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Cable Madness

Hello to all, my first post...anywhere... taking the leap from lurking ...well fingers crossed as I really need some help with this. I have now spent far too many hours researching cables and I'm not sure if I'm even getting anywhere, so in the interest of sanity I hope I can get some advice on what cable/s might best suit my gear. I am putting together my first quality audio system and the components, currently in transit are...Sunfire TG4 pre and CG Sig 7x400 amp and a pair of B&W Nautilus 800's. Still undecided on a playback source but have been leaning towards the Esoteric DV-50S ( as with the Sunfire for home theater reasons). I am looking at spending up to $1000 (quite happy to go used) for what I need to run the system in 2channel and am leaning towards balanced IC's and bi-wire or even bi-amping the speakers as it will be a while before we can purchase any of the surround speakers I will have the available outputs. Thanks in advance for your opinions/help, much appreciated.
rockethouse
elizabeth
6,726 posts
 
Do not worry about the cables.
Get something that many folks like, and have been around for a number of years.
Get the system up and running and broken in and used for at least six months before buying any expensive cables.
use some cheap Mogami ($20) per or something from Radio Shack, or the cheapest Monster. THEN, after 6 months, you will be in a position to do some looking into cables.
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
I'll comment only on your choice of speaker cables, since they are easier to recommend. There has been a good deal of discussion on this forum about Alpha-Core Goertz MI2 speaker cables, and I think you should add them to your "short list". From personal experience, I think they are the most neutral cables I have had in my system, and they are also one of the less expensive (relative to high-end audio). For more info about these cables, search the Audiogon archives (try using the single word "zobel") and look for threads that include comments by our resident guru, Sean. You should also go to Alpha-Core's web site and read the technical commentary. Here's the link:
http://www.alphacore.com/goertz.htm
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
3,650 posts
 
I tried the Cable Company several times. After several attempts of different cables ,I recieved the following message from the Cable Company.

It seems that we have supplied you cables to try in which has brought you to no decision. We suggest that in the future you work with a local Audio Dealer.

In other words, if you continue to try their cables without buying anything move on !

Also, the Cable Company expects 10% down based on all cables they send to try and will not refund that money. That money applies to a purchase.

Additionally, most of their cables are sold at Retail pricing.
nighthawk
241 posts
 
Wow Ozzy, I never had any experience like that with the Cable Co. I rented cables 8 or 9 times before I bought anything, usually 3 cables per time, over about a one year period. They were very accommodative. How many rentals did you do?

Also, my first rental was 10%, but subsequent rentals are 5%. You're right about the retail pricing. The advantage I see to using the Cable Co. is you can find the absolute best match for your system instead of just getting close. For that service you pay a little extra.
rockethouse OP
42 posts
 
Thanks everyone, I'm leaning towards buying some lower priced (name brand/easy to re-sell) second hand cables along the lines of Nordost blue heaven or AQ pythons until the system is broken in and take it from there, If I give it some time I can probably incerease my budget a bit. The Cable Co. offer is also worth considering.
Thanks again to all who have posted and if anyone else has anything to add I'm still deciding and will continue to keep an eye on this thread.
Cheers
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