Studio Grade?

[stiffy]

Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my speaker cables and am considering Chord Carnival Silver Screen but am concerned it could be a bit bright.

Someone has recommended Van Damme Blue Series cable which is 'studio grade.' What does that mean and has anyone tried it? It's very cheap at only £2.00 per metre and I'm left wondering if it's too good to be true.

Thanks

John

 

[Andrew Everard]

Apparently some recording studios do use the company's cables, but 'studio grade' is just a marketing tag.

 

[chebby]

Just in case you are concerned about silver being too 'bright', don't worry. Chord Carnival SilverScreen is not silver (not silver plated either) it is multi-stranded OFC copper.

The silver is only in the name and not the cable.

 

[drummerman]

As far as I know, it means very little. Cables in studio applications, as long as they carry signal and shield sufficiently, are less subject to 'audiophilia' or, in the extreme ... 'esoterica'.

This doesn't mean I don't believe cables make a difference, just that it sometimes has less to do with outright price than down to earth construction. Having said that, good construction and plenty of copper does cost a little ...

Add to that different electrical behaviour of different varieties of amplifiers, throw in the loudspeaker and the consequent interaction a speaker cable can have ... and things are not straight forward. Having said that, most mainstream manufacturers seem to build their amps to be far less fussy/more stable than years ago.

Personally I always have used a relatively thick, stranded and spaced copper conductor cable. I either like a system with it or not and don't have the inclanation to try a hundred different ones to get 'the sound right'. Again though, I would be more than willing, if suggested by a particular manufacturer or dealer, to try an alternative to see if it makes a difference, especially if I spend a lot of money on it.

As always, my opinion only.

 

[bretty]

I have the 6mm version. It's all you'll need. It will take away some brightness from systems that suffer from it (my old system, with a Cyrus 2 amp did). It's very good cable. I'd say try it before looking at more expensive stuff.

 

[aliEnRIK]

stiffy:
Hi,

I'm looking to upgrade my speaker cables and am considering Chord Carnival Silver Screen but am concerned it could be a bit bright.

Someone has recommended Van Damme Blue Series cable which is 'studio grade.' What does that mean and has anyone tried it? It's very cheap at only £2.00 per metre and I'm left wondering if it's too good to be true.

Thanks

John

Id recommend the Van Damme UP LC-OFC over the blue series (higher grade copper and definitely better than the blue)

That said. Ive heard they 'may' be changing all grades to UP LC-OFC (Unconfirmed as yet)

The UP LC-OFC grade is used in recording studios including the well known 'Abbey Road'

If you shop around online youll probably find you can get it cheaper than the blue (I did)