What XLR cables are you guys using?
I have started upgrading my system with fully balanced components.
Though I have decided on the components I was not able to come to a conclusion on what XLR cables I should use.
wanted to get the cables before the components arrive....I would greatly appreciate if you could throw in some suggestions.
commonly suggested ones over forums
Audioquest
Neutrik
Here is my system.
Pre: Cary SLP05 or Parasound JC2 (About to get one of these)
Amp: Parasound A51
Spk: LSIM707/703/706c
MIT S3's for Fronts and Center
As always I would greatly appreciate your time in responding.
Though I have decided on the components I was not able to come to a conclusion on what XLR cables I should use.
wanted to get the cables before the components arrive....I would greatly appreciate if you could throw in some suggestions.
commonly suggested ones over forums
Audioquest
Neutrik
Here is my system.
Pre: Cary SLP05 or Parasound JC2 (About to get one of these)
Amp: Parasound A51
Spk: LSIM707/703/706c
MIT S3's for Fronts and Center
As always I would greatly appreciate your time in responding.
Post edited by Sumerian on
Comments
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All Shunyata Anaconda XLR in my system. They replaced MIT S1.3 Shotguns, which went to the HT.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
I use MIT Shotgun S3 speaker cables as you do. I also use MIT Shotgun S3 XLR cables in my system. Sounds great! I recommend them.
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."![:\](https://forum.polkaudio.com/resources/emoji/confused.png ":\")
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 -
Like all good cables, they work best as a system because they are just that. Get some MIT's to match your speaker cables.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 -
Halo gear isn't fully balanced. If you have good RCA's you should just stick with them and save yourself some $$$. They might even be preferred to avoid using XLR's which would have more devices in the way which could possibly degrade the signal.2Ch Tube Audio Convert
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This is about interconnects, not about internal audio circuits. An XLR balanced analog audio interconnect is a robust system that in the classical music recording industry are often up to 100 meters long. RCA interconnects have inherent problems that get worse the longer the interconnect.
For XLR cables, the longer the cable and the nosier the environment the better the bulk cable needs to be. By better, I mean symmetrical. To make a good symmetrical cable it takes big expensive machines and a big Quality Control department.
So stick with good bulk cable manufactures like:
Belden
Mogami
Gepco
West Penn
Canare -
Get some MIT's to match your speaker cables.
This makes sense, but I also really like Luminous Audio. -
Halo gear isn't fully balanced.
their spec says it is balanced ....could you please elaborate what you mean by it is not full balanced. -
Like all good cables, they work best as a system because they are just that. Get some MIT's to match your speaker cables.
Hmmmmm, this idea was recently proposed over on the stevehoffman.tv forum:
jazdoc said: ↑
IMO, it is important to consider cabling as a component and the best results come from using the same brand throughout your system (interconnects, speaker cables and power cords). I have been extremely happy with the Found Music product which bests much more expensive name brand cables in my system. You can demo in your system. http://found-music.com/
Do not agree at all. If a cable has a "sound", too much of that same sound can kill your system dead.
Steve Hoffman, Nov 20, 2013
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/my-favorite-types-of-interconnets-speaker-wire-1-neutral-2-detailed-3-romantic-mix-match.335058/page-2
Per my wife, I've been spending too much time transfixed to the iMac (cable hunting for 2-channel system). Linking Yamaha A-s2000 by xlr to TEAC ud-501 DAC & Focal 908 bookshelfs:
For XLRs, I went with 2.0m AQ King Cobra (likely to be replaced w/new line?)
http://www.musicdirect.com/p-257-audioquest-king-cobra-interconnects-pr.aspx
On the sensible side, I went with a $12 1m nuforce IMPULSE usb cable, because, well, bits are bits.
For speaker cables, I was hunting for Neotech Ohno continuous cast copper (think Acoustic Zen. VHAudio, & Harmonic Technology cable provider). Scarce, but I kept hunting. Couldn't sell myself to DIY @ $20-45/ft. Nor on the Choseal versions from China. Supposedly, there are only 3 manufacturers worldwide authorized to use the Ohno continuous casting (OCC) process. Finally went used with Harmonic Technology 10' Harmony Waves from usedcable, which also offers some xlr interconnects:
http://www.usedcable.com/category.aspx?iid=212&mid=-1&viewall=1
http://www.vhaudio.com/wire.html#vhspeaker
http://www.harmonictech.com/h/products/interconnects/index.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B003WRAO1S/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&condition=all
For you students of Physics:
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00351555
IF anyone has an electron microscope handy, I'd need one to count the # of crystals/10' . . . . /sarchasm -
their spec says it is balanced ....could you please elaborate what you mean by it is not full balanced.
Balanced differential means that each channel contains two audio signal paths, one of the + phase of the balanced signal and one for the - phase. The Parasound is not differentially balanced. It can simulate a balanced connection via transformer or op-amp.
For a differentially balanced device, from input to output the circuitry is balanced. For a piece that isn't, the internal circuitry can be unbalanced and then converted to a balanced signal via a transformer or op-amp. So there's an extra conversion involved and some say that using a unbalanced connection to bypass this extra conversion is favorable.2Ch Tube Audio Convert -
Do not agree at all. If a cable has a "sound", too much of that same sound can kill your system dead.
Steve Hoffman, Nov 20, 2013
If a cable has a sound? All cables have a sound.
For a guy that generally does a good job at remastering, he makes some oddball comments about home audio gear from time to time.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 -
And he also endorses these.If a cable has a sound? All cables have a sound.
For a guy that generally does a good job at remastering, he makes some oddball comments about home audio gear from time to time.
http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
I believe Mr. Hoffman's "If a cable has a 'sound'" was stating a "non sequitur," but, I'm not sure IF it was
a) Fallacy of the undistributed middle
b) Affirming the consequent
c) Denying the antecedent
d) Affirming a disjunct
e) Denying a conjunct
OR
sarchasm Definition - The Unword Dictionary - Unwords.com
www.unwords.com/unword/sarchasm.html
Definition of sarchasm :. 1. (n.) The abyss between the creator of witticisms and the intended recipient who does not find the humor in it.And he also endorses these.http://www.shakti-innovations.com/hallograph.htm
THANX for pointing out the Shakti Hallograph Soundfield Optimizers. Where did you experience them?
I found this review enlightening: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/shakti/hallograph.html
I've had the pleasure of 4 undergraduate Physics courses. The first was for non-majors, Descriptive Physics in 1976 here @ KSU. The prof performed demonstrations on stage before an auditorium of ~ 400 Ag & biology majors. These demos were AMAZING = good reason to never skip class! I believe he also showed the November, 1940, Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xox9BVSu7Ok ). When I was certified to teach Physics in 1992, I discovered that the Descriptive Physics prof had gone on to release a Laser Disc of his demonstrations, which sold for $1,000.
F1nut - Mr. Hoffman, quite unexpectedly on my part, made a # of comments in that particular thread (he has only 54,690 "Messages" on his site, Member Since: Jan 6, 2002). In one, he types: "If a cable has no sound one can't very well tune a system with it rendering it pointless for this discussion."
