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192.146.1.16
I know all systems are going to sound different, but there are so many different cables, I'd appreciate a few recommendations to start with. I'd like to stay $100 or less unless I am wasting my time at that price point. DIY is OK, but prefer not. Thanks in advance...
Follow Ups:
If you are willing to go $11 over your limit, get the 4' VH Audio flavor 2 *cryoed*. 2 foot peice is less, but usually not practical. Rediculously good for the money, beat out cables costing alot more, such as: Syneregistic Research, Tara Labs, PS Audio, Audience, XLO, Soundstrings, and Tice Infinite Speed.
HTH,
Jack
diy a vh audio flavor 2...with a razor blade or camping knife it won't take you more than 15 mins.
Have 2 versions of Alan Maher's DIY power cords I'm using and both are very good indeed. Easy to make, very light on the wallet. You can upgrade the parts if you like, but it's the geometry that's the key. I used both his "dual twisted" (4 wires, 2 grounds one + and one -, with each ground twisted around each of the + -, then the two twisted pairts are shotgunned) in THHN, also his 4 braid in mil-spec teflon jacketed silver plated copper. The latter is harder to find, but the geometry works with THHN also. THHN is cheap as dirt at your local hardware store.Look up audionutge or Alan Maher or "Perfect power cord" in the archives here for details and reviews.
How did the braided design turn out? Are you satisfied with the results?
Your original design (at least my original attempt at one of your designs) the dual twist works best in my system so far. My dual twist is all the "wrong" stuff, while my 4 braid was upgraded on all counts in theory; yet it didn't sound anywhere near as good.Original dual twist:
1) P&S 5266X plug, P&S 5252I duplexes
2) THHN 12 AWG in dual twist design, shotgun, teflon wrapped and inside a poly tube
3) cheap steel wall box and plate
This one works like a charm. Detailed, punchy, extended and full bodied.New one 4 braid:
1) Hubbell 5266 plug, Hubbell 5252W duplexes
2) 10 AWG mil-spec high temp 600V copper wire, silver plated, teflon jacketed in 4 braid config
3) plastic box and plate and steel screws replaced with brass
This one turned out to be too dry, actually not as detailed, not balanced either, and suffered from more of that glassy HF sound too, even after more than 3.5 weeks of burn-in!I don't know what makes the difference, but that 4 braid simply didn't pan out for me. Maybe it's a system synergy issue, maybe it's a different RFI issue, maybe it's just not the right config. Simply don't know why as yet and will continue testing, but original design is FAR superior in sound.
Further RFI tweaking made the original even better. It's smoother and more musical by far, yet actually more detailed all across the spectrum. So I'm working my way from that baseline again.
I appreciate all your help and advice. I know that you're on target for me with at least one design. Thanks. As they say, YMMV....
Alan,I built your 4 braid a month ago (thanks so much for the design), and it is fantastic! It exceeded my expectations. I intend to build a second one for my system soon.
The sonic effect will continue with each added application (AC, Interconnect, Digital, and Speaker). In the case of speaker cables and interconnects just double up the conductor (unbalanced 2 hot and 2 ground / balanced 1 +/- and 2 ground)....use the unbalanced method for speaker cable. When I had the cable in production I used 21ga 4N silver / teflon wiring for the interconnects and 16ga for speaker. If you decide to use 6N copper step the gauge up to 18ga for interconnect and 14ga for speaker.
Well Alan,I used the 4 braid design with 12 guage silver plated teflon military wire that I got off ebay. I used Marinco connectors. Is this within the parameters you recommend.
I would have used a warmer copper based ac plug like a Wattgate or Furutech to bring out a little added midrange warmth, but everyone's system has different requirements.Percy sells a 9.5ga Cardas wire that is very good combined with a P&S 8315C and Wattgate 320 iec. A Hubbell HBL8315C would be better.
You might be interested in my new project (work in progress). Currently I'm working on a active shielded interconnect and speaker cable. My demo cables use over the counter Canare wiring (star quad and 4S11 speaker cable). It's based off an earlier project I did years ago grounding the return in a coaxial cable. That project through the help of a couple audio dealers (stupidity on my part) paved the way for the Synergistic and Tara isolated grounded offerings.Anyway the speaker cable turned out very good so far. You have to play with the shield layering to get the desired effect, but all in all it does a fantastic job of removing a couple layers of noise for little cost. I use 3 isolated layers of copper braid soldered together at both ends. For the demo version I wired the drain wires into a ac plug and plugged it into my power conditioner (the power conditioner filters the ground).
Actually, I live very close to Tom from Aural Thrills Audio, and last summer he sold me his demo active shielded IC, but I am VERY interested in your progress; I'd love to build a pair also. I built all of my own speakers and a preamp years ago, so I'm always fascinated by new ways to improve the sound in my system.I'm so glad you're still on Cable Asylum; there seemed to be a gap in your posting. I used the Marinco IEC and plug partly because of price, and partly because of ignorance of what might be better, BUT, I could always change them or buid a second cable.
Without spilling the beans....the design is very close to the original which I always felt was lost in the who takes credit for what concept. Most active designs today use a simple Y-cap (anywhere from .01uf to .1uf) at the speaker end to load the shield in concert with a wall wart psu. The idea is to use the psu to run a little voltage across the capacitor to charge the floating shield. It's not a real difficult concept to understand. I decided not to copy that approach....instead I decided to address both the amp and cable dampening properties at the same time. In my opinion it is better to balance (control) both sides of the amps circuit if your really looking to cancel out RFI and EMI effecting the entire circuit. Just think about the lengths people go to for cleaner ac on the primary side of the circuit. The entire cable game is based on finding the proper capacitance balance to match the primary side. The concept I'm working on allows me to actively control the primary and secondary balance without changing or adding to the original circuit.So far the project has surpassed my wildest dreams. At the moment I'm still fine tuning the idea and would like to keep it under wraps. Let me just say the idea has a lot of promise.
DIYcable.comAsylum power cord for $60 assembled.
Audio One Reference by Audio parts. You can find it on Audiogon for $79.95, I found this to be an excellent cable for the money, it works well on digital and my amp for me.A 30 money back gaurantee if you don't like it, I kept mine .
I like the Zu "Birth" cables in my system, quieter backgrounds, deeper, tighter bass generally major improvements for around $50.00 on E-Bay.
Despite the long "break-in", I'd gladly spend another $50 if I could get the same amount of improvement in my system. It's an excellent value.
JPS in-wall cable terminated with Marinco 320 iec and 8215 male, preferably all cryoed (you can check pricing at www.takefiveaudio.com, just be aware that the prices there are in Cnd. $ and need to be converted). No soldering, very simple to put together.In my system, better than Cardas Golden (a $370 cord), Blue Circle BC 62 (over $200), LAT International and a number of others. You might also look at www.cryoclear.com They have a special on the Silver 1 on shorter lengths. I've had a chance to audition this cable and it is very good. A little smoother and more transparent in the mid band than the JPS, but a little leaner as well. If you want better bass performance, the JPS is the way to go, more smoothness and a little less bass you could try the cryoclear, although it might be a bit more money.
I have the NRG2 power cables on my amp and preamp. My preamp is the Anthem Pre2L tubed and my amp is the Aragon 8008BB. Before I was using a home-brew 12ga cable with a Hubbell plug for my amp and a stock power cable for my pre. Without much break in the first thing i noticed was better seperation, better more detailed mids and highs, sounding rounder, fuller and more realistic. Voices, notes and instruments are clearer than ever. What was once clear, mids and highs are now silky and smooth, bass is deep as it was before but with more detail and definition of instruments. Over the years I have tried a number of different cables IC's, speaker cables etc. but it was not until I met the AQ diamonds that I became a believer in AQ products, consistant quality and products that deliver the goods. Now I use the AQ King Cobra IC's, just as clear and detailed as the diamonds but with more bass presence deep bass. Very, very good. And of course they do look good, but looks mean nothing to sound...I really dont care if they looked like a turd.
Some of the shortest versions of VHAudio cables come in under $100 and they are excellent. You can also buy Chris's raw cable and ends and DIY.Also checkout Cryo-Parts.com. Lee is a great guy with many nice PC cable kits. I've been trying out his low end $40 cable and it's quite nice. He's got some mean green cable just in that I'd also think would be great to try.
I bought 5 ft of CryoMax and a Furuteck FI-11 AC plug and replaced the hardwired stock cord on my HTPS 7000. I won't get into the fine details but after burn in everything audio and video plugged into the PC made me smile reeeeeeal big.Cryo Parts is a fantastic site and Lee is awesome to work with. I mean you can't beat free 2-3 shipping on a $15 purchase.
Checking out the connectors and came across a brand I was not familiar with: Bocchino Audio. I thought the WBT stuff was dear. Speaking of "audio jewellery", these things cost more than most of the stuff my wife wears:RCA jacks $285 each, RCA plugs $310 each, binding posts $175 each (minimum 4!), etc. "Custom made . . . a standard that sets new standards . . . 8-13 weeks delivery . . .waiting builds character"
Does anybody actually use this stuff? Just curious (and no implied comment on whether they are "worth it")
Give Lee a call. He's a good guy.Also, keep watching his other site:
www.cryo-freeze.com
Good things are a comin'.
Signal Cable (www.signalcable.com).We compared Signal Cable "Magic Power Power Cord" to about 5 other cords and preferred it to all but one (out of your price range).
The Magic Power Power Cord goes for
$59.00 for 3 feet Run, $4.00 for each additional foot.I'd stay away from the Magic Power Digital Reference Cord (it's exceedingly stiff).
If you'd like more details, send me an e-mail.
You might try a Juice Goose RX 10 power cord line filter, I haven't tried one yet but if it is as good as they say it is then it just might be the real sleeper in power cords.....
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With all the new cables released, and the way things change,I didn't think this was too much to ask. Please don't answer if you consider it an imposition. Great use of explanation points by the way.
Jeffreybehr is correct, even if he need not yell about it. You post this thread and infer that your question is innocent. The assumption here is that all of us who respond are going provide you a collective sameness of answers. In other words, you seem to expect the exact same recommendation from each of us. Look at the responses you've already received, they're all different and I don't think you have a definitive answer yet. By doing a little archive work upfront, your question could've been written much more specifically.
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