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Newbie here with a cable question

Hello all. For a couple years now I have been piecing together a McIntosh system and am ready to hook it up but I have no idea what cables I will need. I know it’s a broad question but, could someone tell me what I will need and what brand. Don’t want to break the bank but I still want high quality. ANY help, advice would be most helpful. I would just like to buy it and tuck it away for when I am ready to set it up. Here is my system:

Avid Acutus Turntable
McIntosh MC 275 IV tube amp
McIntosh C2200 tube pre amp
Mcintosh MCD 550 cd player

(still need to get speakers...thinking Martin Logan ElectroMotion ESL)
(also was told I should get a power system like Furman but no idea on this)

Thank you in advance guys, and again....I would appreciate ANY advice, model, brand you will give me.
My hope is to just make a list out of what you all tell me and just go buy it so I am all set when I am ready to hook everything up. Happy Holidays people.

Chuck
fishisgod
tablejockey
743 posts
 
You’ve been warned by the first couple of posts...

Fine gear you have there. Whatever speakers you hook up to them, its like real estate value-location,location and location.

If you look at the virtual system pics, lots of nice gear, but some questionable speaker/room setup. Once you put nice gear in a living situation, like most of us, game over. Nothing but compromise, then we start going crazy with cable madness,tweaks, etc.

That being said, I find AC regen(PS Power Plant) and complete Nordost Heimdall II plumbing gives my modest system a little boost. Naturally, this is just MY system-YMMV.

Ancillary gear purchased here, on Agon for a fraction of retail. Otherwise, Id be using the supplied power cords and zip cord from Home Depot.


fishisgod OP
4 posts
 
Wow guys... thank you, thank you, thank you for all the info.  I have a bit of research to do.  All of you provided a wealth of info. I am pretty much in the same camp as Williewonka.  Now I just have finalize an exact list of what I need to get.  Feel free to offer any additional suggesting...ie...models and thank you again for making it a little bit easier to understand
gdhal's avatar
gdhal
1,641 posts
 
Blue Jeans Cable can provide all of your cable needs at affordable prices. Many people (including myself and others on this forum) use cables from BJC: https://www.bluejeanscable.com/

IMO, there is no need to spend major money unless you're looking for some exotic sound and can afford (to waste) it. 
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
good post:
MacIntosh themselves argue that you do not need anything special. So I would suggest run of the mill pro audio cables. As for speakers, I love electrostats (Quad 2805 in my case). Quad's designer Peter Walker similarly argued that no special cables are required.

-------------

- the same applies to Maggies

cone speakers can have their sound altered by the impedance of a cable - but no need to spend a lot of $$$ on them; just try a bunch of different ones

DC power cables - you want to worry about noise injection - use a star-quad cable and maybe an LPS too

AC power cables - not an issue; you want to use an isolation transformer and plug everything into a simple power strip that is plugged into the xformer --- but you may have a very clean AC line; if so, don't worry about it
terry9
931 posts
 
Randy is right.

Cables return the least bang for the buck, IMO. So I spend money anywhere but on cables. Star quad is a good configuration of cable, and ETI or Klee connectors give you solid connections (and better than just about anything in or on any component from any factory). Again, my opinion.

I too use Quad ESL's, 2905.
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