seem like a pretty level head and maybe I have been exposed to one side of the argument a little more than the other.

If you are curious about Power Cords, give Darren of Clearer Audio a ring, as they do a 60 day trial. http://www.cleareraudio.com/

Hi Cno..Just replaced my Chord powerchord (3x 1.5mm2) to ViaBlue X40 mains cable (3x 4mm2) conductors and yes there's a difference in bass, more fuller and tighter.

Is that fact? Or is it your imagination?

It's what I hear and I trust my ears. and not imagination. Thumping bass in my body is not an imagination!

It's your imagination, silly.

What would other forum members I expect from you TrevC? silly? Im just expressing my experience with system I thought more relatively transparent and revealing than yours.

Been here for couple of years in this forum but no one told me "Who Do Ya Think Yo Are"

Thanks

 

[TrevC]

Most mains conditionals I have borrowed and tried actually made my system sound worst as in clinical sounding.

There is no point is such things, but it isn't possible they made the sound worse or better.