Coming soon... Speaker cable shoot out

Ern Dog
Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
edited July 2009 in 2 Channel Audio
I've been using Kimber Kable 8TC's for several months now and I'm very happy with them, but I'm interested in knowing if I can get better performance within the same price range. So today I purchased some Mac CuQ's and DH Labs Q-10 speaker cables to do a shoot out between these 3 quality cables. This will be fun to see which one stays.:D Stay tuned...
Post edited by Ern Dog on
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,418
    edited July 2009
    I want first dibs on whichever ends up on the FS thread

    John
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • pearsall001
    pearsall001 Posts: 5,068
    edited July 2009
    Sounds like a lot of fun. Keep us up tp date on your findings!
    "2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited July 2009
    8tc is a reference cable which I swear by. I really like it's complete balance between high mid range and low extension. For the money I don't see it losing to anything.

    Sounds like a lot of fun.

    Dan
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • danz1906
    danz1906 Posts: 5,144
    edited July 2009
    Ern Dog wrote: »
    I've been using Kimber Kable 8TC's for several months now and I'm very happy with them, but I'm interested in knowing if I can get better performance within the same price range. So today I purchased some Mac CuQ's and DH Labs Q-10 speaker cables to do a shoot out between these 3 quality cables. This will be fun to see which one stays.:D Stay tuned...

    Let the games begin-Enjoy:)
    Linn AV5140 fronts
    Linn AV5120 Center
    Linn AV5140 Rears
    M&K MX-70 Sub for Music
    Odyssey Mono-Blocs
    SVS Ultra-13 Gloss Black:D
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited July 2009
    mantis wrote: »
    8tc is a reference cable which I swear by. I really like it's complete balance between high mid range and low extension. For the money I don't see it losing to anything.

    Sounds like a lot of fun.

    Dan


    It will take a helluva good cable to outs my 8TC's. It's 5 stars all the way around in my book!
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited July 2009
    nooshinjohn wrote: »
    I want first dibs on whichever ends up on the FS thread

    John

    You cable vulture! ;)
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited July 2009
    dog, you might want to give these a try. http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablspkr&1251810537&/PNF-Symphony-6-ft-bi-wire-bana
    i just bought a used 8 ft. bi-wire pair for $115 shipped.
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited July 2009
    marvda1 wrote: »
    dog, you might want to give these a try. http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?cablspkr&1251810537&/PNF-Symphony-6-ft-bi-wire-bana
    i just bought a used 8 ft. bi-wire pair for $115 shipped.


    Thanks for the tip Marv. I've never heard of PNF Symphony's before, but I put a bid on the ones you linked. If I win them, they will be a heavy weight contender in my shoot out.

    A little research on these cables showed that they won The Absolute Sound Editor's Choice award for 2007 and 2008!

    Tell me how you like them in your system.
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited July 2009
    my reference cables are straley reality speaker cables which i think retail now for around $275 for an 8 ft. pair. i started a thread asking straley owners whta they replaced their straleys with and most of the responses were jps labs and harmonic technology , both out of my reach $$$$. the pnf's are sort of weird, i want to say laid back sometimes or polite but they sort make you sit forward in your seat and take in the music. there is plenty of detail but not in your face detail, you hear shades or layers of harmonics in the music that other (good) cables don't convey. they have good bass (had to open the closet door in my room because the bass started to excite the door. sometimes they seem rolled off at the high end, you know how when you hear a stick hit a cymbal you sort of want to jump a little, well with the pnf's it's with a whimper instead of a bang. i like the bang but with the type of detail you hear with the pnf's they just draw you in.
    i also have a pair of audio art new sc-5se and grover speaker cables in for review. so far the audio arts are very balanced with great bass and the grovers have great midrange detail and a very quiet background. the two reviews will appear in stereo mojo.
    marvin
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited July 2009
    Thanks for the tip Marv. I've never heard of PNF Symphony's before, but I put a bid on the ones you linked. If I win them, they will be a heavy weight contender in my shoot out.

    these are straight purchase you might want to ask him if he will take a little less for the cables.
    marvin
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • rru2s
    rru2s Posts: 90
    edited July 2009
    Speaker cable shootout? Gentlemen, get out your audiophile's thesaurus and start your eardrums. Please empty your pockets and leave your test instruments at the door. Objectivity will not be tolerated! Also, donations will be accepted for speaker cables for the poor, who can only afford cheap lampcord!
    Living Room system: 52"HDTV, 4 Mon.70s, Epik Valor, Outlaw RR2150
    Bedroom System: 2 Mon.60s,Velo VRP1200, HK3490
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  • mantis
    mantis Posts: 17,194
    edited July 2009
    Ern Dog wrote: »
    It will take a helluva good cable to outs my 8TC's. It's 5 stars all the way around in my book!

    I feel it's the only cable needed up to any configuration for fronts , 2 channel , center and if you got it like that rears. I completely love Kimber Kable. It's one of my top 2 cable companies.

    Dan
    Dan
    My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,966
    edited July 2009
    marvda1 wrote: »
    my reference cables are straley reality speaker cables which i think retail now for around $275 for an 8 ft. pair. i started a thread asking straley owners whta they replaced their straleys with and most of the responses were jps labs and harmonic technology , both out of my reach $$$$. the pnf's are sort of weird, i want to say laid back sometimes or polite but they sort make you sit forward in your seat and take in the music. there is plenty of detail but not in your face detail, you hear shades or layers of harmonics in the music that other (good) cables don't convey. they have good bass (had to open the closet door in my room because the bass started to excite the door. sometimes they seem rolled off at the high end, you know how when you hear a stick hit a cymbal you sort of want to jump a little, well with the pnf's it's with a whimper instead of a bang. i like the bang but with the type of detail you hear with the pnf's they just draw you in.
    i also have a pair of audio art new sc-5se and grover speaker cables in for review. so far the audio arts are very balanced with great bass and the grovers have great midrange detail and a very quiet background. the two reviews will appear in stereo mojo.
    marvin

    I also use the reality cables in a bi-wire form that Gregg made for me.I can recommend his cables fully as they sound as good as many reviewers claim.On top of it,he's a good guy to do buisness with,lives local in the burbs of chicago,and at times will hand deliver for you.Only drawback I can see are his cables are thick,and stiff,may not work on tight corners,but for the coin,you'd be hard pressed to do better.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • dragon1952
    dragon1952 Posts: 4,899
    edited July 2009
    rru2s wrote: »
    Speaker cable shootout? Gentlemen, get out your audiophile's thesaurus and start your eardrums. Please empty your pockets and leave your test instruments at the door. Objectivity will not be tolerated! Also, donations will be accepted for speaker cables for the poor, who can only afford cheap lampcord!

    Go start your own thread, troll. :rolleyes: Can't we for once have a thread like this without any crapping and pontificating from the other side?
    2 channel - Willsenton R8 tube integrated, Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE DAC, audio optimized NUC7i5, Windows 10 Pro/JRiver MC29/Fidelizer Plus 8.7 w/LPS and external SSD drive, PS Audio PerfectWave P3 regenerator, KEF R3 speakers, Rythmik F12SE subwoofer, Audioquest Diamond USB cable, Gabriel Gold IC's, Morrow Audio SP5 speaker cables. Computer - Windows 10/JRiver, Schiit Magni 3+/Modi 3+, Fostex PMO.4n monitors, Sennheiser HD600 headphones
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  • PETERNG
    PETERNG Posts: 918
    edited July 2009
    My Z1 cable did a fine job for me for the two front, center channel and sub, when I litsen to SACD 2 channels, the MJ's "Thriller" Album sounds absolutely great ...DTS and DD 5.1 are great as well ...

    Polk RT 20P (main L+R)
    Polk CS-1000p (center)
    Polk PSW 1200 (Sub)
    Polk F/x 500i (back channels)
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  • SKsolutions
    SKsolutions Posts: 1,820
    edited July 2009
    I like to read about others' experience with cables and IC's, but EVERY thread gets tagged with the same exact tag every time. Verbatim. Someone is really on a mission, and just won't let it go. I suppose mucking up every other thread wasn't enough, so it's this passive aggressive crap now. Is that really appropriate? Every thread, every time?
    It's really not hard to guess who it is, is it? If you can't grow up, or attenuate your psychosis, then just stay the hell out of these threads. Sorry Ern.
    -Ignorance is strength -
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited July 2009
    SKsolutions wrote: »
    I like to read about others' experience with cables and IC's, but EVERY thread gets tagged with the same exact tag every time. Verbatim. Someone is really on a mission, and just won't let it go. I suppose mucking up every other thread wasn't enough, so it's this passive aggressive crap now. Is that really appropriate? Every thread, every time?
    It's really not hard to guess who it is, is it? If you can't grow up, or attenuate your psychosis, then just stay the hell out of these threads. Sorry Ern.

    No need to appologize to me. I don't feel offended. I actually feel really good about the idea of me going on a mission to find the best speaker cable for my system within my price range that I'm willing to pay. I don't give a hoot about how other people feel about what I'm doing.
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,901
    edited July 2009
    ern dog, so far what speaker cables are you going to have on hand to compare?
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2, Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Digital cables: Crystal Clear Magnum Opus 2 bnc, Tellurium Q aes, Silnote Audio Poseidon Signature 2 bnc
    Puritan PSM156
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited July 2009
    Muh ha ha ha ha!!!!

    Today the PNF's and the DH Labs Q-10's arrived! Monday the MAC's arrived. That's it. (Well that's not totally true- I also bought a set of DH Labs Air Matrix IC's to compare them with my Kimber Hero's)

    So far I've only heard the MAC's and the PNF's and of coarse it's way too soon to make any real statements about anything, BUT I will say this... When I installed the PNF's, my thought was HOLY ****! Super noticeable difference. More to come.

    Marv- thanks again for your recommendation for the PNF's.
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  • dee1949
    dee1949 Posts: 1,425
    edited July 2009
    ...has anyone rewired the innards of their speakers to match their exterior speaker cable runs??? Seems like it would make for great synergy.

    ...I have some silver wire and some extra Kimber Kable 8TC....how would these do ...to use in Monitor 7b's??

    I use Kimber Kable 4tc on my maggies. I am happy with the SOUND.
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