@defiantboomerang Newcomer to Agon, bringeth much knowledge and sage advice. Bestow upon us the infinite wisdom of the miserly electron...caring not the cost of its interconnected medium. Blessed are those who hear much and spend so little, for they are the audio blessed!
Looking For 90% of the performane of the super expensive cables for much less money
I currently have a system which consists of Vandersteen 5A's, THor Audio TP-150 tubed monoblocks, Thor Line Stage and Thor phono stage, Marantz SACD player SA-114 and will take delivery of the VPI Prime Scout with a Sumiko EVOS 3 Cartridge. I am currently using LAT International Speaker Cables, Power Cords and Interconnects. (They are no longer in business). I am in immediate need of turntable cables and would like to update my new speaker cables and interconnects. Not willing to spend thousands on this upgrade. Seeking to capture as much of the "magic" that the super expensive cables deliver but at a more realistic price point. I understand that I have really good quality equipment, but at this stage of my life cannot allocate mega dollars towards cables.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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boxer12 The SR Red has a warmer signature than the Black. It may even sound best with SS rather than tube equipment. They both sound good newly installed unlike the black fuse which is quite bad sounding in my two systems between the 10th and 72nd hours. When broken in, the soundstage should expand and the sound will become more dynamic. |
Elizabeth, I certainly agree the SR duplexes are just ordinary commercial grade stock that have had things done to them such as adding graphene or other substances to them and jolting them with 2 million volts. Those ordinary duplexes sound ordinary (I used a "Red" duplex prior to getting the Hubbels). SR does wonders to a $6 black duplex that makes it worth the $250 to me. Furutech has higher quality materials in their duplexes. I can't say whether they sound as good or better than SR duplexes and Furutechs don't get zapped with 2 million volts. My friend uses Oyaide duplexes and they sound fine as compared to stock duplexes. |
fleschler, I just (like an hour ago) replaced my stock outlet with a Synergistic Research Red. Very nice, even though it isn't broke in. analogluvr, The change in sound quality is not small. If you ever find another job, you should try it. elizabeth, Your enthusiasm on another thread is what got me thinking about changing an outlet. Thank You! |
I have to agree analogluvr, that you are behaving like a troll. So do you have anything useful to say? or are you just fishing for any sort of response? You have already made it clear you do not ’believe’ wires, cables, outlets can sound different. YOU used to, but now ’see the light’. have you made any converts here? Do you think you will? I bet you don’t think so either. You just want to make some noise due to the "foolish nonsense" other are spreading... and just cannot help yourself? But please feel free to carry on. The endless parade of guys just like you never does stop. And the fact is no one cares about your efforts to enlighten us either. Your wasting your time dude. But feel free to do so. IF it makes you happier. Added. You know analogluvr I was just thinking abut the apparent contradiction in just your name. You say "analogluvr’ I would take that to mean you do not like digital? But why??? All the engineers say it is perfect sound forever. all you ever need. So why not? do you actually admit you think records sound better? but why? No electrical engineer says so. In fact most of them would scoff at the idea that records can sound better. So what is the excuse? |
inna, The GTX D Gold is on sale for $108 at VH Audio. That is half price! Free shipping (and they ship the same day). The gold has a slightly warmer sound. fuller midrange. The Rhodium is more linear. But the Rhodium takes longer to break in. and can sound not so great while breaking in.exaggerated highs is the main issue when breaking in the Rhodium. The Cable Company would match the price, but they are out of stock on both. (this was recently, I do not know ’today’) I would add the Furutech are made from scratch by Furutech. They have unique parts and are typical Japanese attention to the smallest detail finely crafted. Nearly all other non Japanese) outlets are previously manufactured brands with things done ’to them’. Just sayin’. As for analogluvr, Hah hah hah ... etc.. |
And why stop at the receptacle in the wall? You have such a golden ear you can probably hear the difference between coal generated electricity and hydroelectricity! You should move to Niagara Falls so you can get that nice clean pure hydroelectricity!! The music will sound much more natural and flow better. Especially Handel. Then there is wind generator power… It would sound nice and light and lively and airy! And I don't understand folks reaction when you're telling them they're getting ripped off when they're buying thousand dollar power cords. Instead of looking into it and learning so they can ensure it doesn't happen more than once, they just get angry with you. I used to be one of you. I used to buy audio file fuses and power cords and convince myself thing sounded much better when I use them. Then I started wondering if there was something to what other people were saying, that it was all nonsense. I started learning more about how things work and asking people much more knowledgable than I. What I found was that inevitably very intelligent people who built this stuff and know how electricity worked pretty much all thought it was nonsense. |
You know what they say, a fool and his money… And regarding my outdated dogma, I didn't know the laws of electricity changed to stay fashionable 🙄 Some of you should spend a little bit of time studying electrical theory and how these devices work. Then you would realize how silly your faith based claims really are! You might as will believe in the tooth fairy! |
You should check out Triode Wire Labs. I've replaced expensive cables with the Spirit II interconnect and American Speaker Cable and I plan to add more. Very smoothed, yet detailed and open sounding midrange with just the right amount of density. These are not veiled or sluggish, nor are they lean or bright sounding. |
You tell him, Elizabeth! inna, try a Synergistic Research Black or Blue. The Red is very good at a discount price. There's a 30 day money back guarantee. The Black duplex sounded great within an hour of installation and got better over time. Even the Red killed my old hospital grade Hubbell back in 2016. I've installed Black SRs on both audio systems and moved the Reds to my video systems, all to the better. |
Hey Mr factoid deliverance, did you get the note yet? It’s right there in front of you: Not everyone hears like you. The thing you reveal so far.... is that your reasoning is as lacking as your hearing. Be a part of that 97%! |
And Elizabeth, I'm sorry but duplexes have zero effect on the sound. As long as it's gripping your power cable properly and the electricity is being transferred that's all that matters. It just boggles the mind how people think that that could have any effect! After it goes through the duplex and then it's rectified and change to DC then it goes through your gain stages etc. etc. No I agree you are probably hearing a difference but that's purely psychological because you wasted X amount of money on the receptacle. |
"Some cable labeling has to do with the shielding but not wire directionality. Analysis Plus for example IIRC. Some companies control both, but some cables companies are not on board the wire directionality choo choo 🚂 so they don’t control the manufacturing process to address directionality of the wire." @geoffkait they don't control it because it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as directionality in the wire and even if there was the signal going through it is AC so it wouldn't matter. Just because you repeat something a thousand times doesn't make it true |
Geoff sez': ""It’s open ended. There is no absolute sound. One day you’re flying high,
thinking you’re on the top of Everest. The next day you realize you
haven’t even arrived at Base Camp yet.
""I have to agree! It is a never ending quest... I have been fiddling around with duplex outlets, and discovered whole new territories to explore. |
90% of what? Why has it become SO common to hear people say sound quality is a hyperbolic curve that approaches the x axis when it’s really a hyperbolic curve that approaches the y axis. I.e., there is no ceiling. It’s open ended. There is no absolute sound. One day you’re flying high, thinking you’re on the top of Everest. The next day you realize you haven’t even arrived at Base Camp yet. |
I use high end fake Kimber. They look great and I can BS my friends into hearing the difference 2k speaker cables can make. Here's my dilemma, I can buy these cables at $75 a pop. I think I could sell them (only locally) to people I know for about $400. Come on, would it really be wrong? They will feel good about getting expensive cables at a low price. They will never know, they will thank me, and I buy better beer. Everybody wins.Love it. me too wins with a laugh. |
I believe the OP was simply looking for some informed advise on good value on interconnects, not a lecture or comedy. I'll add my good experience with WireWorld. I don't have their phono cable; but I do use their RCAs between my phono stage and preamp. They seem to sound slightly more balanced than a pair of boutiques costing 3 times as much.....but that could be an auditory mirage. So if they're that close, I am impressed with the less expensive. And their design story may be a fairy tale; but it amuses me. There. That wasn't so hard. |
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I use high end fake Kimber. They look great and I can BS my friends into hearing the difference 2k speaker cables can make. Here's my dilemma, I can buy these cables at $75 a pop. I think I could sell them (only locally) to people I know for about $400. Come on, would it really be wrong? They will feel good about getting expensive cables at a low price. They will never know, they will thank me, and I buy better beer. Everybody wins. |
Invest in components that run true-balanced (internally balanced) and run Benchmark Media Balanced cables between them. Superb signal integrity, zero noise, and sensibly priced. But not as much fun as considering all claims and choosing your own chain of components that reflect the care, intellect, and funds invested in the game of sonic chess. |
After participating in these threads for awhile it strikes me that a majority of those offering advice are simply justifying their own bias toward a given topic. It is kinda sad and dysfunctional at the same time. Know one is really listening...they are only seizing the opportunity to correct everyone who doesn’t believe in the same thing they do. Perhaps we are all guilty of this to some degree or another. Maybe it’s unavoidable. Human nature compels us to justify our actions so we feel vindicated in our beliefs. I have tried to listen and experiment as much as possible over the years in an attempt to achieve a more authentic listening experience. More often then not, we need to just try different things and simply listen! If something hits our soul, then we should just stop searching and be thankful. |
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Clean stable power is 50% of success. Doesn't exist any more unless you are very lucky. But we are talking about cables. There might be exceptions, of course, but I believe that audiophile best value 1 M pair interconnect cables should be within $1000-$2000 range, new, street prices. They might give you those 90% or more, though it is hard for me to quantify sound quality in percentage. However, I am a 'cable guy', I try to have the cabling at least one step ahead of active components. Makes little sense to me to have great active components and not being able to get 100% performance out of them. But as with any approach you don't want to overdo it either. |
No really. Try before you buy, in your comfortable price range. I bought a pair of solid gold braided but unshielded interconnects 17 years ago on Audiogon. The guy was just starting out somewhere in Central CA. Delta Labs, so I think I paid less at auction than the gold in them. Also bought 2 of his thick power cords (copper) and then one thin one of unshielded, braided solid silver from someone else I don't remember. Still using them all, still loving the music. I think the quality of the electricity and several several ( did I say several?) other factors all intermingle so that's why you get this torturous thread.Hearing is believing. |