{interconnector and Speaker cables Recommendation}

[waimac]

Hi all,

My currenct system is as follow:

Music Library: Synology DS916+ & TIDAL
Roon Core: Apple Macmini with SSD
Network Player & DAC: Weiss 502DAC {power: Siltech SPX-800} {Nordost TYR2 RCA}
PreAmp: Nagra Jazz {power: Siltech SPX-800} {Nordost TYR2 RCA}
Power AMP: Nagra VPAs {power: Siltech 270P} {Kondo Audio Note SPs-2.7 Speaker Cable}
Speaker: MAGICO S3

One of my friend who is using dCS DAC system hooked with Gryphon Diablo 300 to drive Verity Audio Speakers.

He recommended me to let go the Kondo Sps-2.7 for Transparent Ultra Speakers cables, and repleacing the Nordost TYR2 RCA with the Transparent Ultra RCA.

Any comments or recommendations? Thanks

 

[Speedskater]

For any and all interconnect cables, I would go with Belden, Canare, Mogami or Blue Jeans Cable.
For speaker cables, what matters most is low end-to-end total resistance.
Stay away from any cable company that makes special claims about their cables.

 

[Empirical Audio]

I highly recommend low-capacitance IC's from DAC, server or transport to preamp. This is critical because of the higher typical output impedance of these analog sources. If the vendor does not publish the capacitance per meter/foot, then go elsewhere. This is a simple thing to measure. A good metric would be 10pF/foot or less. The cables I used to manufacture were 3.8pF/foot.

Another requirement at least in my book is to use solid pure silver IC's, and I mean good silver. There is a fair share of bad silver cables on the market. This is because they are not annealed or handled properly. A good cable is the Antipodes, which is hand-made and uses a combination of silver and gold.

Also, if you want to make a BIG difference in the noise level and lower the noise floor of your system, add transformer isolation and use balanced cables (both). Here is a good custom transformer, handmade in Japan:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/products/final-drive

If you need to go balanced to SE or SE to balanced, this is also a feature.

Contrary to popular belief, the transformer will actually improve things, even though it is an added complexity.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

 

[DaveC]

I'm just going to recommend you demo whatever cables you're interested in because there's SO MUCH conflicting information out there... I'm not going to even try to give you more. Good Luck!

 

[Tubedoctor]

I tested hundred of cables over 20 years and i recommend to test the cables in your system before buying, because cables react different in different systems! There are cables like the Schnerzinger cables which have very good results in many different systems but this is not a guarantee for your system!! For best results: do not mix with different brands.

 

[Empirical Audio]

I tested hundred of cables over 20 years and i recommend to test the cables in your system before buying, because cables react different in different systems! There are cables like the Schnerzinger cables which have very good results in many different systems but this is not a guarantee for your system!! For best results: do not mix with different brands.

Always a good idea to listen, however the idea that there is "synergy" of certain cables with certain systems is flawed.

If a given cable is properly designed and fabricated, it will be optimum in all systems. The reason that some cables sound better in one system and not another is that the cable is suboptimal and the system is more forgiving. If you take the less forgiving system and find an optimal cable for that system, I would argue that that cable will be suitable for al systems.

Not that a bad component, like a preamp might be exacerbated by a "good" cable, because this is possible. The solution is to replace the preamp, not the cable.

This is how so many audiophiles go down the "garden path", rather than staying on the main road.

Some audiophiles, although a minority, seem to want a sound quality that is "soft" and not live. They may find solace in "tone-control" type cables. I've seen it before.

Steve N.
Empirical Audio

 

[treitz3]

I'm just going to recommend you demo whatever cables you're interested in because there's SO MUCH conflicting information out there... I'm not going to even try to give you more. Good Luck!

Ed Zachary.

Tom

 

[Pb Blimp]

For any and all interconnect cables, I would go with Belden, Canare, Mogami or Blue Jeans Cable.
For speaker cables, what matters most is low end-to-end total resistance.
Stay away from any cable company that makes special claims about their cables.

Kevin, So you do not believe inductance and capacitance filter frequencies in the audible range and, as such, designers vary these levels to dial in cable's FR to taste?

 

[waimac]

Thank you very much for all of the comments and information. I shall borrow some transparent cables to test first before making any decision. Thx

 

[BlueFox]

For any and all interconnect cables, I would go with Belden, Canare, Mogami or Blue Jeans Cable.
For speaker cables, what matters most is low end-to-end total resistance.
Stay away from any cable company that makes special claims about their cables.

Other than this quote, all the other posts are useful.

 

[Folsom]

I'm just going to recommend you demo whatever cables you're interested in because there's SO MUCH conflicting information out there... I'm not going to even try to give you more. Good Luck!

Go with this option to test ZenWave.

You could use Canare 4S11 for speaker cables, it is what is in your speakers.

I think most cables are fluff. But I also think BJC are trash - sound dead and the ends destory your plating on contacts.

 

[Speedskater]

Kevin, So you do not believe inductance and capacitance filter frequencies in the audible range and, as such, designers vary these levels to dial in cable's FR to taste?

Not for any reasonable interconnect system.

For speaker cables, what matters is the cable's end-to-end resistance/impedance in relationship to the loudspeaker's impedance curve. So only for very long cables or those special loudspeakers that have low impedance at high frequencies (like Apogee) will inductance matter. Capacitance will only matter with legacy or boutique amplifiers.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Kevin, So you do not believe inductance and capacitance filter frequencies in the audible range and, as such, designers vary these levels to dial in cable's FR to taste?

Sure they can , i can put a coil in series with your Ls wire , and IT Will drop your higher freq down like the stockmarket in 08, it depends on the value of inductance.
PS ah your talking straight wire here i didnt know

 

[Pb Blimp]

Not for any reasonable interconnect system.

For speaker cables, what matters is the cable's end-to-end resistance/impedance in relationship to the loudspeaker's impedance curve. So only for very long cables or those special loudspeakers that have low impedance at high frequencies (like Apogee) will inductance matter. Capacitance will only matter with legacy or boutique amplifiers.

It seems we are talking about very different things (deja vu all over again). You are talking about the ability of wire to get enough power to the speakers to drive them properly. (Like an electrician might.) I am talking about the subtle influence the wires are capable of having on frequency response as a function of its capacitance and inductance. As it relates to simply getting enough juice through the wire to make un-distorted sound, I agree with your observations. As it relates to dialing in FR to taste using the wires electrical properties, I do not.

 

[Empirical Audio]

Thank you very much for all of the comments and information. I shall borrow some transparent cables to test first before making any decision. Thx

It is interesting that it was Transparent cables that I first owned that prompted me to get in to the cable business. I sold them as soon as I made my own cables. I don't make cables anymore BTW.

Steve N.

 

[Speedskater]

Sure they can , i can put a coil in series with your Ls wire , and IT Will drop your higher freq down like the stockmarket in 08, it depends on the value of inductance

Of course coil inductors will do that! But aren't we talking about reasonable cables?

 

[andromedaaudio]

Yes i Saw it too late ,lol

 

[andromedaaudio]

PS there are cable companies doing actually what i said and asking good prices for it
The inductance value will off course be not to intrusive , it solves the sharp sounding ls problem a bit lol

 

[Speedskater]

It seems we are talking about very different things (deja vu all over again). You are talking about the ability of wire to get enough power to the speakers to drive them properly. (Like an electrician might.)

Not not all. Only in pro set-ups with extremely long speaker cables and low impedance speakers do the cables absorb a significant percentage of the power.
What happens is when a loudspeaker's impedance curve looks like a rollercoaster track, cables that have a high end-to-end resistance curve can act as a voltage divider and change the speakers response with frequency.

I am talking about the subtle influence the wires are capable of having on frequency response as a function of its capacitance and inductance. As it relates to simply getting enough juice through the wire to make un-distorted sound, I agree with your observations. As it relates to dialing in FR to taste using the wires electrical properties, I do not.

Except in the case I noted above, speaker cable capacitance has no impact on loudspeaker sound.
Speaker cables with high total end-to-end inductance will only have high frequency roll-off in speakers like those Apogee's above.

 

[Speedskater]

Yes i Saw it too late ,lol

But then there are those MIT cables with maybe an R, C, L network.