advertisement


Audio Note speaker cable recommendations

Inigo Montoya

Inigo Montoya

pfm Member
Hi there! I'm breaking in an Audio Note OTO SE Signature slowly (lockdown and kids does not leave me much time to play CDs on repeat) and my mind has turned to improving my speaker cable.

Oh lord, not another cable thread I hear you cry!

I'm not looking to have my open mind closed to the possibility that there might be a difference between cables, I'm looking for any experience people have with my amp and speakers, and a good synergistic choice.

I'm currently running a pair of Audio Note AN-K Spe.

I suppose the obvious contenders are Audio Note AN-La and Lexus 96 copper cables. I can't stretch to ISIS or any of the silver ones. My other thoughts are possibly Auditorium A23 at roughly the same price as the Lexus... I'd welcome any thoughts or direct experience.
I don't really know how fussy this amp/speaker combo is with cabling - the dealer says very, but then he would say that.

My current cable is some Chord Odyssey install wire, which is ok I guess, but I haven't compared it to anything else.

I'll try to borrow some if I can, would be good to narrow down the choices... Thanks!
 
I think you've probably answered your own question. The other obvious alternative would be Audio Note Japan (Kondo) cables, but that's probably out of the frying pan...

One thing you might consider if you're looking for a less expensive option is the Duelund DCA cables based on an original Western Electric design. Doesn't look like much, but it's essential character is along the same lines as my Kondo cables, at a fraction of the price. I imagine that would suite your AN kit very well.

https://www.hificollective.co.uk/wi...istrand-copper-wire-cotton-oil-insulated.html
 
Thanks - I have seen a fair amount of buzz around the Duelund tinned copper cables. Followers of the Jeff's Place blog seem almost evangelical about it. I am tempted - it's certainly cheaper than AN.
Some of the experimenters seem to have gone back to Lexus wire, and some have complained of lack of resolution. I'm really looking for something that offers a bit more air and natural tone/texture, plus some body. The odyssey cable is perhaps a little thin.
 
That DCA16GA is cheap enough that I might just try it anyway. The 12GA reportedly has better bass extension I think, and is twice the price though which is starting to creep out of the throwaway experiment zone given I'd need 4x5.5m of it...
 
Inigo Montoya said:
Thanks - I have seen a fair amount of buzz around the Duelund tinned copper cables. Followers of the Jeff's Place blog seem almost evangelical about it. I am tempted - it's certainly cheaper than AN.
Some of the experimenters seem to have gone back to Lexus wire, and some have complained of lack of resolution. I'm really looking for something that offers a bit more air and natural tone/texture, plus some body. The odyssey cable is perhaps a little thin.
Click to expand...

AN users bumping their gums about lack of detail? Next thing you know they'll be griping about a wee bit of colouration... ;-)

The Duelund stuff is maybe a wee bit on dark side, but it is very coherent and easy to forget about. I used the speaker cable as a short-term stand-in for what turned out to be about 8 months and was really rather taken with it. Eventually replaced it with SPc in all Kondo-wired system, and I even bought a Duelund interconnect out of curiosity.

Whole lot cost me less than 200 quid, which last time I looked would buy me about 20cm of Kondo wire! Maybe worth a punt?
 
It's definitely a consideration, and I welcome your experience with it and recommendation. The 16GA stuff would only come to £180 for 22 metres, or a couple of weeks of train fares I'm not having to spend at the moment.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
did you ever try the Auditorium 23 cable?
Click to expand...

No, I only know it by reputation. Art Dudley was a big fan as I recall.

In truth I'm a creature of habit, I've used Kondo cabling for pretty much the last 15 years. I needed the Duelund temporarily because I sold a pair of speakers with crossover cables, jumpers etc as a bundle. I tried 4 or 5 alternatives in the stand-in role, the fact that the Duelund was the cheapest of them by some margin was a welcome bonus – it was the last option I tried and I was quite happy to live with it for a while.
 
Congrats on the Oto SE Sig. I run mine bi-wired with Mogami 2972 to my AN-E LX Hemps and find it to be neutral and not lacking in any particular area for a relatively inexpensive cable. My local AN dealer uses the same in some demo setups. I had a home demo of Lexus 96 and it was better to my ears but I can live with the difference for the moment, or at least until I get the right deal. I wouldn’t go any lower in the AN range than LX96 with your setup if I were you.

I think my Oto SE Sig was near 400 hours in before it levelled out at “Wow” but I enjoyed every hour from new and the journey was part of the fun of the experience. Maybe wait until you’re sure you’re Oto is fully broken in so you have a clear baseline for the cable improvement?

If you’re itching for a quick win though, I don’t think you’ll regret the Lexus 96. You could start with a stereo run and upgrade to Bi-wire later. If your dealer is confident the AN synergy trumps all, he’ll probably have demo sets you can borrow to prove his point.
 
I’ve used Kondo, Auditorium23 and the cheaper AN cables (wouldn’t go for those) over the years. Now use bi-wire Mogami 2972 in my AN system. Job done, especially for the money!
 
Dee-Kay said:
Congrats on the Oto SE Sig. I run mine bi-wired with Mogami 2972 to my AN-E LX Hemps and find it to be neutral and not lacking in any particular area for a relatively inexpensive cable. My local AN dealer uses the same in some demo setups. I had a home demo of Lexus 96 and it was better to my ears but I can live with the difference for the moment, or at least until I get the right deal. I wouldn’t go any lower in the AN range than LX96 with your setup if I were you.

I think my Oto SE Sig was near 400 hours in before it levelled out at “Wow” but I enjoyed every hour from new and the journey was part of the fun of the experience. Maybe wait until you’re sure you’re Oto is fully broken in so you have a clear baseline for the cable improvement?

If you’re itching for a quick win though, I don’t think you’ll regret the Lexus 96. You could start with a stereo run and upgrade to Bi-wire later. If your dealer is confident the AN synergy trumps all, he’ll probably have demo sets you can borrow to prove his point.
Click to expand...

I think I'm only about 30 hours in. I'm a little impatient - and reluctant to burn in the amp and then have to burn in cables if I can do both at the same time with a cable that is known to offer good synergy. I might have to move the amp into the shed (it's kind of a posh shed with electrics and carpet - marketed as a 'garden office' but just smells of shed) to get the hours on it - I can't play music all day long in the lounge with everyone at home at the moment.

I'll look at the Mogami 2972 - I've never heard of it actually. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
l normally use Van Damme 6mm blue or the Studio Series 6mm, which sounds good with my K/LX, however after some upgrades earlier in the year l thought l would give the Tellurium q Black another go with them...…. wowsa! a definite step in sound quality over both Van Damme cables.

NB; Took this route when l found out how much AN wanted for LX speaker cable.:eek:
 
Inigo Montoya said:
I think I'm only about 30 hours in. I'm a little impatient - and reluctant to burn in the amp and then have to burn in cables if I can do both at the same time with a cable that is known to offer good synergy. I might have to move the amp into the shed (it's kind of a posh shed with electrics and carpet - marketed as a 'garden office' but just smells of shed) to get the hours on it - I can't play music all day long in the lounge with everyone at home at the moment.
.
Click to expand...

Jeez, you have an amp with 30 hours on it and you want to consign it to the shed? Sorry to be blunt but just use the darned thing and when or if it changes then happy days. Why on earth you would want to miss out on using it is beyond me...
 
scotty38 said:
Jeez, you have an amp with 30 hours on it and you want to consign it to the shed? Sorry to be blunt but just use the darned thing and when or if it changes then happy days. Why on earth you would want to miss out on using it is beyond me...
Click to expand...
Hi Scotty - I don't want to miss out on using it, I want to enjoy it to its full potential as quickly as possible. Given I can't use it during the day in the house, it might as well be burning in where it's not bothering anyone. If I can get 50 hours on it in 3 days or something in the 'garden office' then I'm good
 
Inigo Montoya said:
Hi Scotty - I don't want to miss out on using it, I want to enjoy it to its full potential as quickly as possible. Given I can't use it during the day in the house, it might as well be burning in where it's not bothering anyone. If I can get 50 hours on it in 3 days or something in the 'garden office' then I'm good
Click to expand...

Yeah but that's sort of my hidden point. I truly cannot believe that it sounds so bad that you cannot listen to it now and that it's going to improve by such a magnitude that you can. Even accepting that it has to burn in then the change will be subtle at best won't it?
 
scotty38 said:
Yeah but that's sort of my hidden point. I truly cannot believe that it sounds so bad that you cannot listen to it now and that it's going to improve by such a magnitude that you can. Even accepting that it has to burn in then the change will be subtle at best won't it?
Click to expand...
I guess the magnitude of the change is best answered by Dee-Kay or someone who's gone through it. I can listen to it now, and enjoy it. No big deal. But if I can get more from it quicker, by burning it in 10x faster without a great deal of sacrifice then I don't think that's so crazy. Maybe it's just me
 
I'm gonna watch this thread with interest, as I was wondering the same thing recently. I wonder if there are any similarly produced cables to AN but cheaper? You know, like ISIS-esque construction but won't blow up my bank, like the real Isis might.
 
Inigo Montoya said:
I guess the magnitude of the change is best answered by Dee-Kay or someone who's gone through it. I can listen to it now, and enjoy it. No big deal. But if I can get more from it quicker, by burning it in 10x faster without a great deal of sacrifice then I don't think that's so crazy. Maybe it's just me
Click to expand...

I have a great idea, I'll pm you my address and you can send it to me. I am prepared to take one for the team and suffer its burn in for you. No, no it's fine there is no need to even thank me....
 
scotty38 said:
I have a great idea, I'll pm you my address and you can send it to me. I am prepared to take one for the team and suffer its burn in for you. No, no it's fine there is no need to even thank me....
Click to expand...
Only if you promise to perform the burn in in your shed, Scotty ;-)
 
My "shed" is my office so agreed.... :D

It'll have a lovely time in here..... and if it gets bored I'll take it up to the house where it can join some of its AN brothers and sisters....

49750262952_6aa2dab9f6_h.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top