Polkie group wire buy??

dcoil
dcoil Posts: 153
edited April 2013 in Vintage Speakers
I hope this is the place for this. After reading the improvement Ray got with re-wiring all the internal speaker wire, I absolutely want to do this. He reported on the Cardas Litz wire and the Audioquest GO-4. He recorded good results with the Cardas and even better results with the AQ. I know with the list price on these wires, this is not a trivial project (my SRS need ~110ft). Does anyone have a contact with a vendor that would give us break on price?
SDA SRS modded: X’ovrd, de-polyed, inductorized, interconnectorized, re-posted, dynamited, RDO’d, spiked, gasketed, ringed (Larry's), and grill cloth blinged! Done this on my own? Not a chance. Thanks to Raife and all who forged easy to follow upgrades. At least a 100% improvement in sound and my personal listening pleasure! :cheesygrin:Pass XP-10 preamp, Parasound A21 amp, Pioneer Elite DV-58AV (Ric Shultz modded), Audioquest Sky IC's, No longer need my Sunfire sub after mods...
Post edited by dcoil on
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2013
    The best price I found on Cardas wire was at Sonic Craft. The best price I found on the AQ wire was at Audio Advisor. I would contact them to see what kind of quantity discounts are available.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited April 2013
    DK, didn't you come around to finding Cardas to be the better choice?
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2013
    nspindel wrote: »
    DK, didn't you come around to finding Cardas to be the better choice?

    AQ was better.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • dcoil
    dcoil Posts: 153
    edited April 2013
    If this would go better as a new thread, or in another section of the forum please let me know.
    As DK suggested, I contacted Audio Advisor and spoke with Corey. He was very congenial and receptive to a group buy of the AudioQuest GO-4 speaker wire by Polk forum members. As has been stated in several threads, this wire retails for $15/ft. In our conversation, he indicated that a group buy of this cable would be less than $12.75/ft., and how much less would be dictated by the total number of feet we would commit to. With my SRS needing 110ft of cable, every $1 off makes the project $110 cheaper. This is certainly not a cheap upgrade, but with DK's reported experience it seems like this will help squeeze every last drop of goodness possible out of the SDA's. What Corey would like is the total number of feet that Polk members who would purchase and then he will quote us a final discount price. So not knowing that final price, but being assured that it would be less than $12.75, please 'sign-up' and indicate the number of ft. that you would purchase in the group buy.
    SDA SRS modded: X’ovrd, de-polyed, inductorized, interconnectorized, re-posted, dynamited, RDO’d, spiked, gasketed, ringed (Larry's), and grill cloth blinged! Done this on my own? Not a chance. Thanks to Raife and all who forged easy to follow upgrades. At least a 100% improvement in sound and my personal listening pleasure! :cheesygrin:Pass XP-10 preamp, Parasound A21 amp, Pioneer Elite DV-58AV (Ric Shultz modded), Audioquest Sky IC's, No longer need my Sunfire sub after mods...
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  • vmaxer
    vmaxer Posts: 5,117
    edited April 2013
    Wow, I have a set of 1.2tl's, 2 sets if 1c's, I bought them for less than this cable would cost?? I can't see it being worth it, am I way off here?? How much improvement is there??
    Pio Elete Pro 520
    Panamax 5400-EX
    Sunfire TGP 5
    Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
    PS Audio GCPH phono pre
    Sunfire CG 200 X 5
    Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
    OPPO BDP-83 SE
    SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
    Ctr CS1000p
    Sur - FX1000 x 4
    SUB - SVS PB2-Plus

    Workkout room:
    Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
    Onkyo TX-DS898
    GFA 555
    Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
    Ft - SDA 1C

    Not being used:
    RTi 38's -4
    RT55i's - 2
    RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
    LSI 15's
    CSi40
    PSW 404
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,646
    edited April 2013
    Guys...
    I am allll in to modifications but if you are going to be spending $1400 on your 1.2TL you need to buy Clarity Cap MR and Duelund resistors...

    Holy crap
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • vmaxer
    vmaxer Posts: 5,117
    edited April 2013
    VR3 wrote: »
    Guys...
    I am allll in to modifications but if you are going to be spending $1400 on your 1.2TL you need to buy Clarity Cap MR and Duelund resistors...

    Holy crap

    What he said!!
    Pio Elete Pro 520
    Panamax 5400-EX
    Sunfire TGP 5
    Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
    PS Audio GCPH phono pre
    Sunfire CG 200 X 5
    Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
    OPPO BDP-83 SE
    SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
    Ctr CS1000p
    Sur - FX1000 x 4
    SUB - SVS PB2-Plus

    Workkout room:
    Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
    Onkyo TX-DS898
    GFA 555
    Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
    Ft - SDA 1C

    Not being used:
    RTi 38's -4
    RT55i's - 2
    RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
    LSI 15's
    CSi40
    PSW 404
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  • Drenis
    Drenis Posts: 2,871
    edited April 2013
    SO I have to ask the question... Do you spend your money on a GOOD set of speaker cables or go balls out on internal and external cabling?

    To me, I can't justify a grand plus on speaker cabling upgrades. At which point does a internal cable upgrade become subjective over good external cables?
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2013
    To those considering this, I recommend upgrading internal wiring only after other mods such as crossover refreshment, rings, silk dome tweeters, Dynamat, and Armacell gaskets have been done.

    Keep in mind that both the Cardas and AQ wire are difficult to work with.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited April 2013
    Do you spend your money on a GOOD set of speaker cables or go balls out on internal and external cabling?

    Speaker cables, interconnects and power cords. I doubt I'll ever touch the internal wire.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • headrott
    headrott Posts: 5,496
    edited April 2013
    I have not upgraded my internal wire, but I think it would be one of the last things I would do (actually if I do it, it will be the last thing I do). As others have stated, do the crossover mods, rings, binding posts, upgrade your external speaker cable and hell even your amp, pre-amp, source(s), etc. before you do the internal wire. This would be one of the last (if not the last) upgrades in my book.
    Relayer-Big-O-Poster.jpg
    Taken from a recent Audioholics reply regarding "Club Polk" and Polk speakers:
    "I'm yet to hear a Polk speaker that merits more than a sentence and 60 seconds discussion." :\
    My response is: If you need 60 seconds to respond in one sentence, you probably should't be evaluating Polk speakers.....

    "Green leaves reveal the heart spoken Khatru"- Jon Anderson

    "Have A Little Faith! And Everything You'll Face, Will Jump From Out Right On Into Place! Yeah! Take A Little Time! And Everything You'll Find, Will Move From Gloom Right On Into Shine!"- Arthur Lee
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  • TennMan
    TennMan Posts: 1,266
    edited April 2013
    headrott wrote: »
    I have not upgraded my internal wire, but I think it would be one of the last things I would do (actually if I do it, it will be the last thing I do). As others have stated, do the crossover mods, rings, binding posts, upgrade your external speaker cable and hell even your amp, pre-amp, source(s), etc. before you do the internal wire. This would be one of the last (if not the last) upgrades in my book.
    I'm in total agreement. My 2Bs are currently apart for the TL crossover upgrade, RDO-198 tweeters and hurricane nuts. All the other items you mentioned would have to be done before I would consider doing the high dollar internal wiring upgrade. To be honest, at that price, I doubt I will ever upgrade the internal wiring.
    • SDA 2BTL · Sonicaps · Mills resistors · RDO-198s · New gaskets · H-nuts · Erse inductors · BH5 · Dynamat
    • Crossover upgrades by westmassguy
    • Marantz 1504 AVR (front speaker pre-outs to Adcom 555)
    • Adcom GFA-555 amp · Upgrades & speaker protection added by OldmanSRS
    • Pioneer DV-610AV DVD/CD player
    • SDA CRS+ · Hidden away in the closet
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  • ZLTFUL
    ZLTFUL Posts: 5,648
    edited April 2013
    After I do rings on my RTAs, the only thing left will be internal wiring...but I think I will just go with Audioquest Flex 14/2 and strip the cover since I can get that for less than $0.75/ft locally.
    Granted, we aren't talking about the same level of cable but I doubt, with my gear, that I will notice much, if any, difference outside of my on personal satisfaction.
    "Some people find it easier to be conceited rather than correct."

    "Unwad those panties and have a good time man. We're all here to help each other, no matter how it might appear." DSkip
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  • dcoil
    dcoil Posts: 153
    edited April 2013
    Well, I've done the x'overs, rings, gaskets, inductors on the speaker side. I think I have a good pre/power amp, cdp, interconnects, speaker cable and power conditioner. My electronics are not 'state of the art', but I think they are to the point that I would need to spend a significant amount of money to get any worthwhile improvement. What is on my agenda is power cords (pepster has given me some ideas on this before I was forced to take a break), cross-ovr cable, and internal wiring. I've got a small boat in storage that I am going to sell as we now use my son-in-laws rig, so I will have some bucks to use on my hobby. After reading the report by DK on the improvement w/ the internal GO-4 wiring, I'm thinking this along with a cross-over cable may be my biggest 'bang for the buck'. Understand, I don't have unlimited funds, so if this is 'over-kill' or if the funds would get a better bang on other components, it would not be a smart upgrade. Also, from DK's posts, this sounds like a fairly difficult project.
    SDA SRS modded: X’ovrd, de-polyed, inductorized, interconnectorized, re-posted, dynamited, RDO’d, spiked, gasketed, ringed (Larry's), and grill cloth blinged! Done this on my own? Not a chance. Thanks to Raife and all who forged easy to follow upgrades. At least a 100% improvement in sound and my personal listening pleasure! :cheesygrin:Pass XP-10 preamp, Parasound A21 amp, Pioneer Elite DV-58AV (Ric Shultz modded), Audioquest Sky IC's, No longer need my Sunfire sub after mods...
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited April 2013
    The only reason why I'm considering this is that I have 4.1TL's, which compared to all the other SDA's have quite a small amount of internal wire. DK, do you recall how many feet were necessary for yours?
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2013
    I have not done my CRS+'s yet, but they will require 17 feet of dual conductor wire per speaker.

    The 1.2TL's require 39 feet of dual conductor wire per speaker.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited April 2013
    I'm thinking that with the price difference between the AQ and the Cardas, I would probably go with the Cardas if I were to pursue this upgrade, so I am out for the AQ group buy, sorry.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 17,243
    edited April 2013
    VR3 wrote: »
    Guys...
    I am allll in to modifications but if you are going to be spending $1400 on your 1.2TL you need to buy Clarity Cap MR and Duelund resistors...

    Holy crap

    I'm headed this direction but I will be using the Cardas wire, I'm just waiting on SC's sale before I pull the trigger. The MR's are a crazy purchase in its self. I will skip the AQ wire..

    Let me say that I'm only doing the internal wire for fun but with Ray's findings I will at least feel its not for nothing..
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  • nspindel
    nspindel Posts: 5,343
    edited April 2013
    Deleted.
    Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited April 2013
    F1nut wrote: »
    Speaker cables, interconnects and power cords. I doubt I'll ever touch the internal wire.

    That's shocking news. I thought you'd be "all in" about this mod considering the good times and great results you had wiring your Carver speakers with Cardas.:twisted:
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,557
    edited April 2013
    DarqueKnight wrote: »
    That's shocking news. I thought you'd be "all in" about this mod considering the good times and great results you had wiring your Carver speakers with Cardas.:twisted:

    LOL...yeah, great results were the only positive about that one.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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