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Post by rockman85 on Jun 19, 2018 17:07:49 GMT -5
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Post by 4thchoice on Jun 19, 2018 19:41:07 GMT -5
In my case (repeat - MY CASE), a resounding/definite YES to a huge improvement. Went from a generic 12 ga OFC to Clear Day Double Shotgun speaker cables. Immediate improvement,even wife noticed and agreed. Have since tried Blue Jean cables and others, no comparison to the Clear Day cables. Keep in mind many other factors can and do come into play. In my system the Clear Day "fit", they may not with other components/systems.
IMO - mid-fi cables are the way to go. A step or two above the Sewell cables may be (likely will be) worth it, but 10 steps up may not be worth it. It would also help if you listed your equipment. Good luck, have fun and take your time.
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Post by jlafrenz on Jun 19, 2018 20:05:13 GMT -5
I think you are going to get varying answers some based on opinion and some on facts. The best way is to try some in your system and see if YOU can tell a difference. Do you have any friends that may be willing to loan you some cables to try? If not, check the used market to save yourself some money and have a low risk investment.
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Post by Bonzo on Jun 19, 2018 20:23:40 GMT -5
I think you are going to get varying answers some based on opinion and some on facts. The best way is to try some in your system and see if YOU can tell a difference. Do you have any friends that may be willing to loan you some cables to try? If not, check the used market to save yourself some money and have a low risk investment. Or if you have a cool local store, see if they will lend you various pairs to audition. Many high end places will do this. |
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Post by gus4emo on Jun 19, 2018 20:51:24 GMT -5
I use monoprice 12 gauge, perfect....just beware of the bs, I once used a 22 gauge 150 ft cable and was afraid of the results, going from living room to the backyard, it sounded just fine, just saying.... |
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Post by jackfish on Jun 19, 2018 22:13:26 GMT -5
I just went to a car audio place and got 12 gauge OFC cable and biwired my Wharfedale Diamond 225 speakers for effective 9 gauge wire. Cheap and effective. But if someone wants to spend $450 for speaker wire that costs as much as my speakers then by all means go for it. The Sewells look like a good value. I wouldn't change, but if you experiment, who knows?
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Post by macromicroman on Jun 20, 2018 12:14:11 GMT -5
Since we are talking about speaker cables, should they always be the same length? If your amp is closer to one speaker should you use a shorter cable than the longer cable needed for the other speaker?
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Post by gus4emo on Jun 20, 2018 12:46:08 GMT -5
Since we are talking about speaker cables, should they always be the same length? If your amp is closer to one speaker should you use a shorter cable than the longer cable needed for the other speaker? Use same length for LCR, same length for surrounds. |
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Post by geeqner on Jun 20, 2018 14:26:03 GMT -5
I would say that:
UP TO A POINT = DEFINITE "YES":
If you have inefficient speakers that require lots of Watts to "set them into proper motion" - then you will definitely benefit from reducing the resistance in the cables, which gets more CURRENT to the speakers.
BEYOND SOME POINT = NO / EVOLVES INTO "SNAKE OIL":
If the DC resistance is somewhere between low and insignificant compared to the load of your Speakers - then you should be mostly OK
if your speakers are 8-Ohm an Cable resistance of half-an Ohm is nearly insignificant (0.5/8 = 0.0625 = about 6.25% of your load is the cable) d/or if you have an Amplified Sub (High current is usually demanded by the Woofer more so than the other drivers). However, if you have some wheird 2-Ohm speakers - then you are adding about 25%
Some would argue that if it is PURE DC Resistance, then it simply reduces the Volume and has little impact on the Frequency Content of what you hear
When cables start to add Internal Capacitance - that can knock-down your highs and Inductance knocks-down the Bass.
But generally, if your speaker cables are heavy enough for the current required by / put-out by your speakers / amp, and are intended for use as "Speaker Cables" - then you should be (mostly) OK.
If your speakers are worth $500 - I doubt that there would be any audible benefit in spending hundreds or thousands on Speaker Cables.
(You CAN if you want to - people actually make stuff like that)
On the other hand, if your Speaker Budget is $20,000 - then you may view the incremental improvement possible from such esoteric stuff as being worth it, and your speakers MAY actually be good enough to hear the difference obtained from such stuff.
It's like tasting wine -
Nearly everybody can taste the difference between a 5-buck bottle and a 20-buck bottle.
As you move further up the scale:
- Your Pallette (ears) require experience / training / exercise in order to notice the differences. They ARE probably there - but can YOU sense it?
- You have to spend more and more, at exponentially-increasing amounts, in order to achieve smaller and smaller increases
- Beyond some point, it's just "not worth it" or it may or may not even actually be there (it becomes PURELY subjective and cannot be measured)
ME PERSONALLY - I have heard good things about the 4 and 8-conductor braided cables from Kimber. It's a bit pricey, but not crazy. It's something that I MIGHT try in the future. But if I were to get my hands on significant (thousands) amounts of disposable moolah - I am FIRMLY convinced that I would reap more benefits by shoving it into BETTER SPEAKERS. (Almost all of the "wisdom" that I've seen examples of an which has proven to be true / audible is that in most cases, better speakers usually seem to lead to the largest noticeable improvements.)
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Post by AudioHTIT on Jun 20, 2018 16:57:52 GMT -5
I’m convinced you need speaker cables to get the signal from the power amp to the speakers (period)
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Post by 405x5 on Jun 20, 2018 17:52:37 GMT -5
The gauge is what counts not the brand Bill |
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Post by RichGuy on Jun 20, 2018 23:41:07 GMT -5
Since we are talking about speaker cables, should they always be the same length? If your amp is closer to one speaker should you use a shorter cable than the longer cable needed for the other speaker? Matching the cable lengths will not be of any benefit at all. Make your cable lengths the length needed and eliminate the excess wire mess that serves no purpose other than to provide a possible antenna to attract unwanted noise into your system. |
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pderousse
Seeker Of Truth
monstrum horrendum ingens cui lumen ademptum
Posts: 6
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Post by pderousse on Jun 21, 2018 1:33:39 GMT -5
I recently replaced 8 Monoprice XLR ($8) interconnects going to the active crossover with Canare L-4E6S (c. $30 ea). MP cables were working fine until something happened during the HT room remodel and then inexplicably they were producing copious hiss / humm so I went with Canare's increased shielding - a very well constructed, and underrated, star quad cable. The difference was audible in my 102db system (and I don't mean 'veil-lifting,' 'sound-stage-widening,' 'oak-nose-with-a-hint-of-slate/blackberry' smearing), I mean you hear it every time you turn it on. (individual results will vary)
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Post by Boomzilla on Jun 21, 2018 4:25:37 GMT -5
I've had everything from lamp cord on up. Yes, I've heard some small differences, but not enough to justify high prices. The owner of Emotiva, Big Dan, recommends bi-wiring if you've got 12-feet or longer wires; the Lounge gurus recommend fat wires for low resistance; my audio amigo Russel recommends nothing fatter than 16 ga. and even then solid-core rather than stranded copper. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Wires are a high-profit item for most manufacturers, and so long as there are people willing to pay a lot of money for a bit of glorified lamp cord, then there will always be "weirdo wires" with unverifiable claims (but just LISTEN!). And although i'm a strong proponent of actually listening before buying, sometimes that just isn't possible with wires. Even if an audition were possible, the small differences that wires can make are only sometimes audible, and even then only to some people (but you may be one of them).
So ultimately speaker wires (and interconnects) are places where one can spend a LOT of money without significant improvement. If you can experiment inexpensively, though, why not do it? You may find a specific brand that you like. But for anything priced extravagantly, Caveat Emptor (buyer beware).
Which brings up the crux of this discussion - what is "extravagantly?" That varies with your budget. My limits are about $250 for a 12-foot-long pair of speaker wires (and I don't have many of those). I can make my own wires for about half or less that, so I've got lots of DIY wires in my spares box. In general, I find my DIYs work just as well as commercial wires costing many times more. But if I WERE going to buy some, brands such as Carnare, BlueJeans, and (discontinued) Ixos are high on my list. The two brands I've heard that made the biggest difference (to my ears) were Nordost and Kimber Kable. But "different" isn't always "better."
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Post by rockman85 on Jun 21, 2018 11:23:11 GMT -5
I've had everything from lamp cord on up. Yes, I've heard some small differences, but not enough to justify high prices. The owner of Emotiva, Big Dan, recommends bi-wiring if you've got 12-feet or longer wires; the Lounge gurus recommend fat wires for low resistance; my audio amigo Russel recommends nothing fatter than 16 ga. and even then solid-core rather than stranded copper. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Wires are a high-profit item for most manufacturers, and so long as there are people willing to pay a lot of money for a bit of glorified lamp cord, then there will always be "weirdo wires" with unverifiable claims (but just LISTEN!). And although i'm a strong proponent of actually listening before buying, sometimes that just isn't possible with wires. Even if an audition were possible, the small differences that wires can make are only sometimes audible, and even then only to some people (but you may be one of them). So ultimately speaker wires (and interconnects) are places where one can spend a LOT of money without significant improvement. If you can experiment inexpensively, though, why not do it? You may find a specific brand that you like. But for anything priced extravagantly, Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). Which brings up the crux of this discussion - what is "extravagantly?" That varies with your budget. My limits are about $250 for a 12-foot-long pair of speaker wires (and I don't have many of those). I can make my own wires for about half or less that, so I've got lots of DIY wires in my spares box. In general, I find my DIYs work just as well as commercial wires costing many times more. But if I WERE going to buy some, brands such as Carnare, BlueJeans, and (discontinued) Ixos are high on my list. The two brands I've heard that made the biggest difference (to my ears) were Nordost and Kimber Kable. But "different" isn't always "better." Could you attempt to quantify as a percentage how much improvement you feel from your lamp cord example to a $250 pair of cables? I'm not rich, clearly, so a 5% increase in quality for me may not be justified by the cost. |
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Post by Boomzilla on Jun 21, 2018 11:41:53 GMT -5
No more than 15% at the max, and even then I was using the cables to cover up some other problem in the system. If the rest of your components are neutral (and they should be), then the improvement percentage from speaker wire & interconnects combined drops to 5% at the most.
Now my opinion and a buck will buy you a McCoffee (but only if it's on sale), so value this accordingly. Some folks just LOVE to rhapsodize about the differences that some wires made to their system. And if you're at the bleeding edge of performance, then EVERYTHING matters - including wires. But the vast (VAST) majority of us are so far from there that we can't see the edge.
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Post by bluemeanies on Jun 21, 2018 18:30:35 GMT -5
Ok, here is my experience.
Though the years I have own many different brands of speaker cables.
I ran an experiment involving two sets of speaker cables...MIT TERMINATOR ll and Nakamichi. 15' lengths on the Nakamichi and 10' on the Terminators. My speakers are the 803diamonds.
Three people were involved in this test.
No one including myself heard any differences in sound quality.
Thank goodness I purchased the Terminator ll's several years ago for only $250.00...used.
I kept the Nakamichi cables, and sold the Terminators for exactly the price I paid for them...they were 10 years old.
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Post by audiosyndrome on Jun 21, 2018 18:40:47 GMT -5
I've had everything from lamp cord on up. Yes, I've heard some small differences, but not enough to justify high prices. The owner of Emotiva, Big Dan, recommends bi-wiring if you've got 12-feet or longer wires; the Lounge gurus recommend fat wires for low resistance; my audio amigo Russel recommends nothing fatter than 16 ga. and even then solid-core rather than stranded copper. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Wires are a high-profit item for most manufacturers, and so long as there are people willing to pay a lot of money for a bit of glorified lamp cord, then there will always be "weirdo wires" with unverifiable claims (but just LISTEN!). And although i'm a strong proponent of actually listening before buying, sometimes that just isn't possible with wires. Even if an audition were possible, the small differences that wires can make are only sometimes audible, and even then only to some people (but you may be one of them). So ultimately speaker wires (and interconnects) are places where one can spend a LOT of money without significant improvement. If you can experiment inexpensively, though, why not do it? You may find a specific brand that you like. But for anything priced extravagantly, Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). Which brings up the crux of this discussion - what is "extravagantly?" That varies with your budget. My limits are about $250 for a 12-foot-long pair of speaker wires (and I don't have many of those). I can make my own wires for about half or less that, so I've got lots of DIY wires in my spares box. In general, I find my DIYs work just as well as commercial wires costing many times more. But if I WERE going to buy some, brands such as Carnare, BlueJeans, and (discontinued) Ixos are high on my list. The two brands I've heard that made the biggest difference (to my ears) were Nordost and Kimber Kable. But "different" isn't always "better." Boom- they’re CABLES not wires. Big difference. Russ |
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Post by 4thchoice on Jun 21, 2018 21:56:15 GMT -5
I've had everything from lamp cord on up. Yes, I've heard some small differences, but not enough to justify high prices. The owner of Emotiva, Big Dan, recommends bi-wiring if you've got 12-feet or longer wires; the Lounge gurus recommend fat wires for low resistance; my audio amigo Russel recommends nothing fatter than 16 ga. and even then solid-core rather than stranded copper. You pays your money, you takes your choice. Wires are a high-profit item for most manufacturers, and so long as there are people willing to pay a lot of money for a bit of glorified lamp cord, then there will always be "weirdo wires" with unverifiable claims (but just LISTEN!). And although i'm a strong proponent of actually listening before buying, sometimes that just isn't possible with wires. Even if an audition were possible, the small differences that wires can make are only sometimes audible, and even then only to some people (but you may be one of them). So ultimately speaker wires (and interconnects) are places where one can spend a LOT of money without significant improvement. If you can experiment inexpensively, though, why not do it? You may find a specific brand that you like. But for anything priced extravagantly, Caveat Emptor (buyer beware). Which brings up the crux of this discussion - what is "extravagantly?" That varies with your budget. My limits are about $250 for a 12-foot-long pair of speaker wires (and I don't have many of those). I can make my own wires for about half or less that, so I've got lots of DIY wires in my spares box. In general, I find my DIYs work just as well as commercial wires costing many times more. But if I WERE going to buy some, brands such as Carnare, BlueJeans, and (discontinued) Ixos are high on my list. The two brands I've heard that made the biggest difference (to my ears) were Nordost and Kimber Kable. But "different" isn't always "better."
VERY good point. And also as mentioned earlier "The gauge is what counts not the brand." and "UP TO A POINT = DEFINITE "YES".
Everyone hears "it" differently. What matters is what you hear. IMO, go with what you can comfortably afford and experiment. Don't expect huge difference w/ your choice(s), just let yourself be surprised if there is a difference, there may not be. www.thecableco.com/lending-library may also be something to consider. There are other options too (i.e. Morrow Cables, BJC, etc., etc.). Good luck and remember to "have fun". |
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