Which interconnect?

[evripidis33]

Hi all,
I want to buy new interconnect., but I don't know what to buy.
I could use some help.
I have:
CD player: Marantz SA8003 (Cost about 900 Euro in 2010)
AV receiver: Denon avr 4310 (cost about 1800 Euro in 2010)
Speakers: Monitor Audio GS20

Can you please tell me which interconnect I should buy?
I'm thinking of the following:
Wireworld Oasis 6 (current price: 116,96 GBP)
QED Signature Audio S (current price: 225,00 GBP)

Any other suggestions?
I heard very good words about Wireworld cable and even better about the QED cable.
Should I give 108 GBP more for the QED? Is it worth?
I like all kinds of music. Midrange is important for me. I listen also to Rock music.
I hope you will help.
Thanks in advance.

 

[abacus]

This is all you need http://www.thatcable.com/product/2-to-2-RCA-Male-Phono-Interconnect-Cable-Lead anything more is a waste of money as they will make no difference.

Do a search on the WHF forums for more details, as it’s quite a popular topic.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[Anonymous]

This is all you need http://www.thatcable.com/product/2-to-2-RCA-Male-Phono-Interconnect-Cable-Lead anything more is a waste of money as they will make no difference.

Do a search on the WHF forums for more details, as it’s quite a popular topic.

Hope this helps

Bill

Understatement of the year

 

[evripidis33]

I don't know.... If what you say Bill is true, then the QED Signature Audio S costs 225 GBP for no reason?

 

[radiorog]

i noticed a massive difference between my old cambridge ones for £20 and Atlas questors. Huge difference. I def wouldnt trust a cable costing £5. I'd have to hear it first.

 

[p_m_brown]

To the OP,

You will find a few users of this forum who will swear blind that interconnects and speaker cable upgrades are like snake oil and are a waste of money.

I disagree and I have heard good improvements on modest and mid range systems with such upgrades, especially interconnects. I have had good success with Chord Chameleon (circa £120) which to my ears definitely improved the soundstage, detail, midrange and bass weight.

Don't spend a fortune though as it appears to be sensible to budget around 10% of your system cost for wiring.

At this point, I'm ducking out before the non believers try to burn me at the stake...

 

[evripidis33]

Thank you for your suggestion p_m_brown. I was thinking to buy Wireworld Oasis 6 (circa £120), about same price as Chord Chameleon. Maybe I shouldn't pay more then.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

Hi Evripidis

I'll recommend using a basic interconnect.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[pauln]

I would suggest doing some reading on the subject before you spend a lot of money. There's plenty of discussion on this forum and others about such things as expectation bias and double blind testing - and whether or not you can trust your ears!

Here http://www.thenoizeworks.co.uk/1-metre-twin-phono-phono-cable-237-p.asp is a perfectly good interconnect made from Van Damme cable and professional quality Neutrik connectors, widely used in the audio industry and it's £10.99

 

[BigH]

I would borrow some from a dealers or get them on trial so you can send back if you don't think they are worth it. Doing blind tests is the best way to check them. If you buy mail order then you have 7 days to return them. Try the Van Damme they make cables for studios and concert halls etc and don't tend to have the hifi market mark-ups on prices.

 

[Inter_Voice]

To the OP,

You will find a few users of this forum who will swear blind that interconnects and speaker cable upgrades are like snake oil and are a waste of money.

I disagree and I have heard good improvements on modest and mid range systems with such upgrades, especially interconnects. I have had good success with Chord Chameleon (circa £120) which to my ears definitely improved the soundstage, detail, midrange and bass weight.

Don't spend a fortune though as it appears to be sensible to budget around 10% of your system cost for wiring.

At this point, I'm ducking out before the non believers try to burn me at the stake...

+1

From my personal experience there is definitely sonic differences between a £5 and a £100 interconnect. BUT a £100 and a £500 interconnect will have miminal sonic improvements even rig it up with very high ended systems. Therefore don't spent too much on interconnects and I consider that something over £100 will not be cost effective and justifiable for the spending.

 

[SiUK]

Even 21 years ago the £20 cable vs £200 was debated ad nauseum (I.e wether spending more improved the SQ in any way etc.) and many so called audiophiles clambered out of their listening pits to produce a lot of pseudo scientific evidence as to the truth about them not making or making a difference for the benefit of all us common numpty listeners... I am fortunate as my tolerance for bull excrement and technowaffle is low and so I decided to ignore all all the enervating, pretentious and confusing claptrap and make my own mind up (always the best idea). In the end I was kindly loaned some cables to test by a few well kinown hi-fi outlets (in Bristol and Wales) where I'd purchased my spearates from and tested some cables (speaker cable and interconnects) with four friends at home. Without a doubt every one of us (and especially my wife...she hated the chord cables) could tell the difference between cables costing £6-8 and ones costing £200. We discovered that every cable changed the 'character' of the sound to some degree or another, some not for the better, but then spending more clearly didn't always produce the best results either as an expensive pair of stranded Chord silver interconnects proved to be very harsh and bright even though they opened up the sound ...no one liked them...yet they were the most expensive! Even a proud skeptic like myself conceded to the reality that cable affects SQ but I also discovered the only way to make your mind up was to listen for yourself. Stranded vs solid core? Mains cable vs £250 per metre speaker cable? Your own ears and brain have to be the judge. It entirely depends on you, the equipment you use, the cable, the environment your hi-fi is in, and how much you really care about modest improvements.

If you are still confused my advice is to borrow some cables, cheap and cheerful ones and a few others from a local hi-fi store and see what you can live with. With everything above said though, I have to say that over the years I am now certain that solid core cable produces the best SQ in almost every case...well to my ears. Even hooking up solid core mains cable to speaker terminals produces a good sound, but then it looks pig ugly and most people don't want their nice hi-fi to look like it just came out of a skip. Enjoy!

 

[Inter_Voice]

Even 21 years ago the £20 cable vs £200 was debated ad nauseum (I.e wether spending more improved the SQ in any way etc.) and many so called audiophiles clambered out of their listening pits to produce a lot of pseudo scientific evidence as to the truth about them not making or making a difference for the benefit of all us common numpty listeners... I am fortunate as my tolerance for bull excrement and technowaffle is low and so I decided to ignore all all the enervating, pretentious and confusing claptrap and make my own mind up (always the best idea). In the end I was kindly loaned some cables to test by a few well kinown hi-fi outlets (in Bristol and Wales) where I'd purchased my spearates from and tested some cables (speaker cable and interconnects) with four friends at home. Without a doubt every one of us (and especially my wife...she hated the chord cables) could tell the difference between cables costing £6-8 and ones costing £200. We discovered that every cable changed the 'character' of the sound to some degree or another, some not for the better, but then spending more clearly didn't always produce the best results either as an expensive pair of stranded Chord silver interconnects proved to be very harsh and bright even though they opened up the sound ...no one liked them...yet they were the most expensive! Even a proud skeptic like myself conceded to the reality that cable affects SQ but I also discovered the only way to make your mind up was to listen for yourself. Stranded vs solid core? Mains cable vs £250 per metre speaker cable? Your own ears and brain have to be the judge. It entirely depends on you, the equipment you use, the cable, the environment your hi-fi is in, and how much you really care about modest improvements.

If you are still confused my advice is to borrow some cables, cheap and cheerful ones and a few others from a local hi-fi store and see what you can live with. With everything above said though, I have to say that over the years I am now certain that solid core cable produces the best SQ in almost every case...well to my ears. Even hooking up solid core mains cable to speaker terminals produces a good sound, but then it looks pig ugly and most people don't want their nice hi-fi to look like it just came out of a skip. Enjoy!

Well said :clap:

 

[bluedroog]

I could honestly never be bothered to A/B test cables. In my opinion there are differences, certainly between a low grade freebie cable and a properly gauged, insulated and terminated ones. That said I think once you go from anything well designed regardless of price the differences become far more subtle and certainly in terms of price performance ratio become bad value for money unless you're running a very high end system then of course it is all relative and spending £300+ on cables is all proportionate to the cost of the system.

Personally I went for Mark Grant cables as I've not heard a bad work spoken about them, they are UK based, are well made and sensible money. I have no regrets and feel no desire to change.

 

[ellisdj]

http://www.gspaudio.co.uk/lautus-audio-interconnect.htm

The above is All you need mate - available with a home demo service as well if you contact them.

 

[evripidis33]

Thank you all for your answers! It's so nice that you took some time to help me. I think I will go for the Van Damme cable and if I am not satisfied, then I will probably buy Wireworld Oasis 6 for £116,96.

Thanks so much!!

 

[Inter_Voice]

Thank you all for your answers! It's so nice that you took some time to help me. I think I will go for the Van Damme cable and if I am not satisfied, then I will probably buy Wireworld Oasis 6 for £116,96.

Thanks so much!!

Van Damme is a value for the money cable. I have tried it before and the sonic quality is comparable to those £100+ cable.