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Power leads, interconnects and speaker cable.

mandryka said:
Hello everyone

I have, I think, a moderate quality if old fashioned system - Quad ESL 63 /Gradiant for speakers, input is via a Museatex idat44 (modified) (the music streams through a squeezebox), amplification is all Quad, a Quad 44 (modified) and a Quad 520f. I listen to classical music - mostly harpsichord and organ and small vocal groups in fact.

I have never investigated leads. Right now I'm using very cheap stuff - bought mostly with no thought at all, from Maplin or the lowest price eBay products.

I'd like to explore the impact of better leads. Where is the best place to begin - power, interconnects (which?) or speaker cable? Any suggestions for a good brand to try? One that won't cost me an arm and a leg, but will give me a sense of what can be achieved by upgrading this area of my system.
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Some helpful advice....

Ditch this thread, buy some, either second hand or on a return basis & decide yourself, this thread will only cause you further problems

If you want to start out with mains leads I would advise to start here https://mcru.co.uk/
Start with the cheapest no need to go higher
Signal cables, go second hand, lots on Ebay to choose from, Chord is a good start.

You could be sorted for very little outlay if you look around.
No harm done then.
 
I get the impression cables are somewhat system dependent so your best bet is to keep it cheap or try stuff on loan until you find something that works or you lose the urge to try another cable. ESLs probably respond differently to dynamic speakers in any case so advice based on experience with the latter will be of little use.
 
Thanks for all these comments.

i hope you won't think it's rude if I ask again a question I asked at the start. It's aimed really at the people who think that cables can improve sound.

Is the most obvious benefit with mains, interconnects, speaker cable or doesn't it matter? I want to know where to start!
 
mandryka said:
Is the most obvious benefit with mains, interconnects, speaker cable or doesn't it matter? I want to know where to start!
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The Qed cables are OK. I´ve tryed a few power cords, but I didn´t like the results, nothing wrong with the standard power cords.The Qed XT 40 speaker cable is a fine speaker cable. You can try a QED IC for 50 or 60£. I don´t believe in expensive cables, Qed are not so expensive, but you havea few others, like Blue Jeans or Mark Grant like others suggest you.Or you could try the second hand market, so you can try the cables and sell if you don´t like it.
 
Look at what canford audio have, they are popular with the music industry, so if it's good enough for a recording studio it should be good enough for your hi-fi. Prices are sensible IIRC.
 
mandryka said:
Thanks for all these comments.

i hope you won't think it's rude if I ask again a question I asked at the start. It's aimed really at the people who think that cables can improve sound.

Is the most obvious benefit with mains, interconnects, speaker cable or doesn't it matter? I want to know where to start!
Click to expand...

Find a dealer who'll let you try some stuff on a sale or return basis.

I'm not much of a fan of mix & match, it can be done and done very well but probably easier to stick to one manufacturer while experimenting initially.

If I were you I'd start with a set of power cables from the same manufacturer, one on each main bit of kit and also on any distribution block you use.

I'd say wire the system with those power cables, leave them be for a week or so then switch back to whatever freebies you were using before and see if you miss them. Personally I'm not a fan of the 30 second A/B stuff, partly because it's a pain in the arse - you're supposed to be chilling out listening to some music – and partly because what differences do show up are rarely those of any real significance in the longer term.


If you try that and don't make anything of it, then pack them up and send them back and it's cost you just a few hours of your time.
 
suzywong said:
And they're off and running............and as they head down the back straight, it's Usual-suspects in the lead with It-won't-make-a-difference a strong second......I've-tried-many-cables and Night-and-day are chasing the leaders. You-must-be-imagining-it is still lurking at the back, waiting to make his (or her) move, but no need to panic just yet, there's a long way to go - at least fifty pages!
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and coming up on the outside it's Double Blind Test ;)
 
My two penneth on the subject..

Tonearm to phono stage, worth spending a few bob finding something that does the job, Yannis is the best value to quality ratio I have found so far.

Likewise phono stage to Pre

CD and other digital to pre, perfectly happy with my Chinese knocks offs which sound no different to a lot of very expensive brands.

Speaker cable... Elsdon Wonfor LS25 and I have to admit, I would love to know what it sounds like in the context of a classic Quad system.
 
My experience messing with wires.

A hysterical enthusiasm for Tellurium Q Black speaker cables resulted in 2 months of misery waiting for bonfire night to happen. Conclusion other people like a different noise to me. I was relieved to get some money back on the forum that was raving about them.

Interconnects could sound a bit different, but I lose concern due to listening to the music rather than the change/improvement.

I gave the voices raving about mains cables a chance. It was a tough cable and damaged the IEC socket. Total waste of time and cost amplifier repair fees.

I tend to use the approach - people say you can improve the sound, show me what you can do. Sort of open minded but not believing before it proved itself.

So many assume/want improvements before they even listen to anything.

Beware the Night and Day messengers.
 
Copy & paste from a hundred previous threads on the subject :rolleyes:

Surely you must be able to muster up something new to say on the subject..
 
Still said:
After following Joe P's advice, I would research what the manufacturer/designer recommends for you equipment.
If you are still interested in experimenting with cables many dealers and manufacturers offer free/no commitment home trials.
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This proved to be a really helpful bit of advice since it seems I should get orange lawnmower cable, which actually could look cool!

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?14705-speaker-cable-for-QUAD-63

The DAC manufacturer's only advice is to cut out the preamp.
 
Maybe it's all been said (on both sides of the divide).

Perhaps we need a sticky where all combatants can post an essay on why power/interconnects/speaker cables do/can/may/do not/cannot/may not make some/none/any difference (limited to one posting per protagonist). It could then serve as a useful reference for this sort of question.

And be quicker to read than the usual fifty pages of circular arguments!
 
Somebody asking this question would not think to look at a sticky. It is their question and they will ask it.

I supposed the second post could be a link to the sticky but I bet it wouldn't prevent me's asking my questions.
 
mandryka said:
Thanks for all these comments.

i hope you won't think it's rude if I ask again a question I asked at the start. It's aimed really at the people who think that cables can improve sound.

Is the most obvious benefit with mains, interconnects, speaker cable or doesn't it matter? I want to know where to start!
Click to expand...

Logic tells me to start at the beginning, so mains cables then interconnects then speaker cables.
There is also mains treatment, supports, racks and more !
 
mikemusic said:
Logic tells me to start at the beginning, so mains cables . . .
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Someone else said this in this thread, and I am genuinely surprised. That's good.

Is there a thread somewhere where mains cables are discussed, and where there's some explanation of the impact they can have on your system?
 
I have just done a Search of Audio forum using the words 'mains cables' in a thread title. You would be amazed at how many I found, you will too.

You do have to use Advanced Search and say search titles rather than whole posts.

No charge. But a donation to charity would be appreciated
 
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