Home Theater Myth #1:Cable Voodoo

weavercr

Here is another cable read that thos Home Depot folks will love.



http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/cable.html?1292

Frank Z

Told ya so!;)

dorokusai

That is some decent generic information, I certainly don't think its harmful to either group. How nice of him to convey common sense to us in a written article, does he get paid to do that? I also like the shameless plug at the very end for the Axiom brand :rolleyes:

I like the spring loaded strain relief connectors, but the wire stock has an oh so familiar look to it....OMG could it be! :rolleyes:

I seriously think its silly to spend an embarrassing sum of money on IC's, I definetly agree with that idea.

shack

Finally, where do you find good-quality, mechanically sound, no-nonsense audio/video cables at a reasonable price? Fairly soon (hint, hint), you’ll be able to order them directly from Axiom. In the meantime, be suspicious of brands that use pseudo-scientific language to justify their high prices or make claims that defy the laws of physics. There's good reason some of those have been labeled "audio jewelery."

THEIR cables and interconnects are nonsense but OUR cables and interconnects will be great value for the money.

Science or marketing?

PolkWannabie

I agree with using good quality interconnects and speaker wire up to a point.

But I'm done long before it gets anywhere near costing what an additional or replacement quality piece of gear costs i.e. better amp or other component, better speakers etc.

madmax

It all needs to work as a system. Expense of the cable is not really the point. What matters is that the cable works well with the given matchup of components. Of course it has to be of some quality as well. Audio jewlery, I think not.

madmax

PolkWannabie

No argument, but it's about diminishing returns and weakest link ... past some particular price point money is better spent on better components and/or speakers then on fatter wires.

dorokusai

I completely agree.

tonyv1

What worked for me was having my dealer (Jeff's Sound Values) let me audition lots of cables. I live near Jeff's Sound Values so I get to audition lots of used high end gear also! I always listen at home before buying audio gear.

F1nut

Tony,

So what were your conclusions about the cables you tried?

tonyv1

I started with Tributaries SCA 300 all around. I substituted the Cardas Neutral Reference on my preamp to amp, It sound too dark with vinyl, but fine with the CD and SACD source. I settled on the Harmonic Tech ProSilway MkII for the preamp to amp connection. Best dynamics, very detailed and not bright at all, plus I got it used for $225 instead of $400 new. I use DH Labs Air Matrix for all my source connections. Very neutral and the details are well defined. You can pick out little things in the songs like in Dido's "Mary's in India". I've moved the Tributaries SCA 300 to the HT system.
I've found that cables over $500 per meter are my point of diminishing return. It's all system synergy. My 2 channel system is very revealing of changes in the setup.
I've tried Monster DataLink 100, Canare LV-61S w/ Canare 75 ohm plugs, Cardas High Speed Data and settled with a custom Cardas blend for my digital coax cable. I was looking for an analog sound, open, wide and deep soundstage.
I replaced all the wiring in my Anthem AMP2 with Cardas wire. The difference I noticed after 2 weeks of breakin was in microdynamics at 60db listening level. The clarity of the details at that low level is amazing!

I'm currently looking into shoot-gunning DH Labs Q10 speaker cable. Now use XLO Ultra6 speaker cable.

2 channel system:
Magnepan MG12 (rebuilt crossovers and wiring)
Anthem AMP2
Anthem PRE 2L tube preamp
Rotel RCD 951 as a transport to an MSB Link DAC III w/ 24/132 upsampling
Sony DVP-NS500V SACD player
Dual CS-741Q w/ Shure V15 Type IV MR NAD PP1 phono pre

VR3

I run a mixture of IXOS and HD in my system. The IXOS, although has a sweeter texture to it, has barely any difference to the HD wire. All depends on how you decide to look at it as

I-SIG

I didn't read the link that was posted, but my take on cables has always been that you can't go wrong with superior materials, even with a basic cable design, kind of a K.I.S.S. principle on steroids.

Wes

PolkWannabie

I don't think anyone suggested you could do wrong by having superior cables ... I think the point is that at some price point there MAY be other components that deserve upgrading first i.e. there's no point in having $1k / foot speaker cables running from a Rat Shack amp.