What are you using for Cables?

treitz3 · Jun 6, 2012

whart said:
What's the history to this? Wasn't Bob Fulton credited with the first 'audiophile' cable? I know MIT was an early player in high end cable, then the mass market stuff, particularly Monster, which in my estimation, didn't do much to further the cause, even if the cables were better made than the cheap patch cords that were supplied with mass market gear. And what do the old school horn guys use? Belden wire? Has anybody done an authoritative history of the 'high-end' cable?

Whart, I asked this very question a while back. Here's the link below, so you don't have to search for it;

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5585-Who-gets-credit-for-the-interconnect-upgrade-war

I noticed while reading that thread again [link above] tonight that I did not have the manners to thank those who answered my inquiry. My apologies for that and thank you very much for letting me know.

Steve Rowan · Jun 6, 2012

Yep, Bob Fulton was one of the first "tweakers" to bring cable, record mats, head shell leads, and Audiophile records to the audiophile. I still remember him bringing his magic tricks into our store and amazing folks. His Fulton Gold was a sight to behold and sounded great. I still have a Fulton Lp, some Fulton Brown speaker wire, and a set of head shell leads in my system. His Fulton "j" speaker system sounded amazing for the time and still would sound good today. Definitely a man before his time. I'd love to hear a set of Fulton Fuses! The Fulton Gold speaker cable was thick maybe two gauge and so rigid one could almost use it for speaker stands with speakers like the LS35as!
We had a setup that featured Magnepan Tympani 4s, driven by an ARC D110b on the bottom, an ARC D79b on top, EC 21 crossover, an Oracle at Delphi with Sumiko THE ARM, a Koetsu Black, and Fulton Blue record mat all wired with Fulton Gold Interconnects and Spealer Cable. It was a stunning system that I'd love to own today.

MylesBAstor · Jun 7, 2012

Steve Rowan said:
Yep, Bob Fulton was one of the first "tweakers" to bring cable, record mats, head shell leads, and Audiophile records to the audiophile. I still remember him bringing his magic tricks into our store and amazing folks. His Fulton Gold was a sight to behold and sounded great. I still have a Fulton Lp, some Fulton Brown speaker wire, and a set of head shell leads in my system. His Fulton "j" speaker system sounded amazing for the time and still would sound good today. Definitely a man before his time. I'd love to hear a set of Fulton Fuses! The Fulton Gold speaker cable was thick maybe two gauge and so rigid one could almost use it for speaker stands with speakers like the LS35as!
We had a setup that featured Magnepan Tympani 4s, driven by an ARC D110b on the bottom, an ARC D79b on top, EC 21 crossover, an Oracle at Delphi with Sumiko THE ARM, a Koetsu Black, and Fulton Blue record mat all wired with Fulton Gold Interconnects and Spealer Cable. It was a stunning system that I'd love to own today.

Nice trip down memory lane!

Bill Hart · Jun 7, 2012

treitz3 said:
Whart, I asked this very question a while back. Here's the link below, so you don't have to search for it;

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?5585-Who-gets-credit-for-the-interconnect-upgrade-war

I noticed while reading that thread again [link above] tonight that I did not have the manners to thank those who answered my inquiry. My apologies for that and thank you very much for letting me know.

Thanks for the link treitz3. I also appreciate the fact that you didn't castigate me, Internet style, with one of those "Search is Your Friend" or "Owned" Images. (I've been on the Internet way too long----). I look forward to reading it.

treitz3 · Jun 7, 2012

whart said:
Thanks for the link treitz3. I also appreciate the fact that you didn't castigate me, Internet style, with one of those "Search is Your Friend" or "Owned" Images. (I've been on the Internet way too long----). I look forward to reading it.

No problem, whart. It's much easier to have everybody get along with just a little bit of kindness. Besides, that's not my style.

KeithR · Jun 9, 2012

Bruce B said:
Anyone found a great cable with Speakon connectors?

I had mine custom made by JPS Labs, but was wondering if anything better was out there.

Zu makes them and relatively inexpensive.

rockitman · Jun 9, 2012

Who has a 1 meter pair of Nordost Odin speaker cable they want to sell ?

tarquineous · Sep 15, 2012

What cables--and connectors

andromedaaudio said:
Just some good profigold cables with decent connectors , i do believe in good connectors , so my loudspeakerterminals are all made of solid tellurium copper .
I use monoblocs so i can use 1 meter long cables which are the same wire as the speakers internal wire .
I do think there is a hell off a lot of B##$L **** going on in the high end cable world .
midrange problems , top end problems , bass problems , i change them at the source of the problem mostly the speaker rather than try to " tune " it with cables .

hj

I agree with you especially with speaker connectors and material. I don't know which brand of tellurium connectors you use, but I mostly use Cardas binding posts for their copper rather than brass content.
Replacing internal wiring is work, and some people are not up to it, skill wise or time. But I have seen many people buy exotic speaker cable, then hook them up to components and speakers which have cheap connectors and wiring. Not to mention the solder joints and the solder itself. I think it's wise to use a copper bearing solder if we are going to this extent of upgrading materials.
What to say about tuning with cables ? All I can say is if someone has four different interconnects for example, one or two will sound better than the others. There are many things to listen for, but overall its the one that sounds right to the owner. Changing speaker parts, or component mods may change which cable sounds right. Its a tough call to predict the outcome of making changes to an audio system.

NorthStar · Sep 15, 2012

---You are right, you cannot; predict the sound of cables with your own system.

One word: Experimentation. :b

______________________

Most people do not; experiment with cable's sound variations in their systems.
Only a small group of people (extreme 'audiophilia' minority) are 'audio anal' enough to do so.
..And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that; it is their own audio journeys, and we all fully respect it. Hey, I'm part of that group myself; to some degree of extent.

tarquineous · Sep 15, 2012

whart said:
What's the history to this? Wasn't Bob Fulton credited with the first 'audiophile' cable? I know MIT was an early player in high end cable, then the mass market stuff, particularly Monster, which in my estimation, didn't do much to further the cause, even if the cables were better made than the cheap patch cords that were supplied with mass market gear. And what do the old school horn guys use? Belden wire? Has anybody done an authoritative history of the 'high-end' cable?

That would be very involving and time consuming. Might be a good topic for a college paper. You're going to get into early inventions and patents, materials, charged dielectrics, multi-pole technology (MIT), shielding, impedance matching, etc. Then there's the people involved, with their background, insights, achievements etc.
It would probably lead to a lot more cable experimentation. If you actually did this, and came up with a good book, you would have it made financially. Think of a solid year of research, then another one to put it altogether.

microstrip · Sep 15, 2012

rockitman said:
Who has a 1 meter pair of Nordost Odin speaker cable they want to sell ?

According to the Nordost people you should use at least 2 meters of Odin to get the best of their cable.

MylesBAstor · Sep 15, 2012

microstrip said:
According to the Nordost people you should use at least 2 meters of Odin to get the best of their cable.

What about phono cables?

Want to keep that as short as possible.

tarquineous · Sep 16, 2012

microstrip said:
According to the Nordost people you should use at least 2 meters of Odin to get the best of their cable.

You should use whatever fits your system. Especially with mono blocks. I've had a few manufacturers try to sell me a longer piece, only to find out that's what they have in stock, and they don't want to make a custom length. Make sure you use a similar quality cable inside the speaker, and preferably the amp too. I would not trust Nordost anyway. One example of many is their QX3 and 4. They say you can use these on amps, yet they are wired with 16 gauge wire inside. Then they say for best results, use an Odin power cord from wall to QX unit, and another Odin PC from unit to component. Why not Odin or Valhalla inside the unit ? I would say to save Nordost labor costs. The QX units work by themselves, without having the AC power go through them. Some others and myself have tried both ways. Most prefer the sound without the power going through the unit to the component. Other than that, everything in the QX units are cheap parts. The chassis however is excellent. So you spend $3000.00 for a nice box full of cheap parts and rather poor construction.

Back to cables. I do find that specialty power cords do need to be at least 4 feet to get the sonic benefit, preferably over 6 feet. 8 feet is about where there is maximum sonic influence from the cable design. There are probably technical reasons for this, but my statement is based on trying different lengths. I haven't found this to be as important with interconnects and speaker cables.

rockitman · Sep 16, 2012

4 meters is the optimum length for Valhalla...I only needed 2 meters, but I bought 4. According to Nordost , at 4 meters, damping is optimized.

MrAcoustat · Sep 16, 2012

Cables cables cables, don't get me wrong i'm in the believer camp but come on for an amp & preamp the shorter the cable the better but for power & speaker cables the longer the better yes better for who at 1k a meter i think it's better for the SELLER here is only one example why longer is better ( for the seller )

PS: At 5k an extra meter for speaker cables you better believe that it's better but better for the SELLER.

http://www.stealthaudiocables.com/pricing/index.htm#lc

rbbert · Sep 16, 2012

MrAcoustat said:
Cables cables cables, don't get me wrong i'm in the believer camp but come on for an amp & preamp the shorter the cable the better but for power & speaker cables the longer the better yes better for who at 1k a meter i think it's better for the SELLER here is only one example why longer is better ( for the seller )

PS: At 5k an extra meter for speaker cables you better believe that it's better but better for the SELLER.

http://www.stealthaudiocables.com/pricing/index.htm#lc

For sonic reasons , though, there still does not seem to be a consensus on the long interconnect + short speaker cable vs. short interconnect + long speaker cable question.

Johnny Vinyl · Sep 16, 2012

I wonder if Lampcord is better at 4ft or 8ft!

MrAcoustat · Sep 16, 2012

John72953 said:
I wonder if Lampcord is better at 4ft or 8ft!

You may be surprise, BUT it depends on the lamp.

NorthStar · Sep 16, 2012

---...The bulb?

What are you using for Cables?

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