[princeclassic]

heartlandcables.com seems to have some of the best prices on cables using canare parts....

signalcable.com also has nice prices but i don't like how they don't list the model cable they use....just connectors...

 

[Sovkiller]

Quote:

Originally posted by Tom M It appears everyone ignored this post reguarding how votes are placed.

Did you see this one:

Quote:

Originally posted by Sovkiller This is very simple Tom M, just don't take a look at the votes before you post yours, and period, anyway I don't care if they had voted for one, or the other, my opinion, is just my opinion, regardless if it concurs with the majority or not

 

[Sovkiller]

NeilPeart:
Just a remark, maybe this was your case, but I don't think that the people who had claimed to have heard those huge differences in cables, have any Linn Sondek home or at hand to see these improvements, nor even for the comparison. And IMO if you need a 2000.00 cable to make a 30,000 CD player sound good, sorry I will pass on this one also...

IMO people who believe in cables will believe anyway, even if there is not such improvement and the manufacturer just change the color on the jacket, the model name, and the price tag, and later maybe they claim more improvements on material or so, there is a lot of cheating in cables also...but even though, I know that there is some differences in cables, I have heard some of them (not a 2000.00 cable one but some decent ones and there is a light difference), I'm not denying that theory of course....But I'm in the middle, regarding cables...

OTOH, and IMHO a 2000.00 cable will improve any system, even a portable (IMO a ridiculous price for a cable, and I will NEVER get one near this price even if they bring me here Rush to play in my living room) the system don't have to be a top of the line one with a Linn Sondek, of course the better the system the better you will here those differences.
OTOH a comparison between a 50.00 cable and a 2000.00 cable, is not fair enough neither.
Sorry I disagree also on that theory a cable will make a system sound good or bad, maybe it will improve what is already good, or worsen which is already bad, but the major changes in a system are not due a cable swap, IMO.......cables are usually cheaper than other parts of the system, if this were the case people will change a cable instead of a CDplayer, or an amp. I preffer to pay 2000.00 for a cable if this cable will make my system sound like a sondek, instead of 30,000 for the sondek itself, but IMO if you want a really major changes look to another places on the chain...cables are the last step, and the last tweak, before power cables, of course I'm talking of decent cables, not the stock cheap ones...just my two cents

 

[yidimsum]

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...1521475&2&3&4&

Mod those speaker cables and solder on some RCA plugs. They'll make your PCDP sound like a Linn CD-12.

 

[Sovkiller]

With this price I will make the downpayment for an apt instead? Are you nuts or what????

The fever is not so high yet.....

 

[Sovkiller]

BTW where is the other part of the cable I see only one end?...very interesting though.....

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Sovkiller With this price I will make the downpayment for an apt instead? Are you nuts or what???? The fever is not so high yet.....

Also, the ad for that cable says this:

"Notably relaxed and highly detailed"; "individual sonic events emerge from the quietest, blackest background…and then materialize with all of the very finest detail and most minute spatial cues intact -- and in lifelike relation to each other"; "just sound more clear and intelligible"; bass, in particular, "is very deep, very powerful, taut, and has terrific dynamic shading."

But it doesn't say with what sources!! So, with a $250 "Circuit City" integrated system and pair of bookshelf speakers I can get that just from using these cables? Amazing, it must be a miracle...

 

[Sovkiller]

With this cable are you nut, fewtch? You don't need any source, this cable will make the music you want for you instead...just clap twice!!!!!

 

[ServinginEcuador]

I feel it is somewhere between the #1 and #2 options, depending upon your system. With a Stax outfit you can literally cripple your sound with the wrong ICs, or totally open it up and allow them to shine. The better cables generally fall into category #2, but those really good ones fall into cat #1.

 

[fewtch]

Doug, what kind of cables connect the Stax SR-007 to the amp? I didn't get a really good look at them, but to me they look like just good 'ol "working class" wires!

So all that pricey cabling upstream, and the last meter is just ordinary copper wire on a flat ribbon cable? (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

[jefemeister]

Here's my take on this in a nutshell:

You wouldn't put $100 cables in a $500 system because the $500 system is not capable of resolving the difference between $10 and $100 cables. You wouldn't put $500 cables in a $2000 system for the same reason, but you might go with the $100 ones. Yes, there is a place for $1000 cables, but you better have a near acoustically perfect room and a truly badass system to appreciate them fully. Everyone is always hating on really expensive cables (and all gear for that matter) because they don't have the proper room/other gear to fully appreciate what they're capable of.

By the way, I voted option #1. They make a big difference and need to be painstakingly custom matched to a system to realize their full potential. I would say 15% of total budget should be spent on cables in a $2000-ish system. I would say it's not a linear relationship across all price points. Spend less % with a cheaper system and more with a more expensive one.

In all cases, I refer to price as a means of estimating quality. Of course, cost and quality aren't always proportional.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

fewtch,

The cables are extremely low capacitance 6N copper conductors. They are extremely well made cables with a much, much lower capacitance than an ordinary cable, so they are not just some cheapo copper cabling.


MINI-RANT (not directed at anyone in particular) Funny how it comes back to things like this: people think that if the last little bit of cabling isn't up to the same exact standards as the ICs that IC can't make a difference. Like any set of headphones, amps, or internal wiring is all to the same standard as the IC and PC hooked-up to the device, and if they all aren't the same stuff we who own them can't be hearing a difference. Next I guess we'll hear how the solder or choice of wires that connect the drivers to the actual headphone cable are the limiting factor in the equation.

I guess I can say this: I have been unimpressed with expensive cables, and blown away by somewhat cheaper ones. I have even changed my mind 100% on a set of cables that I didn't like originally for some reason, but then gave them another chance and was proven wrong. For those who claim that it is always in out heads, I would say that a good comparison of certain aspects of the music can greatly reduce the placebo effect or my subjective view of something due to price, hype, etc. If one knows what they are looking for in their music, is very familiar with this music, and then compares how it sounds using different ICs, this is a fair judgement of their sound. When the drums sound flat, a piano sounds like a cheap keyboard, when the attack or decay are messed up or missing, this is not as subjective as something more vague like how "musical" the ICs sound, or how much "emotional response" one gets from a particular set of ICs. Stick to something more concrete in the recording and sound and make observations on that which is way less subjective and we will all benefit from reading the reviews as such. /rant

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador fewtch, The cables are extremely low capacitance 6N copper conductors. They are extremely well made cables with a much, much lower capacitance than an ordinary cable, so they are not just some cheapo copper cabling.

Thanks for the correction.
Quote:

MINI-RANT (not directed at anyone in particular) Funny how it comes back to things like this: people think that if the last little bit of cabling isn't up to the same exact standards as the ICs that IC can't make a difference. Like any set of headphones, amps, or internal wiring is all to the same standard as the IC and PC hooked-up to the device, and if they all aren't the same stuff we who own them can't be hearing a difference.

Well, I (for one) never made any claim as to what people can or can't be hearing, and never would make such a claim -- hearing is entirely subjective. But it's all one signal path from source to transducer, isn't it? It's seems to me basic "weakest link in the chain" common sense -- tell me where this reasoning is off-base and I'll change it. Surely there are no need for rants where clear heads and common sense prevail...

 

[ServinginEcuador]

fewtch,

Your post just reminded me of the times I had read the same or similar statements made by people here. I tried to make it generic since it was aimed at those who make those claims. It wasn't aimed at you, as you have never made some of the claims I referred to in my rant. Sorry if it seemed directed at you. Neither implied nor intended to be an indirect attack aimed at you.


Here's the way I look at the analogy of the "weakest link":

If the weakest link is viewed as not allowing anything else in the chain to sound better than the weakest link, than your wording is correct. In the case of power cables people claim that if the power runs thru miles and miles of horrible quality cables, what difference can a good PC make. A lot of people hold to this view. They feel that the intermal wiring of an amp, solder used in the amp, cans, etc, are the best that the sound can obtain.

But, if you look at it like this: the weakest link in an IC merely removes a certain percentage of quality of the signal sent thru it, thus merely knocking the quality of the signal back down a certain amount, then the weakest link is not the limiting factor as explained in the above paragraph. If it merely removes a percentage of the quality of the signal sent to it, the strongest link can indeed make significant changes in how something sounds since the weakest link merely knocks it down to a smaller level.

The latter explanation fits with my experience with cables. If the weakest link with something is removed and something better is placed in the circuit, the whole gets better since the choke point has been lessened to some degree. Even a really bad cable like the Senn 600s have allow for some good listening tests for cables. But, when it is replaced with a set of Equinox or Cardas it improves their ability to resolve what is coming to them since the weakest link was removed and replaced with something that is much less of a choke point.

 

[fewtch]

Quote:

Originally posted by ServinginEcuador Even a really bad cable like the Senn 600s have allow for some good listening tests for cables. But, when it is replaced with a set of Equinox or Cardas it improves their ability to resolve what is coming to them since the weakest link was removed and replaced with something that is much less of a choke point.

How is the Senn 600 stock cable worse than the MDR-CD3000 stock cable, Grado SR-225/SR-325 stock cable, etc... I think maybe it can be improved on, but I don't feel it's a "really bad" cable -- no worse than the stock cables of other cans in its approximate price range. The build quality of it ain't so hot, I'll concede that much...

Anyway -- nope, I didn't take what you said to be directed at me specifically, just chose to respond with my view on things... thanks for expressing yours, that's indeed another valid way of looking at it.