[Galileo's Dad]

What, exactly, is the downside of buying used cables? Do they become less effective with time?

 

[DanG]

Trust me, the conductive properties of copper and silver don't change within a few years.

 

[morphsci]

There is really little problem with buying used from usedcable.com. They have a one year warranty on their cables (because what can really go wrong with a cable unless it wasn't soldered very well?) and a 30 day exchange policy. I have bought most of my cables off of Audiogon. The only downside there is you are usually buying from a private seller so there is no exchange policy. However, you are usually buying at 50% or less of retail and if you are unhappy you can pretty much sell them for what you bought them for.

 

[SumB]

Quote:

I'm not really considering the BL-1, because it supposedly loses something in the bass.

Sounds like heresay to me. The BL-1 loses nothing unless compared to cables costing $200 or more.

 

[DanG]

I'm also not sure the BL-1 really "loses" in the bass. In my review where I compared the BL-1 to the Bolder Type 2, I thought that the Type 2 sounded like it had more bass; however, it may well have been only because there was less emphasis on the higher frequency range.

Then again, the difference in bass was rather noticeable, and I think it's possible that the BL-1 not only has slightly emphasized treble but also de-emphasized bass.

 

[dhwilkin]

Quote:

SumB said... Sounds like heresay to me. The BL-1 loses nothing unless compared to cables costing $200 or more.

Ah, but that's the price-range I'm looking at, around $200. So I think it's fair to nit-pick.
Quote:

DanG said... Then again, the difference in bass was rather noticeable, and I think it's possible that the BL-1 not only has slightly emphasized treble but also de-emphasized bass.

Well, your review hasn't been the only one I've read to mention the bass being a tad light in regards to other cables. Besides, I hate taking baby steps... I'd rather go straight for the Air Matrix and get a bigger overall improvement.

I must say, though, the ZCable cables are looking quite interesting. Their description of being full-bodied and detailed is quite tempting...