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Belden ICONOCLAST XLR Cable Review

Rate this cable

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 152 53.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 86 30.5%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 21 7.4%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 23 8.2%

  • Total voters
    282

Chrispy

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I can understand why people are disappointed in BJC, but what I truly don't understand is how much Belden stand to gain from getting a piece of the audiophile-grade snake oil pie?

In the commercial AV industry, Belden cable is the de facto brand of choice for many types of structured cabling. Their cable is also extremely popular in data and telecommunications. If I had to guess, I'd say that a miniscule fraction of their total revenue comes from cable sold for domestic use.

I know it must be tempting for startups to dip their toe in this market segment when you see the absurd margins that other companies are enjoying, but it perplexes me why a company as large as Belden would even bother.
Just the price for quoted for me. Belden has good stock cable, I use some to make my own interconnects. Finished cable at that price better come with a blow job.
 

manisandher

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The only solution we have here is to analyze each sample and using signal processing (cross correlation) detect actual timing and essentially resample the tracks to match each other. This process is never perfect either but can work. Our member, @pkane, has written an excellent tool called detalwave which performs this function.

Iconoclast claim that their cables reduce time based distortion (https://iconoclastcable.com/story/time.pdf). So we'd have to be careful not to adjust for these effects (if they exist) when performing the null.

Which settings did you use in Deltawave?

Mani.
 

kencreten

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The "real problem" with items like this is that Amir is actually testing them, and not simply accepting the biased, and probably faked (or at best, unknowingly untruthful), market speak. I can buy a lot of cheapo XLR cables for my home studio (musician by hobby) for $785. For a 6 foot XLR that won't get heavy use here, it's about $10. If I buy $785.. let's see, before tax, uh... I can get this!... 78 cables. SEVENTY EIGHTH CABLES. I can break or get a lot of bad cables before I get to $785. I can't remember ever getting an XLR cable here that was bad right off the bat. I don't record that much, but I have quite a few XLR cables and I can't remember one failing. I have one that I think has a problem, maybe.
 

formula 977

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ASR still gets peeps here after all these reviews about cables that are thinking the science cannot measure and determine if a cable is good or bad. It's as if they think cable technology is still a developing technology and the musical waveform is not understood.:facepalm:
How many more reviews do you figure we need to see before they finally change their mind?
These reduntant reviews look to me to be nothing more than an opportunity for some members to use the hand in front of his face emoticon in an attempt at slap on the back solidarity.
Nobody was falling for this in the first place and if they were this review won't change their mind because those people have a mental deficiency that can't be overcome by relating simple facts.
 

Blumlein 88

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Iconoclast claim that their cables reduce time based distortion (https://iconoclastcable.com/story/time.pdf). So we'd have to be careful not to adjust for these effects (if they exist) when performing the null.

Which settings did you use in Deltawave?

Mani.
The way Amir used Deltawave won't correct any time based distortion. It simply will line up the signals in time rather accurately which is necessary to get the best null.
 

Geert

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Nobody was falling for this in the first place

There are lots of people who have blind faith in big names like Belden. If such a brand releases a questionable product people believe they know things others don't. As discussions to debunk the 'technology' are a total waste of time the best thing to do is test the performance of the product.
 

danielbaen

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For decades I have been telling my friends and fellow audiophiles that the cable industry is one of the most lucrative businesses out there. It is based on marketing , consumer ignorance and the succulent commissions to distributors of said material . The excuse: if you have decent equipment, you must have decent cables XDD

With only a slight knowledge of electronics, you will discover that all this "magic" of the cables is totally false. The only thing that affects is the attenuation, thickness if there are many meters of distance and that the welds are correctly made.

For hearing it affects a thousand times more to place half a meter forward or backward and / or the inclination of a speaker, than the cable....

Finally here, we have a clear EVIDENT and demonstrable proof of it
 

DanielT

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I've no idea how to rate something that works perfectly well but can be replaced with something else much cheaper that also works perfectly well.

Need the piggy bank panther.

Upon reflection:
It does its job, so not terrible. It costs a bunch, that isn't fine or great. So... not terrible.
Hm, judge them by their appearance? There are those who buy bling bling for more money than that.

"The design was customized and hand-crafted by jewelers Philippe and Mathieu Tournaire.
Retail Price:
Utopia Tournaire: $ 120,665 USD
Utopia Tournaire with their dedicated stand: $ 132,732 USD"

dUEGVdMR7r5ooPaBbGMD7a.jpg


But those Belden ICONOCLAST XLR Cable were, in and of themselves,not so much to bling bling.:)

Edit:
Thanks for the measurement Amir!:)
 

Geert

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Finally here, we have a clear EVIDENT and demonstrable proof of it

True believers only accept it as evidence when the cable is tested when installed in a hifi system, preferably their system. And you shouldn't use digital equipment to test of course, because it can't capture micro detail ;)
 

tktran303

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Oh no! When did Belden enter the boutique cable market??!

I first dealt with Blue Jeans Cable a decade ago- they were a delight to deal with, when I couldn't find cables I wanted I sent them a diagram and requested terminations built to order to the length I requested, and got a prompt reply. Nice and soft well made cables built for US$30 a piece. A decade later I still have them.

Sure more than today's Chinese made Amazon cables, but I was happy with that.

I'd rather buy US made cables, thanks very much.
And I'd buy from BJC again. Just not these Iconoclast cables. When cables have to have a fancy name...
 

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Tortie

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Oh no! When did Belden enter the boutique cable market??!

They probably were responding to market demand.

I'm also happy to report good experiences with Blue Jeans Cable. Been using their analog interconnects exclusively since 2008. Still use the same cable for my DAC->Amp connection they made for me in 2010.

More recently, I had an issue with a headphone cable. I broke the 1/4" plug. I emailed BJC and asked if they could repair my broken cable. Andrew responded and was receptive. After an exchange of messages my cable was in the mail and on it's way to BJC. My cable was fixed and returned to me at a very reasonable cost.

Even more recently, I contacted BJC about a non-functioning Y-cable interconnect that I purchased way back in 2008. They told me to send it in for repair. So they stand behind their products and have excellent customer service.
 

Dennis_FL

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I love the short, sweet conclusion: "...The cable is as innocent in this pipeline as it can be."
 

firedog

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I wonder if Blue Jeans will still offer this sort of thing at the price it is @.
It's not new. They've been offering it for a while, while continuing with their affordable cable lines. Guess they saw how other people were making big bucks on "premium" cables and decided to get a chunk of that super high markup market.

The good thing is that they still offer very good, custom made cables (length, color, connectors, etc.) at reasonable prices. And they test each cable to make sure it meets or exceeds spec before shipping - and they include the test result with each cable.

So basically their regular cables are premium offerings at a decent price. No reason to buy the super expensive stuff.
 

hyperknot

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Thank you for the test and especially for introducing @pkane 's wonderful DeltaWave.

My naive question is that wouldn't the very big difference in Correlated Null dbA mean something? It's 126 vs 106, a 20 dB difference. Isn't that a meaningful metric? @pkane can you tell more about that value?

diff.png
 

uwotm8

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I just use some AudioQuest wires I bought as used long time ago and happy with it. Price was far away from that point you start snake oil jokes. There's also some Profigold interconnects which are just fine and I got it on sale for 10-15% of (already low) retail price. I see no reason to use dirt cheap grocery store cable trash same as no reason to buy Kubala-Sosna etc:p
 

jools

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If your BJ's are $30 per, you need to hang around some classier service providers. You can catch something at the bargain basements you know. ;)
Have you done any blind testing? It may be that $30 BJs are just as good as the far more expensive ones and perceived differences attributable to expectation bias. There is a clear opportunity for some extensive research...
 

Blumlein 88

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Have you done any blind testing? It may be that $30 BJs are just as good as the far more expensive ones and perceived differences attributable to expectation bias. There is a clear opportunity for some extensive research...
Au contraire!

This is a case where blind testing will .......wait for it.............blind you to the differences. The pricier providers definitely provide superior eye candy. Whether the other sensations are the same or not doesn't overcome the additional sensory feedback. And if you believe in free market economics, well that in itself qualifies the pricier item as the better item.
 
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