Speaker cables, interconnects, and kettle leads

[SteveR750]

Having got the hardware in place, I am thinking about upgrading the cables. System is Cyrus CD6SE, Sony TC-KE400s cassette deckKandy K2 and Spendor S6e. I am using Chord cobra interconnects between the CD and amp, and some cambridge audio ones that i bought from richer sounds 3-4 years ago between the tape deck and amp. Speaker cable is the cheapest QED that is open at both ends, speakers are not bi-wired.

What reccomendations does anyone have on upgrading speaker cable, and secondly the CD - amp interconnects?. I need about 2m length runs, and a still not entirely convinced of the sonic value for money of bi-wiring....

 

[Anonymous]

Your cables are fine, and biwiring makes no difference.

However, I'm sure you'll get plenty of advice otherwise. ÿ

 

[Don Guess]

I agree with Tarquinh. Save your money or spend it on music..

 

[chebby]

The core system components you list all seem to be award winners - and I assume you like the sound of them together - also you have some highly rated Chord interconnects, so what changes are you aiming to achieve with newer/upgraded cables?

 

[SteveR750]

chebby:
The core system components you list all seem to be award winners - and I assume you like the sound of them together - also you have some highly rated Chord interconnects, so what changes are you aiming to achieve with newer/upgraded cables?

Simply to make sure that I am getting the best out of the investment - the speaker cable is "budget" and therefore might be veiling some of the openess and dynamics that the hardware is capable of. Of course in principle the sound quality to my ears is deeply impressive - more so than a friends system of ATC amp, audiolab 8000 transport and DAC and B&W CM4s. Maybe the question ought to e what kind of benefit might I get from upgrading to a better cable, and kettle leads. I don't want to buy anything until I have some idea of what to expect.....

 

[chebby]

See the advice your speaker manufacturer provides concerning bi-wiring...

http://www.spendoraudio.com/HTML/questions2.html

It seems they don't recommend it, and favour single runs of good quality, low resistance cable. (And yet they provide bi-wire terminals which shows a lack of conviction in their own advice!)

I would suggest a good quality OFC, shielded, multi-stranded, copper speaker cable with about 2.5mm - 4mm cross section of copper per conductor.

Get your dealer to solder some decent spade or banana plugs on for neatness and to eliminate risk of shorting.

I am sure the Cobra is fine but swap in the cheaper leads (the ones you are using for the tape deck) to the CD just to see if they sound better.

 

[SteveR750]

Thanks for that. What about kettle leads?

 

[JoelSim]

You don't have to buy anything yet. Let the system settle in, and then you have some time to ponder what you want from your upgrades in due course.

 

[Anonymous]

hi,

so you think biwiring makes no difference,i always feel you get a clearer top end.

Just my opinion,would be interested what your opinions are

 

[matengawhat]

i would only bi wire if biamping otherwise i would spend twice as much on single runsand buy better cables

 

[SteveR750]

My experiece of bi-wiring is that it does indeed yield improvements, and that was with my NAD / DM602 S3 set up, let alone the new one. However, in the grand scheme of things we are talking quite subtle improvements, and certainly IMO not worth spending a huge amount of cash on - hence the original question.

 

[aliEnRIK]

Biwiring made quite a difference to my old Missions I used to have. And clearly the manufacturers supply twin terminals for BI AMPING (Which really does make a world of difference)

Note also the website (As all do and I find this odd) ~ states they prefer a decent run of single cables rather then POORER QUALITY twin cables! Well duh!

Using the SAME cable twice generally reaps benefits

Mains cables have made a hugh difference to my system. But most people buy branded cheap ones which dont make much of a difference.