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Has anyone tried the cables offered by Benchmark?
They use commercial / professional cables from Canare and good quality terminals.
They're CHEAP too!
Rather than spend daft prices for cables from the big and outrageously expensive hi-fi cable manufacturers, I'm inclined to get some Benchmark cables.
For example:
XLR to XLR analogue interconnects $38 per cable - uses Canare StarQuad L-4E6S
SpeakON NL2 to Banana Speaker Cables (15 ft) $95 per cable - uses Canare StarQuad 4S11
Thanks
Peter
[No connection with Benchmark or Canare]
Follow Ups:
Bottomless debate here about cables. Just like every other politicized question, there are entrenched sides with endless arguments and counter arguments, definitions and redefinitions, shifting proofs and truths, and so we throw our hands up and say: I guess we just can't know. But defaulting to agnosticism in the face of complicated evidence isn't neutral; it reaffirms of the status quo.
You can choose to believe in the cable flavor of the day, if some blogger makes you feel stupid because you are using something other than his darling, but that seem pathetic.
There has been a massive use of fine quality wire from Canare and Mogami for decades in hi-fi and professional applications. It suggests to me a sturdy fabric has been woven from zillions of cases of individual research over the decades, enough to have convinced virtually everyone under the bell-curve that these cables are good stuff. My ears tell me likewise.
Grab a soldering iron and build some cables. Save some bucks. Compare them in your own home, over some time, listening in a consistent manner to some music you really know. A number of high-dollar cables have come and gone in my house and I've chosen to wire my system mostly with DIY Mogami Neglex quad mic cable soldered to Canare F-09s. My little thread in the tapestry of experience says that anything more expensive goes past the point of diminishing returns. I did just buy a cable from Blue Jeans Cable because I needed a long, pretty, durable 75-ohm digital interconnect; it uses Canare crimp RCAs and Belden coax. Nice folks, fast too.
Look across the room at your system- are you sure that a tiny thing like the gas in the bubbles in the foam insulation of a wire will make a BIG difference? Unless your budget is unlimited, there may be better ways to spend the bucks is all I'm sayin'.
I own Mogami 2549, 2534, 2524 and 2803 interconnects.
Generally speaking, I think the 2549, 2534 and 2524 are "good for $30" cables and will compete favorably with cables costing more, depending on the application.
2803 is in another league and sounds a lot better than the above mentioned cables, but I am not sure if it will be widely available in the USA at a reasonable price. The seller I bought mine from is sold out and I am not sure when it will be available again.
I like Canare 4s11 speaker cables, but I have only used them with relatively inexpensive solid state gear (Rotel, NAD, and a T-amp). When I owned more expensive gear, including tube amps, I used more expensive, more revealing cables. Speaker cables are a pain to audition and the Canare is a safe choice.
I have tried Canare star quad interconnects, but did not like them. I think the Mogami's and even Canare's LV-61 sound better, but this is only based on my experience.
Sane words indeed but be careful all the insane yellow jackets from the cable asylum will be buzzing over to sting you!
They offer the exact same cable at roughly 1/2 the price of the benchmark. Can't say anything as to their shipping policy/rates. I linked to the 3-ft black version but as you'll see you can order practically any color/length combo.
A number of years ago I bought a bunch of bulk L-4E6S (red and blue for r/l) and 4S11 speaker cable (grey only option) from Markertek as well as a number of sets of the Neutrik gold-pin XLRs as well as a few of the terrific Canare F-09 RCA connectors and rolled my own XLR-> XLR and RCA-> XLR cables.
I used Markertek assembly for 3 Canare/Neutrik digital cables: 110ohm DA-206 XLR-> XLR, 75ohm LV-61S RCA-> BNC, 75ohm LV-61S RCA-> RCA (Canare RCAP-C4A 75ohm rca + Canare BCP-A4 bnc).
I use generic gold-plated double bananas on the 4S11 speaker cables.
They've all performed flawlessly for well over 10 years in my system,
> They've all performed flawlessly for well over 10 years in my system
Thanks Meisterkleef - but what did you change them for, and are the new cables any better - the XLRs in particular?
Peter
I had been using Monster IC/SCs in my previous all-RCA unbalanced system. If I recall the Monster only had a single conductor + shield so couldn't be used in a XLR-> XLR balanced cable. The Canare/Neutrik analog ICs ended up being so good I eventually went with their digital and speaker cable products as well.
I have used and recommended cables custom made for me or for my friends by Markertek for many years.
And I have been very impressed by budget RCA cables from AudioQuest but have not tried their balanced cables. AudioQuest Red River XLR 1.0m pair is circa $120.
John Marks
I highly recommend Mogami cables assembled by imjerrys on Audiogon. He uses high quality connectors (XLR & RCA) that are much better than what you'll find on pre-packaged commercially sold Mogami.
I own a few of these interconnects (in both XLR & RCA) and they compare favorably, right up there with my DH Labs Air Matrix, DH Labs Revelation, AudioQuest Diamondback, and Kimber KCAG.
These Mogami cost a little more than what you're looking at but they're not ridiculous like some audiophile cable 'tone controls'. At a certain point, that's essentially what they are.
Good luck.
Abe;
Could you message me at your convenience if you have anymore info on "imjerrys", as I don't want to sign up for Audiogon in order to contact him.
I am specifically interested in the 2803 1 meter rca.
Thanks.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
Does this help?
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/interconnects-mogami-xlr-1-meter-studio-standard-interconnect-2015-04-01-cables-80015-aurora-co
http://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Gold-AES-03-Reference/dp/B0002E1G7K
Peter
Can make those cables for $15-handsome mark up!
So...the cable and your labor is free?
You're hired! I have a coal mine for you to work. :)
All right that's enough facts, people just stating things won't work anymore if you keep that up !!! : )
E
T
Abe,
I totally agree with you on the Mogami cables. I didn't know "imjerry" did them up tho. Thank you for the info.
I too have recently switch to Mogami Gold reference XLR cable (Star wire configuration) in my system between my CD player to preamp and Preamp to power amp. I was just blow away at how quiet my system was right off the bat and really hearing things I have never heard on recordings that I'm very familiar with after 20 hours of break in. I soon will be putting more in my system and with my soon to be made SUT in balance configuration.
After hearing these cables, I will never pay or even buy Audio Grade interconnects again. I do build my own cables but its still not as cheap as just buying the Mogami cables.
Sorry for the error. :)
Thanks Abe for the link. I'm in UK, but I guess these guys will ship here.
I'm still waiting to hear from NAD (I have a UK supplied M12) how their balanced sockets are wired. If different from those of the US-built amp I'm about to purchase, I'll have to get the cables wired up arse-about-face! Or get the NAD sockets re-wired. It's a nuisance that standards vary for XLR sockets between EU and US.
Peter
Jerry will wire the cables to order and ship worldwide. Good luck!
One thing you can be absolutely sure about: nobody was concerned with sonics in any way, when making those cables.But then, if you share their belief that the goal of a cable design is "delivering the performance required for precise product performance measurements", and that Neutrik connectors and Canare cable are "finest cable and connectors available" - you can probably achieve the same for less money than they want for their products.
Especially if you're willing to go DIY route. Something tells me that cheapest, thinnest Neotech UPOCC cable from Sonic Craft (which is still a bit thicker than the 21 AWG of that Canare), coupled with the same "finest" Neutrik connectors, would make someone with some ears on them a lot happier - at a lower cost.
Edits: 04/23/15
> One thing you can be absolutely sure about: nobody was concerned with sonics in any way, when making those cables.
Well correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't just about everything we listen to been recorded after passing through "cheap" professional cables - much of it by Canare?
Recording studios use these cables for all the music we listen to, and miles of it compared to the 3 ft lengths of interconnect many of us want to spend hundreds or maybe even thousands on!
Your assertion that Canare is "unconcerned with sonics in any way" needs justification. I'm sure that if there was anything better at a sensible price (or that would improve the final recording), studios would use them instead.
When I bought my (now sold) ATC speakers some years ago direct from ATC, they gave me a pair of XLR interconnects made with similar cable. They commented that if it's good enough for use in the studios they install, it should also be good enough to link my new active speakers with my preamp.
I'm talking about balanced cabling only - there's some justification for spending much more for single ended
I agree your point about making the cables myself, but I'm happy to pay someone else to do this tricky job for me.
Peter
nt
Well correct me if I'm wrong but hasn't just about everything we listen to been recorded after passing through "cheap" professional cables - much of it by Canare?
This is largely a myth, or at least a wild exaggeration.
No doubt there is a lot of recorded music being produced with cheap cables with no consideration to how the cables might affect the result, just as there is a lot of recorded music being produced with cheap gear.
But many of the professionals who produce high quality recordings and some of the biggest names in the business use high end cables. For example, Gateway Mastering uses Transparent cables. Sterling Sound uses WireWorld. Channel Classics and Polyhymnia use van den Hul. Skywalker Sound uses MIT, and so does Michael Bishop & crew from the old Telarc (now 5/4). Bernie Grundman uses Cardas. MA Recordings and Chesky use Crystal Cable. I've also heard that Blackbird studios in Nashville and Masterdisk in New York use audiophile cables but I don't know which, and Abbey Road supposedly uses some custom audiophile type cables as well, a derivative of which was marketed to audiophiles under the Abbey Road name. I'm sure there's more.
I have no experience with Canare, but Mogami XLR microphone cables have been a favorite of mine for price/performance.
Most of those will get paid to use these cables.
Big studios these days make big losses. Many have shut down over the last 15 years and Abbey Road only continues to exist because it is a listed british heritage site.
Otherwise it would by now be an apartment block, a car park or a supermarket.
They are also getting paid to use B&W speakers and Classé amps, it was not a free choice.
I know of a few studios which produced high-quality recordings which were wired up using mains cable.
But the current situation suits both: The studios get a bit more cash flow and companies like MIT get to advertise their snake oil cables 'as used by the famous XYZ Studio.
Whose name I cannot remember, was interviewed many years ago about his achieved-dream barge studio, and IIRC it took two miles of van den Hul cable to wire up all his patch bays.
So, while I would not call it a myth, I would call it a canard when applied universally and dismissively.
JM
Bob Katz comes to mind
nt
See ya. Dave
"Your assertion that Canare is "unconcerned with sonics in any way" needs justification. I'm sure that if there was anything better at a sensible price (or that would improve the final recording), studios would use them instead."
I have to laugh at that. Have you heard what passes for mainstream recordings lately? Do you really think that recording engineers are concerned with anything other than the bottom line? Improving the final recording is not on their radar screens.
Oz
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
OZZY, as a recording engineer I take offense with your statement. Please tell me what recording engineers you personally know that you are referring to. Also, please list the recording studios you have been to which fit the bill for how you describe the careless nature of the business.
Personally, all, if not most of the R.E., I know take extreme pride in their craft, equipment and work.
Also, Canare' is an honest company that makes a decent product. Is it the best there is.........well, no but then again it is good and can be used with satisfactory results in home applications. I actual use a star quad run to my subs in my home system.
> Do you really think that recording engineers are concerned with anything other than the bottom line?
That's just about the daftest thing I've read on this forum - and there's a lot of nonsense to chose from!
What's your line of work? How would you feel if someone were to say that no one in that line had any interest in doing their job properly?
The "bottom line" depends 100% on doing the job properly
Peter
Doing the job properly and producing a quality recording are not one and the same.
As for you and the other poster, I don't frequent recording studios. All I can speak to is the end result. And many times that is sub par.
Oz
Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
OZZY.....if all you listen to is top 40 kiddie pop....then you get what you listen to....serious music....for the most part is done well.
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