cable preferences

marvda1

i have noticed lately that different audio sites seem to favor different cables, for example polk mit cables and audionervosa jps labs i would love to read about or attend one near me, a get together in a city where there are members of both camps and let them compare notes on what they hear.
just a thought, not wanting to flame a cable war on which is better.
this does not have to be the two above that i mentioned.

mole'

:popcorn:

inspiredsports

Are you looking to upgrade your cables and interconnects?

EndersShadow

mole' wrote: »

:popcorn:

Can you get me some too 'mole. This looks like it might be fun......


Not to be a ****, but the word "Synergy" comes to mind. Different gear likes different cables and different ears like different cables. Its like trying to get everyone to agree on who has the best burger, McDonalds, Hardee's, Bob Evan's, etc. Everyone may give you a different answer because people have different tastes.

Same with cables, hence why cable threads tend to digress quickly into debates/flame wars.....

Reminds me of the "East Coast" "West Coast" rap wars back in the day lol......

heiney9

We actually did a crude comparo of both cables and speaker cables at a couple of our RAS meets here in IL. Nothing overly scientific but we swapped and compared

Canare Star Quad (4S11)
Audioquest (lower end)
MIT Terminator 2's
Signal Cable
PS Audio
IXOS

and a few others. All sounded a little different with the MIT's being the most noticeable change.

H9

Erik Tracy

I have a mix of cables that I've settled on after my own comparisons. While I like the notion of a single vendor 'loom' of cables (speaker and ICs), I found that the best synergy in my rig was a mix.

MIT S2 Shotguns for the Speaker cables
Audioquest Jaguars (older product line) for the ICs - which beat out Shotgun CVT Term 1s and S3 Shotguns - oh, and the Jaguars beat out the more current mid-level AQ Columbias too, on my rig.

I also tried the lower cost Audioquest King Cobra ICs, but on my rig they sounded muddled.

ymmv....

Joe08867

Like I said in the other thread I have switched all mine to Kimber.

Had Blue Jeans and Audioquest before and never really enjoyed the clarity I am getting now.

I have never tried MIT cables and would like to at some point, but I really like the sound I have right now so I am in no rush to change that.

pearsall001

marvda1 wrote: »

i have noticed lately that different audio sites seem to favor different cables, for example polk mit cables and audionervosa jps labs i would love to read about or attend one near me, a get together in a city where there are members of both camps and let them compare notes on what they hear.
just a thought, not wanting to flame a cable war on which is better.
this does not have to be the two above that i mentioned.

That seems to be the norm as audio sites go. One manufacture gets top billing from it's members & others are likely to follow that lead & give that product a try. Almost like free marketing for the companies.

marvda1

no, not looking to upgrade my cables. just thought it was interesting how different cable manufacturers have followings on the various sites.

jbooker82

All AudioQuest cables here.

cstmar01

yes some site recommend different cables over others based upon experience. IMO that experience it what makes it for them to recommend, if you have none then its not really that helpful to recommend one over the other. If you have meets and those cables are brought along and tried out then it would be logical to have others want to put them in their rigs as well.

I currently run Nordost but seeing we had the MIT demo with the CVT's I'll be changing to MIT again. I would be willing to try others as well but seeing I can't demo anything local and don't feel like trying to do a quick 3 day demo from most I will stick to what I was able to get which was the MIT. That said I do like to see what else is out there and would be open but for me I loved the improvement I got with MIT and their customer service for me is great and anything I have a question on is easily answered.

tonyb

marvda1 wrote: »

no, not looking to upgrade my cables. just thought it was interesting how different cable manufacturers have followings on the various sites.

Not really, around here there are more varietys of cables than Wisconsin has cheese. If your refering to the MIT threads, thats just because those who use them 9 out of 10 times find they like them that much. Experience is key here. Most MIT users have been through plenty other brands over the years and MIT represents more so a last stop on the cable merrygo round. Everyones system,ears, and wallet differ.....no one cable brand will do it for everyone.

quadzilla

I played around until I found what I like. My preference is for silver RCA connectors, and silver UPOCC center conductors with UPOCC copper or silver returns, with a copper shield. Both conductors should be single wires, not stranded. I also prefer cotton insulators, but the airlock from vhaudio isn't bad and won't have moisture problems like cotton.

But I also want to try some of the better Cardas cables when I get the pesos to do that. I like George's philosophy of matching the dielectric to the conductor and purpose of the cable to avoid the need for networks to compensate for the dielectric energy storage and release, which is what MIT's networks seem to be intended to do.

That said, I have heard MIT cables, and they sounded quite nice indeed. But I've only heard them in other people's system with material I'm unfamiliar with, so I can't really judge them.

erniejade

Im using a solid core coat hanger cable. I have found the solid core of the coat hanger more enjoyable on the low side of things vs. my audioquest crystal or the DH labs. They are cheap also but, sometimes it is hard to get a good termination on the ends so I just use them without one. Now I know you are thinking, how does he get them in the terminal of the speaker or amp? You just wind it up around the post. You have to be careful though as they can pop off of the post quite easily.

The extra money you save on the coat hanger upgrade, you can send to me in the form of a money order. I need some extra pizza and wine money because I have a horrible pizza and wine addiction and because nothing is free, so I'm going to consider this payment for the advice from me as well as some extra funds to support my habit.




:rolleyes::redface::exclaim:

leftwinger57

After having the debacle I had w/ Monster THX ICs (I was warned to stay away from them)I went w/ Signal Cable 1mt ICs and have had the most improvement in my 2 chl system to date. Also these were vey reasonably priced at $40 w/ shipping.

Joe08867

xcapri79 wrote: »

You noticed that too! Many forums do indeed have their cable religion. Ones preference for cables appears to be based on the "party line" preference. It is a preference influenced by manufacturer influence either direct or indirect, peer pressure, and keeping up with the "Jones". It is mostly subjective not objective with almost religious adherence.

That said, some forums do take a more scientific approach to cable selection and provide great education concerning many of the cable myths.

In the end, each user must make their own decision on what they consider to be valid or invalid. The most important point to note is that one need not pay a small fortune to own more than adequate cables for ones system.

Really? I have heard about more cable manufacturers on this site than any other place on the net. There is no party line other than those that think it helps and those that don't.

But to say its all about keeping up with the Jones is ridiculous. I have used good cables on all of my systems, even my very first decent stereo back in 85'. I have never jumped on the MIT bandwagon or Monster and many others. I go a research things myself. I think I am probably the only guy on the forum using Kimber PCB for my interconnects. So what's your next argument?

I just don't get it. Why does everything with you have to be about us against you? If you don't like or believe in something it means everyone else is wrong? Sorry, you are not that smart and frankly neither am I. And as for those sites that try to debunk what cables can do they never give all the facts. They give detail steered in the direction they want. Like broadcast news. But, if you want to believe what they say, fine have fun but please don't try to tell me I can't hear the difference, cause I can. And you could too if you opened your mind up a bit an actually listened to some others here. But then again you wouldn't be able to argue about nothing like you normally do.

cstmar01

Joe08867 wrote: »

Really? I have heard about more cable manufacturers on this site than any other place on the net. There is no party line other than those that think it helps and those that don't.

But to say its all about keeping up with the Jones is ridiculous. I have used good cables on all of my systems, even my very first decent stereo back in 85'. I have never jumped on the MIT bandwagon or Monster and many others. I go a research things myself. I think I am probably the only guy on the forum using Kimber PCB for my interconnects. So what's your next argument?

I just don't get it. Why does everything with you have to be about us against you? If you don't like or believe in something it means everyone else is wrong? Sorry, you are not that smart and frankly neither am I. And as for those sites that try to debunk what cables can do they never give all the facts. They give detail steered in the direction they want. Like broadcast news. But, if you want to believe what they say, fine have fun but please don't try to tell me I can't hear the difference, cause I can. And you could too if you opened your mind up a bit an actually listened to some others here. But then again you wouldn't be able to argue about nothing like you normally do.

Joe don't waste your time with X (Mark). He's just looking to start another fight over something we know he doesn't agree with cables and never will and is just wasting breath. Its the same thing over and over again with him and it'll never change. Just ignore him.

tonyb

xcapri79 wrote: »

In the end, each user must make their own decision on what they consider to be valid or invalid. The most important point to note is that one need not pay a small fortune to own more than adequate cables for ones system.

See now, thats where you made your mistake. Many subscribe to accomplish more than just being "adequate". A smart car is adequate to get you from point A to point B, so no reason to buy a Lexus, Mercedes, Audi ?

Adequate......hate that word. To me means to not strive for something better. Your audio is adequate, your job is adequate, your car, your girlfriend, your house, your education, your clothes, your kids school, all adequate, all mediocre. Hate that word.

WilliamM2

tonyb wrote: »

Adequate......hate that word. To me means to not strive for something better. Your audio is adequate, your job is adequate, your car, your girlfriend, your house, your education, your clothes, your kids school, all adequate, all mediocre. Hate that word.

Good thing he said "more than adequate" then.

heiney9

What's adequate to some is NOT adequate to others. It's a relative term that really only means something to the person using the term. When someone says that something is adequate to them, it really means nothing to me because I am not them.

H9

steveinaz

Heiney, that was beautiful man.

tonyb

A very "adequate" response H9.

inspiredsports

With all of the inductor replacements going on right now, and miles of extra varnished copper wire becoming available, maybe I'll invent a new CP Forum house brand; "Polk Inductor Speaker Interface Cables."

tonyb

inspiredsports wrote: »

With all of the inductor replacements going on right now, and miles of extra varnished copper wire becoming available, maybe I'll invent a new CP Forum house brand; "Polk Inductor Speaker Interface Cables."

Or maybe get together with our new resident computer dude and create some water cooled cables. May not make a spit of difference audio wise, but they sure would look cool.

erniejade

I'm thinking of changing to plastic hangers. They might melt better for terminations.



Yes it was a joke I can't believe someone would take that seriously. I did put down DH labs and audio quest crystal that is what I am actually using.