|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
192.94.94.105
I have been using CAT5 cables for several years now. No braid, as is, bare wire terminations.
I have been eyeing Grover Huffman's design for the past couple of years. Looks like an interesting take on speaker cables. But so does WireWorld and Goertz.
So which of these designs would open my eyes and ears to the world of aftermarket speaker cables again? The last time I had a "wow" moment was when I first heard Cardas cables/ic's on the B&W speakers I owned at the time. But my Gershman Avant-Garde's with their fabric dome tweeters are much more forgiving on the ears.
My ears are now 50 yrs old, so I would like to bring the top end out a little more without fatigue. The A-G's are rated down to 24 hz.
They are in a squarish room, 17' x 19', and even though the four corners have bass traps, I find the mid-low bass a tad bit overwhelming on many recordings.
System as follows: Cary 303/300 cdp fed directly into a Parasound Halo A21 amp via Kimber Hero xlr ic's. CAT5 to the Gershmans.
Any advice or experiences you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Budget is, as usual, low. And I like to keep what I buy. I only need a 6' pair. TIA...
Follow Ups:
What's up Brad? I'm sure you remember Tim-check w/him to see if he can hook you up w/one of his passives. He has several versions available.
As for a CDP, how about the Pioneer Elite PD-65? They've gone up in price lately but still a good buy.
For spkr. cable, since you like Kimber, how about getting some in wall by the foot? Not a bad price from places like Parts Connexion, etc.
What's up, Jeff?
I sold the Mac amp last year and switched to a Parasound Halo A21. Or was that 2 years ago? Anyway, while I had the Mac I tried both the xlr and rca inputs. I found the rca inputs to be a little lifeless so I stuck with the xlr. They were heavily shielded, no-name cables the previous homeowner left behind in the media room. So it may have been cable related. But I couldn't help but think that the gain of the xlr connections was too much. Sounds as if I was correct...
I had never tried the rca inputs on the A21 till last week. I reconfigured the positioning of the cdp and amp, which allowed me to connect a 1/2 meter pair of DIY silver rca ic's I had made a few years ago. Man what a difference. The mids and highs come through with good dynamics, but the mid-bass/bass is less forward as compared to the xlr's. And in this squarish room that is exactly what I was looking for.
I will always question the compatibility of the Gershmans in my room, but switching to silver rca's made a big difference. But that being said, I am still ready to get away from CAT5 cables after all these years. I have made different cable sets, twisted, braided, shotgun biwire, but it's always the same wire (scored a 1000' roll from a buddy in VA). And I never heard much difference between the different configs.
I am dragging my feet while the kids are out of school, but I plan on pulling the trigger on something by mid January. Winter time is my best opportunity to listen. Thanks for the response!
Experimenting is fun! All my cables used to be DIY but I've gotten lazy & bought spkr cable & IC's but all my PC's are still DIY. I also modded my CDP & had all my other gear modded. Just seems like 'off the shelf' needs a little tweaking. Sorta like pulling the 305 outta my pickup & putting in a 327!
You were always good at figuring that stuff out & sounds like you're on the right track. I use Eichmann's when working w/smaller wire & Cardas w/everything else. Having an American Beauty is a plus.
Good luck w/the redo!
The Parasound Halo seems to be quite popular...
It hasn't seen a ton of hours in my room, but it has been trouble-free so far. And it drives the Avant-Garde RX-20's with ease.
The design does look unique. I wonder why he feels the need to put a shield on speaker cables. I always thought a shield impaired dynamics and clarity. I also wonder if those conductors are individually insulated. Better be. Price seems reasonable compared to other overpriced stuff. At least these are distinctive, possibly superior, but perhaps not as great as the ad copy makes them out to be. I hate the techno babble BS. One does not eliminate skin effect.
Let us know how you like them.
Peace,
Tom E
As do I! And I get turned off when I see thick cables in techflex with no explanation as to what makes the cable better or different than the all the others. All you get is, "crystal clear highs, deep articulate bass, with warm open mids". Yadda Yadda.
That's why I want to try something outside the box, or techflex. Nordost is another interesting design but far beyond what I am willing to spend. The newer Cardas Clear stuff sounds like a possibility sonically, but not financially.
I have heard a demo at my friends house all the way up the line and we were not impressed. I use Auditorium 23 and High Diomand 8 speaker cable in my system since I biamp.
Alan
I used to have the Cary CD303/300. No amount of tubes, powercords, powerline conditioners, interconnects, and tweaks could get this unit to sound right.
We audiophiles always forget that a signal cable has two jobs: (1) pass the signal unchanged, and (2) protect from interference. Even "the best" signal cables will only tell you what's going on upstream. It's like looking into an honest mirror. If you don't like what you see, don't blame the mirror.
Switching to a more accurate and honest CD player will let you know that there's so much more music hiding in those pits. All that music is just waiting for the right CD player to unlock all of that information.
The Audiophiles' DJ,
-Lummy The Loch Monster
Thanks for the response. So which cdp did you end up with? When I was in the market for a different cdp I had the opportunity to get the Cary at 35% off retail so I jumped on it. It was a big step up from the Rotel I was using at the time. BTW, I do not care for the tubed output. I always use the SS output stage. It's more dynamic.
I like to listen to R&R. The Cary was recommended for that purpose. My musical tastes are slowly changing, so perhaps a source change is in order. I haven't shopped for a cdp since 2006, so I would appreciate some recs. Just keep in mind my budget is pretty limited. My 303/300 is in pristine condition w/original packaging so I should be able to fetch a few bucks for it. Thanks again...
I had the Cary CD303/300 in 2007. I did use the solid state analog outputs. In some ways, we felt that that was defeating the purpose of the unit. However, I did find that the solid state output, in general, was more accurate. I.e., it came closer to honestly revealing what was actually on a given disc.
The drawback was that the solid state's output was too high. Yes, we could have used the variable output to knock down the level, but that was at the cost of resolution.
Other negatives included the illegible display, and the slow loading time.
I felt that the CD303/300's best sound was obtained with Nordost Valhalla powercord and line-level interconnect. But c'mon; no one's going to use cables which cost almost as much as the CD303/300 itself.
Sigh, since using the underwhelming CD303/300, I've lived with one-box CD players from Adcom, Cairn, CAL, Cambridge Audio, Classe', dCS, Denon, EAR, Eastern Electric, Krell, Mark Levinson, Naim, Oppo, Rotel, Simaudio, Tascam, and Wadia. Some of these were a couple hundred bucks, others were as much as a used car. But I'm currently using separate CD transport and DAC. You can find reviews of all of these on my homepage. Just click on my moniker.
You'll lose all of your audiophile credibility, but if you ignore ergonomics, the Nintendo Wii U (as a CD player) slays most of the aforementioned brands. Hint: in the late-90s, who was the guy responsible for starting the Sony Playstation craze? Yep, yours truly. I was the guy who stuck the Tara Labs ISM The One and XLO Limited Edition interconnects on my PS1, and discovered how thrilling the sound was. I was lambasted, pilloried, ridiculed, vilified, and character assassinated. But months later, a small sample of brave audiophiles hooked up PS1s to their home stereos, including quality interconnects. These people, too, frequently were treated to detailed, exciting, sharp sound.
The Nintendo Wii U does not have conventional audio outputs. You have to use the A/V bundled cable, or HDMI. Versus the old PS1, the Nintendo Wii U's sound is less hashy, grainy, and 2-dimensional.
I've said this hundreds of times. The more honest your CD player is, the deeper you'll get into the music, regardless of genre. If we're shameless Stereotypical Audiophiles, no problem. If we are into world music, no problem. If we are hardcore heavy metal headbangers, no problem.
I am using the Cary's volume control, so I do not have a preamp. CD's are currently my only source. I have considered a preamp w/remote volume so that I could keep the Cary output at max. But it needs to be basic as far as inputs goes. I do not foresee investing in another input source any time in the near or even distant future. But at least 2 pairs of inputs in case I want to try something else some day.
Nice point Lummy.
Earlier this year, I spent some time w/ a Cary DVD8. I really enjoyed its CD playback capability. Not as detailed as the Cary 306 Pro- but for its price-point, I feel it would be tough to beat.
I use the Grover Huffmann interconnects. I replaced some expensive MIT cable and they are much better than the MIT or the Goetz I used to use. I have not heard his speaker cable but if they are half as good as his interconnects they should be spectacular
At there price and at any price Grovers cables come highly recommended
Alan
Thanks for the response. I see you have Magnepan speakers. I was considering a speaker change, but I need something bottom heavy. I share this room with my 9 and 12 yr old sons who have a TV and Xbox in there. They are not extremely rowdy, but I do not want to take any chances on a speaker that would easily tip over.
The smaller Maggies are reasonably priced. Is this something I should be looking into? My listening opportunities are scarce. When they become available I want to get excited about listening again. I haven't had that feeling for a couple of years now.
I have my 3.6's on Mye stands so you could not possibly tip them over. I love my 3.6's and there is a new Maggie speaker I will hear at CES called the .7 In between the mmg and 1.7. You will probably need a sub with these if you want deep base. Good luck.
Alan
BS64-
I am a cable/pwer cord guy 1st. My advice is to listen to as many speaker cable(s) then make a buying decision on the one that fits best. Since you have Kimber IC, start w/ Kimber speaker cables.
Keep me posted.
Thanks for the response. I did borrow a pair of 8TC a couple of years ago. I did not hear a huge difference. But I may have been influenced by the fact that the geometry between the two isn't drastically different. Yes, the 8TC is braided, and I am using the CAT5 as is, but in general I see insulated wire laying on top of and next to each other. That's why I'd like to try something completely different. A geometry unlike most other designs available.
I bought the 3-roll pack of multi-gauge magnet wire at Rat Shack a while back, but that project went to the way side due to time constraints. Perhaps I should try something with that? A fellow 'phile recommended one strand of the largest gauge to each of the binding posts. No braiding or bundling; keeping them separated. Any thoughts?
As far as auditioning, I just don't get much opportunity to listen any more. But when the opportunity arises I want to get excited about it again. So I want to keep the expenditure low while hearing something different/better enough to get me excited about taking the time to go listen for a while. Hopefully you understand the predicament. :)
BS64-
it is a great time to get excited about Audio again. There is a plethora of excellent used/demo gear, including cables/power cords, in the market place.
Recently, Kimber did release 3 different series of cables- check out the website. Another great dealer/retailer for Kimber is Goldprint Audio in North Carolina- ask for Taylor.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: