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Why guilt on speaker cables and such

G

gregory lynch

pfm Member
Good Morning,

contemplating new speaker cables for my valve amp and Tablette 10 speakers, been using QED Silver Anniversary, Fisual superflex 2.5mm and some solid core Audioquest FT-4, to be honest there's not much between them, if there is a winner the solid core is my favourite, i'm asking if spending more money will yield significate results, i bought an interconnect from Yiannis Tome which made a difference from some QED IC's and some VD Cable but it's cost was negligible between the others.
I don't want to spend a huge amount, up to £200 would be my max but some nice finished cable to last out my remaining years would be nice.
TT is Rega Planar 8 and Fono mc.
all the best.
 
very much depends on the system . sometimes a cheaper one like VD will suit others a more expensive one . certainly van damme is great in my loft system but a bit wooly in another . then chord epic was better with my tannoys.
 
I think if you're spending c£200 you're unlikely to experience significant differences between cables, unless one is definitely 'wrong' (it can happen). At any given price, you'll get broadly equivalent levels of performance (albeit, different choices of the various trade-offs) because if one manufacturer had a cable that was head and shoulders above its peers, they'd be more likely to price it accordingly.
 
Speaker cables are among the most difficult of all - truly uncompromised are too expensive for most systems/users. Therefore people forced to select something that suits their taste usually between more transparency/more body to the sound. For £200 I would definitely go for DNM/Reson set of cables better in bi-wire configuration.
 
One thing I think a lot of people get wrong when discussing cables is that the only paradigm worth discussing is whether spending more money will improve things. Often the value is not necessarily making things better but making them different, i.e. shifting the character slightly. You can use cables to adjust or compensate for things, like brightening the mid band or bringing slightly more control to the bass. I've done both in my system; I used speaker cable to brighten the mid band, moving from brand A to brand B where there was no difference in price between those and where there was no objective 'improvement' but where the change I heard was a change I preferred. I also did this with an interconnect cable although in that instance it was a significant increase in budget on product A and B and the improvements to bass response (tighter and with more control), might well be regarded as 'objectively better'.
 
The problem with cables is that it is all guesswork and subjectivity, so you are dividing head first into the unknown.

That was one of the reasons why I bought into Naim. They supply cables that their engineers have tested and staff have listened to them as well.

It isn't perfect but better than the alternatives.
 
Good Point about Naim but with them being a one make solution and Rega for that matter i wonder why other brands dont make an all in one solution with cables, might put QED out of business though but i believe they had their own kit in the 80's, a turntable and an amp, not sure about speakers though.
 
I once got a tip (I think it was on PFM) to buy MIT CI 16-4 speaker cable. I have been using this for years and think it's great. Pretty cheap stuff. I would never ever spend much money on cables any more (been there, done that).
 
It was one of the things I liked about Naim - not having any concerns about what cables to use. Of course it didn't stop me investing in a Chord Company Solid cable to try although it wasn't much more expensive than the standard ones (and didn't make a noticeable difference).

I don't worry about cables much in my post-Naim days either as I've tried quite a few (nothing silly expensive) and don't really (as long as they are reasonable quality) making that much of a difference.
 
As others have said/implied, it's pretty much impossible to reliably recommend any particular cable - exact application/synergy/subjective responses are impossible to predict - I suspect that the nightmarish extent of options/choice is at least in part responsible for many of us stepping off the merry-go-round and using pro/studio stuff.
I personally abhor the Van Damme stuff, I find in general Chord to be horrible and brightly lit and AQ bafflingly dull and overpriced.... But all this does is tell you things about my system and my tastes - any or all of these might excel in a different setup with a different listener and indeed different music.
I have established a couple of personal reference points for cables that (to my ears) give a nicely balanced natural sound, and occasionally venture beyond these to "settle in" a new component - these being Duelund and AN Lexus - both available from Hifi Collective, and neither are crazily expensive, but this doesn't mean they'd work for you.

Quite a long and totally unhelpful post 😉
 
SteveG said:
It was one of the things I liked about Naim - not having any concerns about what cables to use. Of course it didn't stop me investing in a Chord Company Solid cable to try although it wasn't much more expensive than the standard ones (and didn't make a noticeable difference).

I don't worry about cables much in my post-Naim days either as I've tried quite a few (nothing silly expensive) and don't really (as long as they are reasonable quality) making that much of a difference.
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Very sound, and broadly my philosphy as well. I just want a decent amount of good copper in a jacket that's reasonably flexible, with good quality banana plugs.

Having used it in the past, I would take the advice further upthread to bi-wire with DNM solid core with a small pinch of salt.
 
I just generally have bought 2nd hand cables (of the correct length for the application) mainly from companies of repute, I wouldn't spend alot and if I'm not fussed sell on. They're a pretty 'safe' 2nd hand purchase unlike say a cartridge or tonearm.
Most recently I bought speaker cables the same as the speaker designer of my speakers used in development .
 
A number of folk have offered opinions ...but no-one has asked (to me) the obvious question...How much cable, in metres, do you need for yer £200 ??:cool:

PS do ye really think that ye really need new cables or is it just upgrade-itis ? How much did ye spend on yer present cabling and is that ££££ difference between the present cable and any future cable even gonna be noticeable ... to you ? 🤔
 
Locheeboy said:
A number of folk have offered opinions ...but no-one has asked (to me) the obvious question...How much cable, in metres, do you need for yer £200 ??:cool:

PS do ye really think that ye really need new cables or is it just upgrade-itis ? How much did ye spend on yer present cabling and is that ££££ difference between the present cable and any future cable even gonna be noticeable ... to you ? 🤔
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3 metre pair, present cabling costs are Audioquest £16.00 Fisual about the same and
 
3 metre pair, present cabling costs are Audioquest £16.00 Fisual about the same and QED about £70.00 to be honest no noticeable difference
 
How about an experiment that you can carry out yourself, for free, or near enough? Get some mains cable, you will have some in the shed. Wire it up. Have a listen. Compare it to your existing stuff. Then decide. Bear in mind that solid core lighting cable (2 x 1.5mm^2) is available from Screwfix or DIY shops for a pound or so a metre. If you want 2 x 3m or 2 x 4m, it's the price of a couple of pints in the pub.

I have done this, one of my systems running some large floorstanders that were far from economy priced when new is wired up with mains cable for speaker connection. Because it works. I have other cables, but they aren't better.
 
Phyztech said:
Speaker cables are among the most difficult of all - truly uncompromised are too expensive for most systems/users. Therefore people forced to select something that suits their taste usually between more transparency/more body to the sound. For £200 I would definitely go for DNM/Reson set of cables better in bi-wire configuration.
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Tim Jones said:
Having used it in the past, I would take the advice further upthread to bi-wire with DNM solid core with a small pinch of salt.
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I'm with Tim on this. Once bought a set of (new) DNM Reson on recommendation from a dealer, for my NVA AP60. By some considerable margin the worst speaker cables I've ever used. No bass worth mentioning, and dull, lacking energy and drive. VERY quickly went back to be replaced with NVA LS1. On the other hand, I don't recognise the descriptions of Chord Co and TQ cables hinted at upthread either, having got decent results from both brands, at different price points. So they do need to be evaluated as a system component, with amp and speakers, IMHO. At least until you start to get a bit spendy, when system dependencies start to recede, IME, and most work pretty well, most of the time.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I'm with Tim on this. Once bought a set of (new) DNM Reson on recommendation from a dealer, for my NVA AP60. By some considerable margin the worst speaker cables I've ever used. No bass worth mentioning, and dull, lacking energy and drive. VERY quickly went back to be replaced with NVA LS1. On the other hand, I don't recognise the descriptions of Chord Co and TQ cables hinted at upthread either, having got decent results from both brands, at different price points. So they do need to be evaluated as a system component, with amp and speakers, IMHO. At least until you start to get a bit spendy, when system dependencies start to recede, IME, and most work pretty well, most of the time.
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NVA need 2 x 4m of cable to stabilise them, like Naim, don't they? Restricts choices *a bit*.

You are right though, different brands of speaker cables are a flavour thing. What works in one system won't in another because a small difference in LCR will affect the behaviour of different speakers and cables in different ways.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
I'm with Tim on this. Once bought a set of (new) DNM Reson on recommendation from a dealer, for my NVA AP60. By some considerable margin the worst speaker cables I've ever used. No bass worth mentioning, and dull, lacking energy and drive. VERY quickly went back to be replaced with NVA LS1. On the other hand, I don't recognise the descriptions of Chord Co and TQ cables hinted at upthread either, having got decent results from both brands, at different price points. So they do need to be evaluated as a system component, with amp and speakers, IMHO. At least until you start to get a bit spendy, when system dependencies start to recede, IME, and most work pretty well, most of the time.
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You must be joking.. NVA needs only native cables by default, you could even break it, no comments about sq :)
 
SteveG said:
It was one of the things I liked about Naim - not having any concerns about what cables to use.
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Itʼs true that Naim makes in a way their users life easier (including myself). But mostly it’s about Power lines, for interconnects and speaker it is not that straightforward. For example decision about Super Lumina should be made at some point.
 
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