Cables.

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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,092
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    My take on cables??? I believe cables can and do make a huge difference, depending on the gear involved. Synergy is that word that gets tossed about a lot, and for good reason. I believe that cables should be about 20% of the value within a system. I would not buy a 1500.00 power cord for a 500.00 dollar AVR, but if I had a pair of 20k Krell monoblocks, I see no issue getting as much performance from your cables as you can.

    On my two channel side, I have AQ WEL RCA interconnects from my preamp to the amps, and AQ Meteor true bi-wire from amps to speaker. Everything else is AQ Balanced, but I don't recall the series at this time. I have spent 2k on cables to serve as the connection for 18k in gear. Could I get better performance from higher end cables? Sure, but I don't think it would make as much of a difference than upgrading my gear.

    I am at the endgame, and won't be changing a thing for a very, very long time.
    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
  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,092
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    I'm a firm believer in speaker cables making a huge difference. So far these are the best I've heard on my own system, which I fabricated myself. This picture was taken before I punched the 1/4" holes with a commercial paper punch, for the binding post terminals on my speakers and amp.

    4s294sh39lee.png

    Do you keep a fire extinguisher nearby or is the fire department on speed-dial?
    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
  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,180
    edited April 2020
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    Ha! No short circuits buddy. The dielectric is .003" thick polypropylene and extends past the edges of the ribbons and the exterior insulation is clear polyethylene with PSA. Look up the Goertz patent. These gave my system incredible speed and clarity by the way.

    In addition to not showing the 1/4" holes, the picture above doesn't show the insulation I applied to the positive leads. I tried to keep the insulation to a minimum to reduce losses.

    My friend Steve who is in a fairly large audio club here in NJ where they have a different person host a listening party every first Sun of the month, has been taking a pair of these to various people's houses who have VERY high end systems and they have been extremely impressed with the improvement in their sound.

    PS: some amplifiers will oscillate with such a low inductance cable and in those cases a 0.1uF capacitor in series with a 4.7 Ohm resistor, across the terminals of the speakers cures that problem.
    Post edited by Gardenstater on
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Crown D150 amp
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,906
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    PS: some amplifiers will oscillate with such a low inductance cable and in those cases a 0.1uF capacitor in series with a 4.7 Ohm resistor, across the terminals of the speakers cures that problem.

    Interesting, but honestly....who wants to do that just for cables. I like my cables to function just by hooking them up right off the bat.
    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
  • Gardenstater
    Gardenstater Posts: 4,180
    edited April 2020
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    Most amps don't oscillate. My Crown D-150 has no issues. It's just 2 things to hook up, the speaker cable goes on the binding post and the nut/knob is screwed down tightly. I like to use a little smidge of silver platelet grease (very little). Then if your amp is one of the ones that requires the Zobel Network, you just attach it to the binding posts using the appropriate connectors. I would use banana plugs since mine are otherwise unoccupied (if I needed the Zobel). Easy Peazy.

    Alpha Core Goertz cables used to include the network with the cables at one time, I believe. There is absolutely no sound degradation in using the network on an amp that doesn't oscillate, just for extra protection.
    George / NJ

    Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
    Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
    Crown D150 amp
    Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
    iFi nano iDSD DAC
    iPurifier3
    iDefender w/ iPower PS
    Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
    iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
    Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
    Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform