New Speaker Cables

[Romans1832]

I'm looking for new speakers cables, I'm considering Nordost Blue Heaven or Transparent Plus, any suggestions? The cables are for my Focal Sopra no.1 speakers being powered by a Conrad/Johnson CA200 solid state control amp.

 

[Barry2013]

I am a big fan of the Entreq cables.
The Konstantin are very good value and to my ears sound more natural than the Nordost cables.

 

[sujay]

I use the Sablon heavy gauge speaker cables. While strangely not as popular as their power cables, I believe they are excellent Value........ I have been using them for almost 2 years now and love them. don’t have the Bocch termination though, which I believe takes them notches higher.

You can ask Mark if you can have them for trial...

Cheers

 

[thedudeabides]

If you are sure to purchase, contact The Cable Company. They have a "lending" stock, with a massive selection of wire to allow for an in home audition. Be aware that once you commit financially, you can't get your money back but only a credit towards another audition / purchase.

 

[gadawg58]

Personally I would go with the transparent over the Nordost in this situation. The Nordost to my ear are super detailed as are the Focal's which for me might not create the best synergy. I like the advice above though and try several different cables to determine what sounds best to you as we all hear differently and like something different. I love the MIT cables but they can get expensive quickly and not everyone likes them either. Good Luck!

George

 

[thedudeabides]

It's all about synergy, musicality and personal bias. No-one can decide what's best for your system except you. Contact The Cable Company. They have a massive "lending library" so you can audition different cables, at all price points, in your own system.

 

[demike]

@Romans1832 I've been using Silnote Morpheus Ref II cables between my PrimaLuna and Sopra 2s. I was just going to just try the least expensive ones then upgrade if I liked the brand. I ended up just keeping them because they were so good. Very balanced top to bottom, deep/wide soundstage and very detailed without being etched or bright. I do like Nordost but by the time I got to that level of performance I was spending 4x. Since then I've since purchased Silnote interconnects (Poseidon Signature) and again took things up a few notches. The owner (Mark Williams) is great to work with as well. Good luck!

 

[Hiempie]

Hi in the past I used several MIT speaker cables because I play with Spectral Amps. I live in the Netherlands and sold my extremely priced Oracle Matrix SHD 120 (new 30.000 euro) I heard no differce by using In Acoustic 1102 cables so I sold the MIT. About one month ago I discoverd a new cable type using Triple C copper. I lost all the acoustic resonance specialy the low once. So my advise try this type off cable. In Holland there is a small company Pure Cable selling a pair LS cable 1200 euro. But the top off Furutech is using the same Nanotec 309 triple C copper cable.

Greetz Hiempie

 

[The Knife]

Anyone have experience with The Chord Company Epic X shielded speaker cables, and especially paired with ML latest Electrostats? I borrowed home a pair over the weekend and I believe I can hear some improvement in the sound. The sound is somewhat more smooth letting the Peachtree Nova 500 signature sound come more to its right. Current I am running Supra Ply 3.4 cables, 12 gauge, budget copper cables. In Comparison Epic X carries 12 gauge Oxygen free copper, silver coated, and is priced ca USD 100 per meter, so in technical ambition they are a clear step up. Thankful for any advice/input on these specific cables or The Chord Company in general.

 

[loki1957]

I've been using Jena Labs twin 9 for about 20 years. I never found a reason to change. I will move up her product line this year though.

 

[Cellcbern]

Very happy with my Verastarr Grand Illusion speaker cables. They are dynamic, fast, musical, and transparent and easily surpass every Nordost cable I've heard except Odin. They are 6Moons Blue Moon award winners and every reviewer has raved about them. They are also reasonably priced as high end cables go and you can find good used sets. Note that I have the all copper version - there are also the silver "Signature" and "Statement" versions.

 

[loki1957]

I've been using Jena Labs twin 9 for about 20 years. I never found a reason to change. I will move up her product line this year though.

just picked up a pair of twin 19 speaker cables.

 

[spiritofmusic]

I use the Sablon heavy gauge speaker cables. While strangely not as popular as their power cables, I believe they are excellent Value........ I have been using them for almost 2 years now and love them. don’t have the Bocch termination though, which I believe takes them notches higher.

You can ask Mark if you can have them for trial...

Cheers

+1 on Sablon, I have the Bocchino spades.

 

[Mrmb]

It's all about synergy, musicality and personal bias. No-one can decide what's best for your system except you. Contact The Cable Company. They have a massive "lending library" so you can audition different cables, at all price points, in your own system.

A big 2nd. from me!!

I'm in the process of auditioning speaker cables for my Atma-sphere OTL Amps and SoundLab electrostatic speakers. As "thedudeabides" suggests, your components and personal preference are paramount. Nothing, absolutely nothing, beats actually inserting cables in your system and hearing the results – the more cables the better! In addition to The Cable Company, most online sellers will provide cables for a 30-day trial period.

Presently, in house or in transit are:

1) Nordost Tyr II's
2) Iconoclast (Belden) 2-different pairs: 1) OFE (Oxygen-Free Electrolytic Copper) and 2) SPTPC (Silver-Plated Electrolytic Tough Pitch Copper).
3) Silversmith Fidelium’s​

Regarding the Iconoclast cables, much has been published about their development. Iconoclast’s designer is Galen Gareis, a career Belden engineer. Galen's research is significant and well documented. He has a presence on forums, especially PS Audio's here: https://forum.psaudio.com/t/belden-iconoclast-interconnects-and-speaker-cabling/2038. I'm sure other posts are contained on other forums. This is an instance where science and specifications were used to design a cable; with all of the specifications itemized, nothing hidden and NO marketing voodoo speak touting magnets, black/white Boxes, quantum tunneling, graphene, magic fluids, A/C boxes etc.

I found Fideliums via a forum post. They’re an interesting design and reasonably priced in the world of audio cables that have gold/diamond jewelery-like prices. https://silversmithaudio.com/fidelium-cables/ I figured for a 30-day trial at their price point, why not!?!

Other cable brands I like and have owned and like are Canary, Mogami, Kimber, MIT, Harmonic Tech., Purist Audio and Synergistic Research. Choosing a company’s cables because of their name or picking a cable because of its price, may be better than throwing darts at a dart board full of cable manufacturer names, but it is barely so. Hence, it’s imperative to trial various manufacturers and cables of varying prices and make a decision from there.

 

[The Knife]

Just installed a Torus TOT AVR (EU version) as base in my system. The Peachtree barely consumes more then 1A according to the display, and the TOT constantly scales up about 229 volt input to 232-233 volts output (again EU). Noise floor and jitter should be totally absent, as the jitter detector goes dead silent, compared to when it is attached directly to the wall socket. First impression: It works well with the Peachtree Digital Integrated Amp and the Computer that is connected to it. Chris Stapleton, "Whiskey and You" has a new calm over it. I`ll be damned...

 

[Musicman]

The new MIT EVO One speaker cables are giant killers. In fact, I was so impressed with the first pair on my Genesis G500 speakers I bought a second set for my GF's system which has Alon Lotus SE MK ll speakers. As others have mentioned, it would be wise to audition such a cable in their own system to make an informed decision before laying down the long green.

 

[Addicted to hifi]

Try audience front row cables. They are Stunning in my system.