Speaker cable upgrade?

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I have had my Yamaha RXV3900 and Monitor Audio RS6-AV Speaker package since August last year, I have connected the Sub with a Chord Crimson cable and the Speakers with Chord Carnival Silver Screen cable and have been fairly happy, but as I have a spare bit of cash now I was hoping for some suggestions with regards to upgrading my cables, does anybody have any suggestions or should I just keep what I already have? Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[Anonymous]

You could try further up the Chord range, like the odyssey. Good second hand deals on ebay, and it will give a more open and balanced sound

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks I will have a look. What about upgrading the sub cable or is it not worth bothering?

 

[Pistol Pete1]

After having the Chord Silverscreen, and recently upgrading to the Odyssey 2, I can safely say it's a GREAT upgrade.......

In fact, it has made my system sound completely different....in a good way.

Clear, open dialogue and detail galore.......with a full bodied bass and mid. It has made music and tv/blu ray sound so much more natural and realistic.

As for sub cable, I changed from a QED Qunex SW-P to a QED Signature recently (offer was on, at the time). Again, it was a very noticable upgrade which added more depth and precision in the bass notes. It also made bass notes have more clarity and the varying frequencies were more apparent too....

Hope that helps....

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you very much also for the reply Pistol Pete, I am going to have a look on ebay to see if I can get some Chord Odyssey 2 cheap.

 

[Pistol Pete1]

That's actually where I got mine........didn't cost much to bi amp the fronts and single amp the centre speaker really.

Good hunting......

 

[Anonymous]

That exactly what is was going to do, as you can use the Yamaha 3900 to bi-amp the front speakers if you dont use the rear effects. Is the difference very noticable? Do you think it would be worth stretching for the Chord Epic, however I only use my system for Sky HD and Bluray not music?

 

[Pistol Pete1]

I notice most who are ungrading from the Odyssey 2, tend to be upgrading to the Epic. I also hear positive reports with that upgrade, but I read one person felt the improvement was bigger from Silverscreen to Odyssey compared with Odyssey to Epic.

Again, it will obviously depend on ears and other parts of your system, but for my system, the Odyssey 2 was just fine....(not heard the Epic, personally)

As for bi amping....I do it to optimise my systems SQ. Is it better to bi amp? Don't know really as never done a comparing test....but for an extra £20-30, I just did it anyway!!

Some do say bi amping is a more dynamic sound though???

 

[Anonymous]

From the web sites of 3 well-known and respected hi-fi manufacturers:

"Always use heavy duty (16 gauge; 1.5mm, or thicker) stranded wire to connect loudspeakers."

"Specialist audio cable will usually offer better performance than general purpose 'bell' or 'zip' wire. [...] Chose a cable of suitable diameter - cable that is too thin will limit the dynamics of the sound and may impare bass response."

"[...] use 2.5mm2 multi stranded copper cable. It is readily available from large numbers of suppliers."

 

[JoelSim]

Fahnsen:
From the web sites of 3 well-known and respected hi-fi manufacturers:

"Always use heavy duty (16 gauge; 1.5mm, or thicker) stranded wire to connect loudspeakers."

"Specialist audio cable will usually offer better performance than general purpose 'bell' or 'zip' wire. [...] Chose a cable of suitable diameter - cable that is too thin will limit the dynamics of the sound and may impare bass response."

"[...] use 2.5mm2 multi stranded copper cable. It is readily available from large numbers of suppliers."

I have tried unbranded 6mm copper cable, professionally terminated and it wasn't a patch on Odyssey 2 or Kimber 4tc in detail or dynamics.