[KrooLism]

Let's assume for a second that KrooL has:

Grace M902 -> Pass Labs Aleph 3 -> K-1000's

Actually, he does have all that pending the Aleph shipment, he just doesn't have anything to connect them with except for standard cables.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the Eqinox Hardwire and that's pretty much the best cable I can find for the K-1000's.

I see RCA interconnects ranging from $20USD a metre upwards to amounts that are worth more than my whole system.

I mean, this system is by no means the best in the world, but it's a far cry from an ordinary setup as well.

My question is, how much should one dedicate to interconnects and do they really make such a big difference??
EG. Would you hear a substancial difference between a $400 interconnect and a $1500 IC. By buying cheap cables, have I just wasted money on good equipment??

 

[Balisarda]

Cables certainly impact sound! However, there's no reliable correlation between cost and quality. On the ond hand, I recall a post describing a blind test of three cables, and the favorite was a Radio Shack Gold cable. On the other hand, the Stefan AudioArt headphone cable I'm using is simply divine!

I believe cables impact sound less than other components. Therefore I say, "Never spend so much on cables that you could otherwise have bought a better source, amp, or transducer."

 

[Fidelity]

15%-20% (max), though I wouldn't pay more than £50 per cable, not unless I bought a high-end source/amp/speaker setup costing well over £1000.

 

[meat01]

price does not always equal quality in cables. Try different cables and if you notice a difference or like the sound, then buy those. Bluejeans makes some good cables for the money.

 

[Herandu]

I would agree with all of the above posts. Having designed a number of interconnects myself, my former boss always asked if I could add anything that would make the lead more expensive to make. That way when our customers asked how much it cost to make the actual lead, we could show them the bill of material and say that it was very expensive.

As a rough guide, look for the thickest lead since that generally means better isolation and more conducting material. Also choose metal connectors over plastic. Metal means more ground and more than likely also better isolation from external interference at the plug end. That interference is of a high frequency, which can impact on the sound and even overload your equipment in the inaudible frequency band. RF designed leads tend to pay a high level of concentration on this problem, but audio lead designers tend to overlook it out of ignorance of the problem.

 

[Patrick82]

It depends on what flavor of sound you want to hear.

My cables cost 30 times more than my source. It doesn't matter what you spend the money on, all that matters is how much better it will sound to you.

 

[colonelkernel8]

I wish I had some nice IC's...lol, I have $59 in my PayPal account. If you guys have a nice pair of RCA IC's (0.5 to 1 m preferably) that you can sell, I want them. I was offered Oxyfuel's from another member, and I was really interested, but I need a little more flexible cable considering the proximity of my system to the wall.

 

[Jon L]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrooLism /img/forum/go_quote.gif Let's assume for a second that KrooL has: Grace M902 -> Pass Labs Aleph 3 -> K-1000's I'm pretty sure I'm going to get the Eqinox Hardwire and that's pretty much the best cable I can find for the K-1000's.

My advice would be to just use what you have for awhile and figure out what you want to improve upon.

A $5000 cable may actually have worse synergy with your system than "standard" cables. Once you know what changes you want, you can go from there and select cables to audition/buy.

Heck, who knows? Your standard cables may be perfectly fine, which will save you money. It's also possible that you will completely hate the Pass/K1000 combo. Certainly, stranger things have happened..

 

[cantsleep]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif My advice would be to just use what you have for awhile and figure out what you want to improve upon. A $5000 cable may actually have worse synergy with your system than "standard" cables. Once you know what changes you want, you can go from there and select cables to audition/buy. Heck, who knows? Your standard cables may be perfectly fine, which will save you money. It's also possible that you will completely hate the Pass/K1000 combo. Certainly, stranger things have happened..

+1

 

[883dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon L /img/forum/go_quote.gif My advice would be to just use what you have for awhile and figure out what you want to improve upon. A $5000 cable may actually have worse synergy with your system than "standard" cables. Once you know what changes you want, you can go from there and select cables to audition/buy. Heck, who knows? Your standard cables may be perfectly fine, which will save you money. It's also possible that you will completely hate the Pass/K1000 combo. Certainly, stranger things have happened..

Out of curosity, which $5000.00 interconnects have you tried?

I like the 10-20% rule...has worked for my systems

 

[bigshot]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 883dave /img/forum/go_quote.gif I like the 10-20% rule...has worked for my systems

I'd say that's about right for a $100 to $200 system.

See ya
Steve

 

[883dave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'd say that's about right for a $100 to $200 system. See ya Steve

He was asking about his system....

 

[threEchelon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 883dave /img/forum/go_quote.gif He was asking about his system....

You totally missed the point of bigshot's post.

I would recommend that you buy cables with a return policy. Buy some interconnects that are cheap (like bluejeans!) and some that are expensive. See if the difference in sound is worth difference in price.

 

[jsilas]

I think everyone here has merit to what they're saying.

I think that two of the most important things to remember when selecting cables are these:

1. Cable X might sound great with one system, but not sound so great with another.

This is an indication of how important it is to obtain some system synergy; that blissful state where the components of your system don't just work together, but work VERY WELL together, compliment each other, etc. The only way to know what works best in YOUR system is to audition different options in YOUR system. Therefore, you should find vendors/manufacturers who allow returns, so you can decide for yourself.

2. Value of something is completely subjective.

We all understand this, yet forget it so easily. Let's say I make $200M/year. I might add a $20,000 pair of cables to my system, and feel completely justified; it was WORTH IT. Yet someone who makes $20,000/year would easily say that the sound difference obtained with said cables was NOT WORTH a year of work.

The bottom line is "Is it worth it TO YOU?". Anything else should be looked at merely as a jumping-off point; take some recommendations from people, and audition them, and then make your OWN decisions about whether or not the value is there.

 

[tourmaline]

Quote:

Originally Posted by threEchelon /img/forum/go_quote.gif You totally missed the point of bigshot's post. I would recommend that you buy cables with a return policy. Buy some interconnects that are cheap (like bluejeans!) and some that are expensive. See if the difference in sound is worth difference in price.

I think so.

Buy second hand, then the more expensive cables are in reach...and yes, some are really that much better then the cheap cables...but i would never pay retail for them(some are in the region of 3000-9000)...only a good second hand price...this way the price/perfomance ratio is also much higher...

Example...if somebody pays 3000 retail for a cable and i pay 1000 dollars second hand for the same cable i have the same high end quality for 1/3 of the price...hence the price performance ratio for me is considderably higher.

Don't make the mistake of thinking there isn't much difference between a cable of say 200 dollars or one of 3000 dollars, believe me, there is!