Best speaker wire

11112131517

Comments

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    And now you have more money invested in two power cables than I have in my entire rig. :pB)
    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
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    And now you have more money invested in two power cables than I have in my entire rig. :pB)

    When Joey goes in he goes all in. Now if he'd just spend some on some new shorts...

    If Audioquest just made some "wildwear" he'd be styling B)
  • OleBoot
    OleBoot Posts: 2,065
    I simply don't get this "placebo effect" "expectation bias" thing. Over the years I've returned, resold or resold and taken a hit over things that didn't work out for me. Some of them were significant outlays compared to my means and I wanted them to work.
  • Geoff4rfc
    Geoff4rfc Posts: 2,116
    txcoastal1 wrote: »

    Besides, no one likes me anyway

    I go away for 36 years and come back to this???????

    Okay, let's try it again, go to the mirror and repeat after me..."I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me"!

    Source: BRP Panasonic UB9000, CDP Emotiva ERC3 - Display: LG OLED EVO 83 C3 - Pre/Pro: Marantz 8802A - Amplification: Emotiva XPA-DR3, XPA-2 x 2, XPA-6, Speakers, Mains/2ch-Focal Kanta No2's, C-LSiM706, S-702F/X, RS-RTiA9's, WS-RTiA9's, FH-RTiA3's, Subs - Epik Empire x 2

    Cables: AudioQuest McKenzie XLR's/CDP/Amp, Carbon 48/BRP, Forest 48/Display

    EXPERIENCE: next to nothing, but I sure enjoy audio and video MY OPINION OF THIS HOBBY: I may not be a smart man, but I know what quicksand is.
    When I was young, I was Superman but now that old age has gotten the best of me I'm only Batman
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    Geoff4rfc wrote: »
    txcoastal1 wrote: »

    Besides, no one likes me anyway

    doggone it, people like me"!

    Not me!



















































    :o

  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    All red wines taste the same, right? I mean, they pretty much do to me, at least in the $10-$15/bottle range.
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    I find much more variety in whiskey and beer than I do wine. Whenever somebody asks me for wine, I start carrying on about crap like a snowflake college brat.
    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
  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,760
    edited January 2019
    Jstas wrote: »
    Wires shouldn't be breaking in. They should how they are going to sound from the factory.
    gdphoto wrote: »
    Sorry to get back on topic, but I just listened to my new DYI cables for about an hour and now they seem a bit bright. Getting back to my earlier question, do speaker cables need time to break in? What I hear now is reminiscent, but now as bad, as when I had my XO's rebuilt and upgraded to RDO194's. Back then the sound was bright and even a little raspy. After about 200 hours, as per F1's advise, they were completely settled in and now sound great. Now with the cable switch, so far, I feel like I am back there again, a bit. Should I wait awhile before passing judgment, or is this a case of it is what it is?

    Wire, the metal conductor part of a cable, does not break in, but the dielectric properties of the cable insulation can change over time. This has to do with the ability of the cable insulation to store and release energy - an cause noise and distortion.
    To hear differences in audio equipment or cables, you need to be using components that are of a level that the typical stuff from Best Buy can’t touch.

    You're being elitist and an audio snob. >:)

    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    I would love to see your analysis on the effects of high performance audio cables on entry-level AVR’s, DVD players and speakers.... should make for a fun read. :p
    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
  • Jstas
    Jstas Posts: 14,707
    Wire, the metal conductor part of a cable, does not break in, but the dielectric properties of the cable insulation can change over time. This has to do with the ability of the cable insulation to store and release energy - an cause noise and distortion.

    That shouldn't be happening.

    Insulation is supposed to prevent interference with signal transmission. If it is coloring the signal then that is a problem.

    There are times when a polarizing insulation is important. Things like radiation barriers or certain kinds of antennas. Otherwise, a dielectric is better suited for things like capacitors where they don't work without it or like in phase shifters, voltage controlled oscillators or tunable filters like what is used in certain radar systems where the dielectric properties improve performance.

    In audio, a clean, unfettered, unmolested signal path is the desired result. Wire insulation that has dielectric properties strong enough to create signal abnormalities that manifest in audible manners is undesirable insulation. All insulation is going to have an effect of some sort but to deliberately choose a material for insulation that has a dielectric property that creates force of any kind on the signal path is the exact opposite of what a wire should be doing. If you have cables that are doing that, you need to get different ones because that is a failure, not a feature. Even if it was intended by design.

    Expert Moron Extraordinaire

    You're just jealous 'cause the voices don't talk to you!
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,903
    Jstas wrote: »

    In audio, a clean, unfettered, unmolested signal path is the desired result. Wire insulation that has dielectric properties strong enough to create signal abnormalities that manifest in audible manners is undesirable insulation. All insulation is going to have an effect of some sort but to deliberately choose a material for insulation that has a dielectric property that creates force of any kind on the signal path is the exact opposite of what a wire should be doing. If you have cables that are doing that, you need to get different ones because that is a failure, not a feature. Even if it was intended by design.

    Might disagree there John. Nice theory, but in practical use it doesn't hold water because everything in the chain effects the sound in some manner. Change the internal wiring in your speakers and the sound changes, doesn't mean the new wire is broken, just that it has different properties....and that will effect the sound.

    From the recording to your ears, the signal path has been molested numerous times. Between the gear playing it, the source, the pre, the dac, the amp and the speakers along with every interconnect and speaker cable used.

    In audio, one camp certainly professes a shorter signal path is the best, for the reasons I just explained in the previous paragraph. Less gear, less cabling, shorter path, may indeed grant you a better sound, in theory anyway, but as we know sound is not a one size fits all game to play.

    It could be said, everything I just mentioned is simply coloring the sound, and you'd be right. However, coloring the sound plays into personal preferences and one's idea of what good sound should sound like. If nothing molested the signal, in a perfect world, every CDP would sound the same, every pre/dac/amp, cables, and even speakers to some degree.
    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
  • EndersShadow
    EndersShadow Posts: 17,517
    mdaudioguy wrote: »
    All red wines taste the same, right? I mean, they pretty much do to me, at least in the $10-$15/bottle range.

    Bottle you say? Whats this? I thought it only came in square?
    "....not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." William Bruce Cameron, Informal Sociology: A Casual Introduction to Sociological Thinking (1963)
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    mdaudioguy wrote: »
    All red wines taste the same, right? I mean, they pretty much do to me, at least in the $10-$15/bottle range.

    Bottle you say? Whats this? I thought it only came in square?

    more like rectangular or a cardboard cylinder of some some lol...
    Living Room 2.2: Usher BE-718 "tiny dancers"; Dual DIY Dayton audio RSS210HF-4 Subs with Dayton SPA-250 amps; Arcam SA30; Musical Fidelity A308; Sony UBP-x1000es; Squeezebox Touch with Bolder Power Supply
    Game Room 5.1.4:
    Denon AVR-X4200w; Sony UBP-x700; Definitive Technology Power Monitor 900 mains, CLR-3000 center, StudioMonitor 350 surrounds, ProMonitor 800 atmos x4; Sub - Monoprice Monolith 15in THX Ultra

    Bedroom 2.1
    Cambridge Azur 551r; Polk RT25i; ACI Titan Subwoofer
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,903
    Don't you boys get me started on wine. :)

    Actually I can relate wine to the thread topic. Some say they can't taste a difference in wine, good, you saved yourself some coin then. Same with cables.

    Some say wine, like cables, gets better as you move up in price points. It does...

    Some say wine's characteristics are defined by various things such as the type of grape used, the ground it's grown in, climate, storage temps, aging, etc. Everything matters in the chain of processes to the final taste that hits your mouth. Cable building also has a few processes involved, and pairing those characteristics to those of the associated gear will give your ears the best taste of sound defined by your preferences.

    Some people are happy as a clam drinking cheap wine, pleases their taste buds and they see no reason to spend more. Others may have a more demanding taste bud and like the more expensive wines. Cables are no different.

    The commonality, is personal preferences, which dictate what we buy, what we use, what we listen to. In order to please the various differences in preferences, we have a variety of products to suit any of them. So yes, in food, wine, and audio, everything colors the sound, tastes, to please the end user. Nothing else matters to that one persons preferences.
    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
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    tonyb wrote: »
    Don't you boys get me started on wine. :)

    Actually I can relate wine to the thread topic. Some say they can't taste a difference in wine, good, you saved yourself some coin then. Same with cables.

    Some say wine, like cables, gets better as you move up in price points. It does...

    Some say wine's characteristics are defined by various things such as the type of grape used, the ground it's grown in, climate, storage temps, aging, etc. Everything matters in the chain of processes to the final taste that hits your mouth. Cable building also has a few processes involved, and pairing those characteristics to those of the associated gear will give your ears the best taste of sound defined by your preferences.

    Some people are happy as a clam drinking cheap wine, pleases their taste buds and they see no reason to spend more. Others may have a more demanding taste bud and like the more expensive wines. Cables are no different.

    The commonality, is personal preferences, which dictate what we buy, what we use, what we listen to. In order to please the various differences in preferences, we have a variety of products to suit any of them. So yes, in food, wine, and audio, everything colors the sound, tastes, to please the end user. Nothing else matters to that one persons preferences.

    But Tony.......................what about expectation bias??? If you buy an expensive bottle of wine IT HAS TO TASTE GREAT, I mean.............you're expecting it to. Even if it tastes like vinegar your "human factor" is going to trick you into liking it because it cost so much, RIGHT!!!

    LMAO at the whole expectation bias.

    If anything, for me, I am even more critical of something I have high expectations for. So that theory just doesn't hold water in and of itself, atleast for me personally. For the many things I am well versed in or have dialed in particular preferences, expectation bias is a non-starter.

    By nature I am analytical and skeptical to the point of annoyance to those around me when it comes to choosing anything, albeit audio, wine, steaks, craft beer, etc. And I am a cheap skate in the fact that I like things that are a good value.

    Anyone can go pick out a great $100 bottle of wine, but I prefer to find that $30-40 bottle of wine that tastes very similar if not almost exactly as good as the $100 bottle of wine, as an analogy.

    H9

    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    Looks like the start of a great day! Lol

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • gdphoto
    gdphoto Posts: 182
    What, No strawberry Hill?
    Hafler DH220 Power amp Recapped
    Hafler DH110 Preamp Recapped
    Hafler Digital FM Tuner
    Virtue Audio M1 Piano CD Player
    Technics SL-1210-MK5 with a Rega Exact Cartridge
    Polk SDA1c's(Rebuilt XO's by Ben) RDO194 Tweeters
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,927
    edited January 2019
    gdphoto wrote: »
    What, No strawberry Hill?

    Country Kwencher...
    (but that's a vin blanc -- like that bottle of Thunderbird that snuck into the photo above)

    I've told all y'all my Boones' Farm story, right? :)

  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,481
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Looks like the start of a great day! Lol

    H9

    Then comes the baaad night.
    RAAALLLPHHHH!
  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,053
    Consider those wine choices the equivalent to Home Depot copper speaker wire!

    RAAALLLLPHHHH.......

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,711
    edited January 2019
    If anything, for me, I am even more critical of something I have high expectations for.

    Ed Zachary!

    Unfortunately, there seem to be many incapable of obtaining that skill level as it relates to audio and life in general.
    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

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    edited January 2019
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Consider those wine choices the equivalent to Home Depot copper speaker wire!

    RAAALLLLPHHHH.......

    H9
    SPEAKER wire.... my bad, I thought this was about SPEARKER cables, and everybody knows those all sound the same.
    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
  • Milito
    Milito Posts: 1,908
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    gdphoto wrote: »
    What, No strawberry Hill?

    I've told all y'all my Boones' Farm story, right? :)

    I've got a few college stories about Boones Farm also.

    Yamaha RX-A2070, Musical Fidelity M6si integrated amp, Benchmark Dac1, Bluesound NODE 2i, Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport, Parasound Zphono USB Phono Preamp, Fluance RT85, Ortofon 2M Bronze, Polk L600's, L400, L900's, RC80i's, SVS 3000 Micro, Audioquest Interconnects and Digital Cables, Nordost Silver Shadow Digital Cable, Cullen Gold and Crossover Series Power Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 12AWG OCC Speaker Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha Analog Interconnect Cables, Douglas Connection Alpha 11 OCC Custom Power Cable, Signal Power Cable, Furman PL-8C 15 Power Conditioner, Sony 65" 900F, Sony UBP-X700, Fios, Apple TV 4K, Audioquest Chocolate HDMI Cables.
  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,420
    Jstas wrote: »
    Wires shouldn't be breaking in. They should how they are going to sound from the factory.
    Wire, the metal conductor part of a cable, does not break in

    I would have to disagree here. Just like a river. Atoms, molecules and electrons can and will move ever so slightly to create the path of least resistance.
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)


    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,903
    F1nut wrote: »
    If anything, for me, I am even more critical of something I have high expectations for.

    Ed Zachary!

    Unfortunately, there seem to be many incapable of obtaining that skill level as it relates to audio and life in general.



    Yep, I'm more critical of nicer more expensive things also. Everyone has a certain expectation bias, but one must deal in reality also.

    Sometimes I have a higher than normal expectation, and a piece may exceed it., or fall flat on it's face. Sometimes I have a low expectation, and am pleasantly surprised. I just call them as I hear them, no matter if it's my money or someone elses.
    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