advertisement


Power leads, interconnects and speaker cable.

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!
Click to expand...

As I read that, I could hear the voice of Peter O'Sullevan. Brilliant :D
 
Ragaman said:
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..
Click to expand...
Were you expecting a response or just wanted to say that?

Bugger you got a response.

Hint only one person on my ignore list and they have a LOT to say.

OP Seek and ye shall find
 
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.
Click to expand...

Well one thing leads to another. It seems I must have orange lawnmower cable for the speakers, and Moray James DAC/ Preamp connection, cables from around 2010. Here are the reference

http://www.soundbsessive.com/museatex-bitstream-dac/

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/moray-james-digital-coax

The only problem is that these cables are unfindable - if anyone has some and wants to sell, I'm in the market!
 
I don't know much about electronics but I think I am correct in saying that all wires ( and cables... but there is a difference..) exhibit resistance, inductance and capacitance. Therefore, in theory, they are filters. Some people also quote other parameters ( skin effect etc.)

The questions are of course:

1. How much of the above parameters can a meter or so of wire (or cable) actually impose on the signal?

2. Is the effect audible?

In my experience the answers are:

1. Seemingly not much.

and

2. No.

I dare say if a manufacturer deliberately makes a wire which has very high impedance, or capacitance etc., then they are not offering something which will 'improve', the signal, but something which will modify, or even damage the signal.

Of course, if a manufacturer insists that their amplifier 'needs' a specific cable.. they are either just touting for more cash, or they need to make a properly designed amp.

Far more useful (and a damned sight cheaper.) in my view, is proper 'dressing' of cables. Keep them away from each other, avoid crossing, and especially keep mains wires away from small signal wires where possible.

OTOH, I have a number of lengths of Orange Lawnmower cable.. some of it rare vintage stuff dating back literally decades. It has been 'conditioned, by long term use delivering AC current at 230v to a motor driving an unbalanced and very blunt metal rotary blade, so will need no burning in. Obviously I can't just give this stuff away... Make me an offer.... :D

Mull
 
mandryka said:
It seems I must have orange lawnmower cable for the speakers,
Click to expand...

For power to my Quad ESL's I have used black, bog standard kettle IEC and then green twin shielded 'special audio' 2.5mm multistrand with silver plated MK tough plug and Furutech IEC plug....


The winner being..

..
..
..
..

Both the same - no difference.

Maybe I should try some orange ??


Thats 3.5M of cable going to a loudspeaker containing 3 transformers which boost the voltage to over 2,000 V.. :eek:

Given the Quad ESL are a very capable speaker you would think that if mains cables made a difference these would surely show such.



Van Damme blue series cable is as good as it gets for amp>speakers

https://www.designacable.com/components/cable/van-damme-blue-series-passive-speaker-cable.html

According to the Quad manual -

For runs up to 10m a cable with a rating of 6A should be adequate. Longer runs may require heavier cable.
The basic rule is that the total resistance of the cable should not exceed 5% of the loudspeaker impedance.
Inductance should not exceed 1mH per metre and capacity can be ignored.
Click to expand...
 
mandryka said:
This proved to be a really helpful bit of advice since it seems I should get orange lawnmower cable, which actually could look cool!
Click to expand...

Cables are black here, so I'm currently deep in orange envy.
Forgive me if I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but have you considered sound quality of the recording in the most enjoyable listen mission?
 
mandryka said:
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?
Click to expand...

All over the place in this forum and all the others !
:)

Find someone who knows they work, I'm one of them, and visit.
Alternatively go to a supplier who will ship you one with a 30 day return - or take a punt on a cheap one on Ebay
 
mikemusic said:
take a punt on a cheap one
Click to expand...

Why do they loose 60/70% or their RRP value the day after you have bought them if they make so much difference ?

The first person to borrow my Airlink balanced transformer, has also borrowed a £ 2K Chord interconnect to audition.

Guess which he has decided to buy.
 
mikemusic said:
All over the place in this forum and all the others !
:)

Find someone who knows they work, I'm one of them, and visit.
Alternatively go to a supplier who will ship you one with a 30 day return - or take a punt on a cheap one on Ebay
Click to expand...

Quite and then compare them unsighted.
Keith
 
A few here have carried this out with little interest, as your post proves, either this or you have ignored the posts, been stated many times here on many threads such as this, I went into great detail a while back regarding the test I carried out many years ago, some have short memories, I believe Tony has also stated he has carried out blind tests on cables.

So many more important things going on in the world to lie about such a triviality.
 
A genuine suggestion for the OP. (Have you ever seen someone say partially or entirely non-genuine).

Consider the advantages of making others aware of your location. Centre of a large conurbation and you may be spoilt for choice. Blimey because I can be genuine myself if he is only 5 miles away I could bring round some of the illusions I have chased. As I am sure by now he accepts it is in HIS SYSTEM not someone else's that matters.

I am sure I can rustle up three pairs of speaker cables, X interconnects and optical imaginings, three USB illusions. Unlike a certain member my electricity is amazing and cable improvements just get swamped with this trouble free power.

Where you live can affect if nasty evils can be reduced by wires. Airport navigation system, television transmitter. The dreaded RFI devils can affect your enjoyment just by thinking about them.
 
Somewhat relevant quick poll. When a reputable manufacturer of audio equipment, usually boutique, offers and pushes hard on expensive cables adorned with braid and shiny bits, do you:

1. Purchase one
2. Face palm and bear the ignominy
3. Lose all respect for the manufacturer
4. Make your own cable with braid and shiny bits
5. Headphones & amp - done.
 
Marky-Mark said:
Somewhat relevant quick poll. When a reputable manufacturer of audio equipment, usually boutique, offers and pushes hard on expensive cables adorned with braid and shiny bits, do you:

1. Purchase one
2. Face palm and bear the ignominy
3. Lose all respect for the manufacturer
4. Make your own cable with braid and shiny bits
5. Headphones & amp - done.
Click to expand...

Have you got a 'name' for this reputable manufacturer?
 
Ragaman said:
A few here have carried this out with little interest, as your post proves, either this or you have ignored the posts, been stated many times here on many threads such as this, I went into great detail a while back regarding the test I carried out many years ago, some have short memories, I believe Tony has also stated he has carried out blind tests on cables.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have seen Tony relate his results. I do not remember many others posting actual results that would allow us to judge their relevancy (I do remember one example where someone felt being able to correctly pick the right component in 3 cases of 5 - exactly what you would expect from a random guess - was relevant).
 
Marky-Mark said:
Somewhat relevant quick poll. When a reputable manufacturer of audio equipment, usually boutique, offers and pushes hard on expensive cables adorned with braid and shiny bits, do you:

1. Purchase one
2. Face palm and bear the ignominy
3. Lose all respect for the manufacturer
4. Make your own cable with braid and shiny bits
5. Headphones & amp - done.
Click to expand...

Give us a hint at the type of cable, purposed, role etc.

My answer laugh regardless of who or what.

It is what I did in 2002 when I saw Russ Andrews adds in HiFi World,

Why do you still have 29 posts?
 
Funnily enough orange lawnmower cable is what Peter Walker was using at a Hi-Fi show I went to years ago. His advice about speaker cables was to make sure they're long enough to reach.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top