Review of Cable X

Hawkeye

About three weeks ago, Gary (TNRabbit) stopped by the house to drop a piece off and listen to my system a bit. He gave me a set of speaker wires to listen to. I have no idea how much they cost nor where they came from. He did mention they are a homebrew by a guy from a site. During this review, I?ll refer to them as Cable X and let Gary or the builder (if he is a member here)divulge the cost if they see fit.

I?ve had the WireWorld Eclipse 6.0 installed in my system for about two years and know them well. I bought these cables new for $1400.00. I only mention the price for a comparison. Cable X was installed on the 4 Ohm tap as were my WW?s. Nothing else was changed. For reference, I listen to a lot of jazz and female vocalists. Holly Cole, Patricia Barber, FourPlay, Ritenour, Spyro Gyro and early 60?s jazz.

My first impression is the lows are very accurate. An upright bass had the weight and tone I expect. Kick drums had the impact and decay which was/is more accurate than the WW?s. As a matter of fact, as an experiment, I turned off my subs and found just the speakers alone provided more than adequate bass. I?ll admit it, with these wires I probably don?t need the subs.

The mids and highs are a bit warm, perhaps a bit much when combined with my gear. My gear is a bit laid back in my opinion and with these wires I have too much of a good thing. I didn?t find it unpleasant in the least and after awhile, it did start to grow on me. Horns are a bit softer but missing the bite I expect. Same result with higher piano notes. Had I thought of it, I could have removed some of the room treatments to liven the room and it may have been a bit crisper. For the most part and depending on the music, Cable X was a very enjoyable piece.

Imaging and stage was absolutely superb!! There was depth and height I do not receive with the WW?s. Instruments were where they should be and easily locatable.

There was one thing that would make me hesitate keeping these wires. I experienced moderate amounts of sibilance which I have never had in my system before.

Overall I found Cable X to be a very solid performer and in a couple areas, give it the edge over my WW?s. I think if the sibilance did not show itself, I could and would consider using it. I suspect that a less revealing system (non-ESL) would benefit from these wires. I?d have liked to try the SDA?s with these but the logistics of moving them from the shop was beyond me for now. I strongly recommend if you get a chance to audition these, you do so. They are quite impressive.

Gordon

TNRabbit

The builder of wire "X" is non other than slammin86:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117529

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118061

megasat16

Nice Review, Gordon.

Gary, your links hurt me in some ways I can't explain. :biggrin:

I guess the difference is subtle but it's there if your rig is up to it and you are doing critical listening. But the price not so subtle.

A good wake up call, fellas.

slammin86

Thank you for the time to do this. When I sold them I had no idea someone was going to do a review on them.

I have the same wires in my system and love them, but I have not had the opportunity to compare them to anything nice. Glad to see they can hold their own.

heiney9

Canare Star Quad is very hard to beat for the price. I use it in the office rig and it sounds very good. Won't dethrone my MIT's anytime soon, but for an inexpensive DIY project they sound great.

H9

Hawkeye

slammin86 wrote: »

Thank you for the time to do this. When I sold them I had no idea someone was going to do a review on them.

I have the same wires in my system and love them, but I have not had the opportunity to compare them to anything nice. Glad to see they can hold their own.

Your welcome and it was my pleasure indeed!! I hope you don't mind I did a review without your permission. I didn't know who's they were to ask.

As Mega mentioned, subtle differences, not so subtle a price difference. And as H9 said, they won't dethrone the WW's, but they are a fine, all around solid piece!!

Gordon

slammin86

Hawkeye wrote: »

Your welcome and it was my pleasure indeed!! I hope you don't mind I did a review without your permission. I didn't know who's they were to ask.

As Mega mentioned, subtle differences, not so subtle a price difference. And as H9 said, they won't dethrone the WW's, but they are a fine, all around solid piece!!

Gordon

I'm glad you did.

Maybe I should make a few more pairs of these to sell.

Hawkeye

slammin86 wrote: »

I'm glad you did.

Maybe I should make a few more pairs of these to sell.

Build me a set and I'll buy them!! I'd prefer large spades on the speaker end.

Gordon

slammin86

Hawkeye wrote: »

Build me a set and I'll buy them!! I'd prefer large spades on the speaker end.

Gordon

If I did more I would want to buy enough cable and everything to help absorb shipping cost and bring the cost down. If there is enough interest I will make a big purchase.

TNRabbit

slammin86 wrote: »

If I did more I would want to buy enough cable and everything to help absorb shipping cost and bring the cost down. If there is enough interest I will make a big purchase.

Update?

Rodeo0530

I might be very interested in this depending on the cost in the end, but it doesn't sound like it would be too bad of a price.

slammin86

TNRabbit wrote: »

Update?

Rodeo0530 wrote: »

I might be very interested in this depending on the cost in the end, but it doesn't sound like it would be too bad of a price.

I will come up with a cost based on 5 people buying a 9 ft pair tomorrow. If there is interest I will order the stuff and start making them.

Systems

slammin86 wrote: »

I will come up with a cost based on 5 people buying a 9 ft pair tomorrow. If there is interest I will order the stuff and start making them.

Swatimtalkinabout!

Hawkeye

slammin86 wrote: »

I will come up with a cost based on 5 people buying a 9 ft pair tomorrow. If there is interest I will order the stuff and start making them.

Would you consider changing one end of the cable to spades? I'd be willing to come up with the difference if required. Or perhaps a bi-wired configuration with 4 large spades on the speaker end? The bananas on my speaker side are frankly a bit short. Not a reflection on your build, but MArtin Logan has a funky connector on the speaker which somewhat demands a spade. Let me know. I've got the cash and Gary's wires which I'm hesitant to give back:biggrin: Don't worry Gary, I'll part with them soon!!!!

Gordon

Systems

I have been trying to talk Shane into making more of these sets for a while now.
Polking (pun:biggrin:) and prodding (with an electric prod twice!:eek:).
I bet it would not take much convincing to talk me into a pair

Power cable/s swap?

slammin86

Hawkeye wrote: »

Would you consider changing one end of the cable to spades? I'd be willing to come up with the difference if required. Or perhaps a bi-wired configuration with 4 large spades on the speaker end? The bananas on my speaker side are frankly a bit short. Not a reflection on your build, but MArtin Logan has a funky connector on the speaker which somewhat demands a spade. Let me know. I've got the cash and Gary's wires which I'm hesitant to give back:biggrin: Don't worry Gary, I'll part with them soon!!!!

Gordon

I can do whatever you want. Here is what is on mine.

pepster wrote: »

I have been trying to talk Shane into making more of these sets for a while now.
Polking (pun:biggrin:) and prodding (with an electric prod twice!:eek:).
I bet it would not take much convincing to talk me into a pair

Power cable/s swap?

LOL that is true.

slammin86

Ok here is what I came up with. I would need an order of 5 pairs to make this price work.

We have a few different options on banana plugs. I want to stick with the GLS plugs as they are a proven high quality plug. The different types can be seen here.

http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=AHH_Banana

I have used the carbon and black techflex and like the color of both. I will plan to make them all carbon but could do special requests.

1 pair of 8 ft cables = $125 shipped
1 pair of 8 ft cables bi wire one end = $145 shipped
1 pair of 8 ft cables bi wire both ends = $165 shipped

I can do special lengths, center cables, basically whatever.

If anyone is interested please let me know. If I could get 5 people to commit I will pull the plug and order materials. I would like for everyone to put down a $50 dollar deposit through paypal. I will not take a deposit from anyone until 5 people have committed.

Any feedback?

Hawkeye

If you would consider special requests on the techflex, where do you order it from? I'd like to see the colors available and give you the color.

I'm down for a 8 foot pair with bananas on one end and four spades on the other.

Gordon

P.S. I hope you figured in a profit for yourself. You deserve it!! By the way, what is your real name if your willing to to post it?

slammin86

Hawkeye wrote: »

If you would consider special requests on the techflex, where do you order it from? I'd like to see the colors available and give you the color.

I'm down for a 8 foot pair with bananas on one end and four spades on the other.

Gordon

P.S. I hope you figured in a profit for yourself. You deserve it!! By the way, what is your real name if your willing to to post it?

http://www.wirecare.com/products.asp?prodline=PTN

If you select the color from the pull down menu it will change the picture. Then you can enlarge it.

My name is Shane

slammin86

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=119681