What ancillary do you think makes the biggest difference to the sound?

[Audioholic]

Interconnect, speaker cable mains lead or mains purification?

 

[Andrew Everard]

Yes, in that order...

 

[John Duncan]

Amp

 

[Andrew Everard]

As KC would say, schoolboy error: failing to read the question correctly

 

[the record spot]

And he's responsible for the techy bits. God love us.

 

[Anonymous]

electricity

 

[Andrew Everard]

Again, not in the question. You'd be hopeless on Millionaire...

 

[Anonymous]

electricity makes the biggest difference followed by air

 

[Anonymous]

Oh dear!!!!

 

[jase fox]

Mains leads first

 

[JoelSim]

jase fox:Mains leads first

I'm with you Jase. My Nordost on my CDP made a bigger difference than the others, although I/C runs it close.

 

[John Duncan]

Andrew Everard:As KC would say, schoolboy error: failing to read the question correctly

Nope, read the question fine...

 

[Anonymous]

How about your ears?

 

[jase fox]

JoelSim:
jase fox:Mains leads first

I'm with you Jase. My Nordost on my CDP made a bigger difference than the others, although I/C runs it close.

Ye definately Joel, now years ago before i got into the mains cable upgrades i would go for I/C then speaker cables, but from my experience mains cables make the most noticeable improvements so i,d recommend to anyone who's starting out in home cinema/hifi etc to start here first , without a doubt.

 

[Dave_]

jase fox:JoelSim:
jase fox:Mains leads first

I'm with you Jase. My Nordost on my CDP made a bigger difference than the others, although I/C runs it close.

Ye definately Joel, now years ago before i got into the mains cable upgrades i would go for I/C then speaker cables, but from my experience mains cables make the most noticeable improvements so i,d recommend to anyone who's starting out in home cinema/hifi etc to start here first , without a doubt.Guess that depend's on how poor your main's are in the first place!!

As in my own system mains cables have made a difference,but not significantly,like some of you report.I/C and speaker cables have always made the greatest difference for me....

 

[JoelSim]

My speaker cable upgrade from QED SA XT to Chord Odyssey made very little difference. I would have gone for something more expensive but I needed 12m as I biamp.

 

[jase fox]

daveh75:jase fox:JoelSim:
jase fox:Mains leads first

I'm with you Jase. My Nordost on my CDP made a bigger difference than the others, although I/C runs it close.

Ye definately Joel, now years ago before i got into the mains cable upgrades i would go for I/C then speaker cables, but from my experience mains cables make the most noticeable improvements so i,d recommend to anyone who's starting out in home cinema/hifi etc to start here first , without a doubt.Guess that depend's on how cr*ppy your main's are in the first place!!

As in my own system mains cables have made a difference,but not significantly,like some of you report.I/C and speaker cables have always made the greatest difference for me....

I'll definately go along with this Dave, as yes it does depend on how dirty your mains supply is in the 1st place. After i started using specialist mains cables when ive demo'd other speaker cables & I/C like with Joel they havnt made much of a difference as i guess thats down to the fact my mains cables have done the job.

 

[JoelSim]

As I've said many times (boringly), my Nordost Shiva was an absolute revelation, and only plugged into a Tacima. I dread to think how good the Valhalla is.

 

[the record spot]

Or expensive...

 

[crusaderlord]

For my system the best upgrades were in order :-

Speaker Stands
Mains Cable
Speaker Cable
Tacima Filter
Interconnect - i have tried many from £10 to £250 but after the £50 mark nothing else made any real difference at all
Isolation Platforms - small improvement to bass but made it all look nicer too

 

[Anonymous]

In descending order

Speaker cable

Hifi rack

Speaker Stand plinths

Interconnects

Rewiring the house

 

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on what you want to spend and what you've already got.....

If you already have half decent i/c's then I would get mains cables for sure...... I have always found upgrading these makes a big difference - but as some others say, that may depend on your mains supply ..... unfortunately I appear to have always had a poor supply as these make a big difference wherever I have lived!

Otherwise, if you have the budget, why not spend some of it on each, to balance out where you get improvements across the board!

 

[the record spot]

I'd go with interconnects first and then speaker cables.

I'd suggest that those who don't think the interconnects don't make as big a difference have maybe tried like for like sounding cables (from different manufacturers) perhaps? I used to have Nordost Blue Heavens which were about £100 a set, too bright and fizzy; ick! Swapped them for my current Audioquest Copperhead and there was a significant difference.

Mains cables, well, I have heard anything that really makes a huge difference. Fine tinkering maybe, but it seems it all depends on the quality of your mains supply. I remain to be convinced though as I've only ever stayed in large towns or cities with good power provision.

 

[Anonymous]

Wine.

 

[lee37]

having just upgraded mine recently i would have to say speaker cables then interconnect.

i went from:-

chord rumour 2 to odyssey 2

qed audio 2 to chord cobra 3

and i noticed a big difference in both and even the wife did so she couldnt complain about me wasting more money!!!!