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Interconnects & Cables upgraded


lucky5115

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Changed the interconnects on my CD player from stock Samsung to Audioquest and noticed a big improvement in overall sound. More clarity on top end, tweets livend up, tight bass punch w/o wall bounce, clean soundstage with presence. I can crank up the corns for a solo and it's as if the drummer is in my living room.

Changed speaker cables from monster to Audioquest type 4. Improved tonal soundstage, clarity and imaging.

So for disbelievers or naysayers.. cables do make a difference. The biggest bang for the buck (in my setup) would be upgrading interconnects.

hope this helps

ronnie

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Really? No break-in time? When did they actually start to "bloom" for you......immediately? Are you sure they're burned in yet?

Yes...there are disbelievers....those of you out there don't know what you're missing out on. This is one way of taming that harsh,in your face sound from some models instead of spending thousands of dollars on 2 inch drivers, triamping, & rebuilding your room. Give it a go & you may be pleasantly surprised. [:)]

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Monster products suck and suck and suck and suck. My mega expensive monster interconnects came in a fancy case.. and also came apart at the pulg. Crapola- garbage- trash!!!! HOW DOES THIS COMPANY STAY IN BUSINESS?????????????????????????????? I could kick my own @ss for ever spending the first dollar with them.

A major ground loop hum wa traced to a Monster 200.00 power strip. APC rreplacement fixed the problem. Lowes zip cord is a major up grade over monster's best. Audio qiest cables will take 30 hours min to burn in according to my information from reliable sources. I have some audioquest interconnects on the way myself to address an issue. Good stuff according to all reports. I have rolled cables- speaker and interconnect and the y do make a difference IMHO particulary in 2 ch tube applications.

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Yes...there are disbelievers....those of you out there don't know what you're missing out on. This is one way of taming that harsh,in your face sound from some models instead of spending thousands of dollars on 2 inch drivers, triamping, & rebuilding your room. Give it a go & you may be pleasantly surprised. Smile

I only have a couple hours on them. I can only tell you that it made a major diff in the sound for a relative cost and I only did the IC for the CD player and speaker wires. Audioquest is excellent stuff. Yes I rolled two pairs already and there was a noticable difference between them. Did alot of research on cables/IC/ups b4 I spent hard earned money. I've got an APC BR1500LCD 1500VA 865 Watts on the way. (I recommend this one). $200.OTD. I believe for the money it's a very good ups as it conditions/surge/battery protects my equipment. Many dollars are spent on high end electrics nowadays, so it's a good thing. Anyhoo, I'm now a believer that cables make a difference.

Ronnie

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I spaced out and thought we were talking about speaker wire. I do believe in interconnects. I'd like to upgrade from my Monster interconnects some day and find out what all the fuss is about.

My RCA to XLR wires are my biggest concern.

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yeah that too. lol It's my understanding that a dealer can call Audioquest and they have demo sets that are avail to try. They improved the sound for example.. on a few songs I needed to turn up the treble just a tad. w/new IC's , didn't need to do that. One would think new diaphragms. nope... more revealing w/o brightness. Also noticed that for the bass it was sometimes kinda boomy off the walls and therefore one would be convinced that speaker placement was the issue.. Nope.. nice n' tight, just right. They also brought to life hidden treasures not noticed b4.

ronnie

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I too experienced the difference(for the better)quality interconnects can impart.I used Kimber Kable heroes.I also had several epiphanies after.One upgrade that was as significant was the 2930ci player.Then there was the B&K titanium diaphragms.Following closely was the B&K crossovers.All this had my system mostly set at neutral.The finishing touch was the JBL 2308 audio lenses.Each part of the journey brought something to the table.I now have a system that when described is all the wonderful words used when an audiophile is in sonic nirvana.K.C.

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Changed the interconnects on my CD player from stock Samsung to Audioquest and noticed a big improvement in overall sound. More clarity on top end, tweets livend up, tight bass punch w/o wall bounce, clean soundstage with presence. I can crank up the corns for a solo and it's as if the drummer is in my living room.

Changed speaker cables from monster to Audioquest type 4. Improved tonal soundstage, clarity and imaging.

What did these cost?

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You guys are going to throw daggers at me for saying this, but the differences in the sound of interconnects is usually related to the capacitance of the cables- it's not the fancy gold-plated plugs, or the silver plated copper wire, etc. This can be easily tested yourself if you are handy with a soldering iron by buying lengths of various coaxial cables, putting on your own RCA plugs, and then sitting down to listen. The chart found on the site below shows the capacitance of various coaxial cables which you can use as a guide. They are available from the major electronics suppliers like Allied, Newark, and Mouser (Radio Shack even has some). Some local audiophiles and I have tried many blind listening tests in which we compared the sound of some very expensive cables with our home-made cables, and the results were not what one would have expected (the megabuck cables often came in last)! Try it and post your results........

http://www.rfcafe.com/references/electrical/coax-chart.htm

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Well. what do you expect from a electrical supply store. I would think they would be a little biased too.. lol

The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the passage of a steady electric current.

In electromagnetism and electronics, capacitance is the ability of a body to hold an electrical charge. Capacitance is also a measure of the amount of electrical energy stored (or separated) for a given electric potential.

Electromagnetic interference (or EMI, also called radio frequency interference or RFI) is a disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic conduction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source.

I bought used Audioquest IC's and new type 4 cable. I can assure you I can tell the difference; so I'm posting my results now. I was a nay-sayer or disbeliever until I heard. The AQ Diamondback or King Cobra are awesome for the money. Of course there is a point of diminishing returns whereas the cost outweighs the performance.

I look at cables/IC's like the bus on a mother board, a link between the processor, memory and components. Or in our case, pathways between pre/tuner/amp etc. I would think better is better lol . . think about that . . Both gold and silver have good conductivity. The big difference is the corrosion on the plating after awhile. Long gone is the cup-string-cup telecommunications. lol

Keep in mind also that a good cable will also bring out hidden flaws in a system and thus could be perceived as inferior. Also there's the black market Honk Kong garbage knock offs that taint a name.

No daggers needed .. lol

My Corns are so spoiled and high maintenance .. geesh ! hahaha

Ronnie

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Keep in mind also that a good cable will also bring out hidden flaws in a system and thus could be perceived as inferior

As will the speakers,amps, tubes etc........comes with the territory. [:^)]
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Changed the interconnects on my CD player from stock Samsung to Audioquest and noticed a big improvement in overall sound. More clarity on top end, tweets livend up, tight bass punch w/o wall bounce, clean soundstage with presence. I can crank up the corns for a solo and it's as if the drummer is in my living room.

Changed speaker cables from monster to Audioquest type 4. Improved tonal soundstage, clarity and imaging.

So for disbelievers or naysayers.. cables do make a difference. The biggest bang for the buck (in my setup) would be upgrading interconnects.

hope this helps

ronnie

Got to tell you, sure I hear differences in cables. Most of the time they are subtle to me. And sometimes they are flat out unreal. I have friend that called me to his home to hear some FMS Zero's a 1 meter pair that several yrs back sold for $1200. He needed another pair of ears cause he was having a hard time really believing what his ears were telling him. When I heard them I just shook my head in as much bewilderment as he had. They were absolutely breathtaking while not being subtle at all. It was one of the most compelling cable comparisons I had ever heard. FMS Zero was designed by one of the founding fathers of AudioQuest, he only made these on demand and there was a waiting list. The cable had it all body,depth, dynamics and harmonics. And my buddy ended up buying them.

Now what's interesting is I had a visitor drive some 400mi to hear my system, he brought along a pair of $1200 MIT maybe 2 meter interconnects that he was pretty enthused over. My system has a lot of dynamics and transparency that SWL has heard and I have added recently a Paper and Oil/Silver Foil bypass coupling cap to my amplifiers that I feel substantially took them to a new level that SWL has not heard. But anyway so my vistor said it's cable time and we proceeded to listen to my cables which created quite a stir a few yrs back in Stereophile Magazine as embarrassing some rather expensive cables so I bought them and I have to tell you I have a $500 set of AudioQuest Quartz's siting in my closet cause the Stereophile recommended cables do just that, they simply were better to my ears.

So what I can tell you is yeah, I liked the MIT's they were slightly fuller, and smoother sounding but oh so subtly so. My visitor looked at me and said he was really humbled by what he heard and felt knowing my talents the money could be spent better elsewhere and I agreed since I am a major DIYer.

What's interesting is the $40 Silver Foil/Oil bypass cap made a substantially more of a difference then the $1200 cable. And for that much I'd rather have the outboard networks that I have as they are by far a more monstrously serious difference more so than any cable I have ever heard.

And don't get me wrong I do use some pretty expensive speaker cables nearly $1500 retail for them new but I bought them for pennies on the dollar like less than $150 for some AudioQuest Midnight, Clear and Indigo. They were somebodies castoff's and I made them work for my system which I do believe cables are system dependent. I use cables with insulated individual solid core wires to mainly escape skin effect which is especially audible with age. Still, all system subtleties do add up IMO.

But in general I'm a believer but sometimes I have to really question the sheer value of them when I get the results from a $30 Acoustic Research (speaker company) that can slay a giant or at least keep up with them.I have to question the sheer value of many cables. I have to wonder about AR's Master series about $100 and I heard that Belden has a real killer pair as well under $100 supposedly even better than the Master Series. It's one heck of a lot of fun when you can get cables like these to slay giants.

Cheers

SET12

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Spaced out is an excellent out SWL[;)] LOL

With my mains I can sure tell a differnce in dual zip cords and my 15 ' Signal Cable Bi-Wires which cost me a whopping $125.00 from Frank! There can be degredation from all kinds of sources in speaker wire as well maybe not to the degree of IC's but don't just say wire is wire for speakers and throw Lucky off because all wire can be improved upon to a certian degree, sometimes its just a matter of return on investment but snake oil can be found in just about anything audio as well[^o)]

I sure did not find my Signal Spkr wires to be too far fetched at $125.00 since they are connecting a $3500.00 pair of speakers to a $3500.00 amp[:|] In your defense on speaker cables I could sure never see spending $$$$ on AQ Everest for them either as you could never convince me that spending that much more would yeild that much more benefit to the sound[:o]

Now RCA to XLR are a whole nutha animal as I've had to adapt a pair of my TMC Truly balaced from my EAD DAC to my VK-3i and since I won't pay $250.00 to has XLR's put on the DAC I may never know what I'm missing[8] It sounds pretty good with the adapters so I'm holding fast for now. I am a strong believer that XLR does send/hold better current flow to RCA connections but there is always give and take with this hobby[:|]

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