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I'm running an old set of AQ Type 2 to my Vandy 2CESig2. These are the same cables that were thrown in by the dealer who sold me my 1C over 20 yrs ago. I cut them in half a few years ago and added spades to run them shotgun bi-wire, my amp has nice dual sets of speaker posts. Also added a braided sleeve as the jacket developed some nasty, greasy Vaseline-like coating and I got tired of touching that. Scour it off and get 'em clean but it comes right back after a few weeks.
Is it better to stay bi-wire, shotgun runs, or single runs with jumpers? Saw some decent prices and reviews for the AQ CV-8 and I'd like to stay around that price or less. Didn't realize the cost of good jumpers until I started browsing around :-( What would be a worthwhile improvement from the Type 2?
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If you can diy, I recommend Furez FZ124As cable. I was in a similar situation in which I had vandersteen 2ce (non signature versions) using 2 runs of AQ type 2 cables to each speaker. I was considering AQ type 4 but decided on diy as that seemed to be the most economical route.
In researching DIY cables, duster recommended the Furez cable. Based on his recommendation, I constructed four pairs (two cables to each speaker) for a cost of around $150 (including spade and banana connectors). I am pleased with the Furez cable as they were noticeably better than the AG type 2.
Those are very promising looking cables. I DIY all the terminations on my Type 2. I think I soldered them which is really frowned upon here. Are you still running your Furez?
Yes, I am still running furez. I am not one to change cables much as my experience has been that I do not hear much differences. But with the furez I do hear a difference from the AQ type 2. I think to find a better sounding cable than the furez I would have to spend at least $500.
Rather than soldering connections, I did as duster suggested which was to use set screw connectors. If you go this route, just do not overtighten the set screws as you may strip the heads.
The ideal termination method for the Furez cable is to use copper crimp sleeves that are easy to crimp, since a basic light-duty crimp tool simply creates a trough (indentation) along the length of the soft copper tube where the set screws go, and the screws when tightened create a dent in the tube where the screws will be secured. This allows a very firm grip on the conductor bundle, and another modular set-screw connector such as a larger/smaller spade or banana plug can be quickly swapped-out if you change the configuration for one reason or another.
as of today, this moment....I'm leaning towards a double run of AntiCables. Been flipping all over the place with solid core, stranded, pricier AQ offerings.... I'm totally capable of DIY and my Type 2 I terminated turned out fairly nice, but just don't feel like doing it. I am sold on a double run though. Anti's website says they're out of the medium spades which is what I would need for my Vandys, waiting to hear back from them. Maybe I could get the un-terminated option for the speaker end and add my own spades, which I did find available (Analysis makes a nice set). Would like the BFA bananas for the Meridian but don't have any experience with their fit. I might change my mind on all of this tomorrow though.
Edits: 03/24/21
Hi NuWave, perhaps another solid core bare copper speaker cable, with a similar aggregate gauge as the AQ Type 4, but this time with smaller AWG conductors for zero audible skin effect, and a completely different geometry and sonic signature. Wireworld cables feature a spiraled ribbon cable, and is tuned/voiced for the best tonality the designer decided upon for general use. It features a slightly smaller cross section of 16 AWG vs. 15 AWG of the AQ Type 4, so if your Vandys perform well with a cable that avoids notable voltage drop, but not instantaneous high-current demand as a prerequisite, the Wireworld Stream 8 Speaker Cable is $9 per meter, and if you wish to build a set of external bi-wire cables, you'll need to purchase enough bulk cable to run two cables for each speaker, one for the high posts and one for the low posts; a total of four cables for use with a pair of bi-wire ready loudspeakers. I suggest covering the cables with 3/8" Techflex braided sleeving.https://www.partsconnexion.com/WWORLD-86416.html
https://www.partsconnexion.com/CONNEX-79690.html
https://www.partsconnexion.com/SLEEVE-62402.html
Edits: 03/19/21
Does internal bi-wire mean internal to the cable? Where half the conductors are pos/neg and the other half also pos/neg? So you're cutting your cables' ability in half so you can get two runs out it instead of one? And then a double bi-wire is a twin run of the cable? I would think a true bi-wire run would always be double/shotgun.
Here is an internally biwired XLO Ultra 12BW. This model has a total of four conductors: 2 black and 2 lavender.
At the amp end (top), the 2 black leads are tied together, and the 2 lavender leads are tied together. At the speaker end (bottom), the 4 leads are separated from each other.
I did a search of the Vandersteen's screw terminals. Be aware that, if you use an internally biwired speaker cable, you may have a tough time, routing and bending the 4 leads to the Vandy's screw terminals.
Go to the Totem Sky review(s) over on Speaker Asylum. A double run of XLO Ultra 6 does sound more open, than the internally biwired Ultra 12BW.
When we continue with the Kimber 4TC review here on Cable Asylum, I will show what a "double" biwire pair looks like.
my terminal blocks aren't bad at all, just the spade can't be too wide. I measured about 12 mm width. I used smaller spades on my Type 2
One of my audiophile acquaintances uses an internal biwire AQ Rocket 33. Because he had ProAc speakers, which use Michell binding posts, his Rocket 33 is terminated with banana plugs. He cautions that the Rocket 33's leads are very short, and are difficult to work with. That said, the Vandersteen's screws are closely-spaced, so with a bit of wrestling, you should be able to get the spades from an internal biwire cable to attach.
I currently do not have any double biwire AQ cables (I used to have the old Indigo in such fashion). But here is the speaker end of a double biwire Kimber 4TC. One 4TC goes to the tweeter, the other 4TC goes to the woofer. Both 4TCs are tied together at the amp end.
Obviously, you are not limited to just AudioQuest. But if you already like AQ, sticking with them is a safe path.
I've been using AQ cables since 1990, when I originally got into high-end audio. When users go from AQ's entry-level speaker cables to models higher up, they slap their foreheads. The better AQ models not only have less loss (in extension, power, control, and body) in the bass, they do a much better job of telling it like it is, in the rest of the audible spectrum. They reveal not just more for your speaker, but also more of what is going on upstream. You can then make better and more confident decisions of said upstream products.
That's about all I've been using since my start in the mid 90's. Quartz, Ruby, Sidewinder, Black Mamba, Type 2, and recently added an Analysis Plus Oval 1 to my cd player (to replace a Clarity Labs Emberglow). Just wondering what it would take to better all of those. The Type 2 and Sidewinder were thrown in for nothing with a couple purchases I made by the same dealer, I'm guessing they weren't giving away their better stuff. Prices go up very sharply just above entry level for ALL manufacturers. Found that from some brief shopping.
On 1/19/91, when I was less than a year into high-end audio, we saw rock band Vixen, at The Stone in San Francisco. It was empty! We were in the front row, and got to high-five lead singer Janet Gardner.
Vixen were, somewhat oddly.......very professional. They didn't mess around. Consequently, that show got me thinking more about the role of cables. In those days, most audiophiles wanted cables to act as a tone control. I mean, why not make everything sound the way you want it? But there was this silent minority, advocating that cables should actually have as little sound of their own. The argument went, "Why are you throwing away what you've paid for (in electronics and speakers), by using bad cables? Since you've spent so much on electronics, why not get the most out of them, by using cables which are sonically invisible? "
During spring break 1991, I came home to San Francisco, and tried several models of AQ interconnects. The Quartz opened up the middle, and this was the first time I ever got a so-called "soundstage" out of my home stereo. --All because the interconnect did not collapse what was coming from the CD player.
Do a search right here on Cable Asylum, about the Quartz. It's actually much better than we thought. But in order to unlock that potential, we need to employ a cable burn-in device. Here, a Quartz is being run on an audiodharma Cable Cooker.
Isn't it just a Ruby with a different RCA? It's the 'best' cable of all the ones currently in my system. Everyone older except for the Analysis and black mamba.
A shotgun run tends to refer to a method that uses all of the conductors of one cable for the positive, and another cable for the negative, which is an incorrect way to connect any type of cable in my opinion. It is not a double run which uses two cables carrying both positive and negative within each cable, nor a bi-wire cable in any way. An external bi-wire configuration involves a separate cable the high-posts, and another cable for the low-posts, both connected to a single pair of posts on the amplifier end.
The two cables can be joined to a single connector, or two connectors can be stacked together. An internal bi-wire cable shares the conductors split into high and low, which decreases the cross section of both. Also, the magnetic fields of the lows affects the highs which is avoided by keeping the highs and lows separated within two dedicated cables via an external bi-wire configuration. A win-win proposition but more expensive than an internal bi-wire cable method.
In the photo you uploaded, a very small barrier spade is shown rather than a narrow spade that would be closer to fitting the space available with more surface area for contact with the large screw and surface. That is fine, but the spade I pointed to would be a better option. The ideal spade is the AudioQuest 1010 spade, and you can choose gold-plated or silver-plated copper.
See link:
a 'double' run (two separate Type 2 cables with a pos and neg pair in each). I thought that was a shotgun. A separate cable for each pos and neg run for me would be 8 runs! I chose those terminals all around so they would fit on my little VT60 terminal blocks, which I've now sold. I don't feel like reworking my cables again though. Was hoping for suggestions on other makes too. I do have the advantage of two pairs of binding posts on my Meridian amp.
Edits: 03/19/21
In early 1994, I ordered a double biwire Kimber 8TC. That's two stereo pairs, tied together at the amp end. In 1996, I sold the Signet SL-280 B/U, and got the single-wire Thiel CS.5. I had the 8TC re-terminated, so that the four legs became a "shotgun" stereo pair: one cable for each of the four + and -. Because the CS.5 only accepted spades, I kept the 8TC's spades on that end. But I finally got bananas for the amp end.
The Tara Labs The One CX is a good example of a "shotgun" speaker cable. Note the four separate runs, for Left +, Left -, Right +, and Right -.
I thought the same, but there are enough of those who confuse the two, that I only use the term double run for the configuration now. Shotgun is a slang term that seems to have no official meaning.
It's been a while since I've personally used any Vandersteen models. My audio friends caution that, because Vandersteen argue in favor of bi-wiring, they do not supply a jumper.
Moreover, with the screw terminals, a double bi-wire cable arrangement will more often than not make hookup easier (versus an internal bi-wire cable, where the leads will be difficult to route).
I have regular stereo pairs of AudioQuest CV-4, the CV-8's kid sister. If you use two CV-4s, to biwire, that's a sweet combo. IMO, the CV-4, once properly treated on a burn-in device, is a good all-rounder. OTOH, other audiophiles view that as simply being mediocre. Only you, with your system and tastes, can make that call.
Be aware that the CV-4's spades open at an angle, and may not fit properly, on screw terminals.
My 1C and older model 2's had bananas, I think every model in the last 20+ yrs is screw terminal. Two CV-4 vs. one CV-8? How much of an 'angle' are we talking here? I have smaller than normal spades on my cables, I put those on because my AR VT60 had a very narrow terminal block. The Vandy ones are a bit bigger and looks there should be enough space for the standard width ones (do you know the width of those?)
The opening of the AQ spade is 8mm. The "bay" then narrows, to fit around shafts and screws.
I don't have a compass or protractor, but the AQ spade seems to be at a 30-degree/150-degree angle. Also, the spade is relatively thick and solid. It should not bend, (a) under the weight of the cable, and (b) from tightening screws and binding post nuts.
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