• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

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

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
I really would love to know why you are frustrated about how other people decide to buy consumer products. What's it to you? How does it affect your life? Do you worry about how people choose to buy the consumer products?

My wife buys air freshener sticks at CostCo for £5. There is an up-market retail chain that sells exactly the same product, in the same box, for £50. If I got frustrated about things like that I'd never have time to sleep. My wife is just happy she pays £5 and not £50, if other people want to £50, then great, not her problem.

Can you not accept that lots of people don't want to study electronic engineering to any level, but have no problem distinguishing what they do and don't like when listening to a sound reproduction system? My wife, who chose most of our audio system with me, has never studied any science and is barely numerate (although she is a highly qualified and respected therapist and is fluent in 6 languages). Should she be allowed to buy a stereo system? You might as well say people should not be allowed to go on holiday to France unless they speak French.

Can you not accept that people can make these decisions for themselves without reading other peoples' opinions in reviews and on forums, and without reading any of the marketing literature?

Can you not accept that some of us are not bothered if we buy something and a new model comes out, or several new models, as long as what we have continues to work, and take a very long-term view to hifi ownership, with no interest in short-term trends?
I can accept all of those things. I just don’t know why you’re asking us to on this particular forum. What brings you to AudioScienceReview?
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,376
Likes
234,554
Location
Seattle Area
I can accept all of those things. I just don’t know why you’re asking us to on this particular forum. What brings you to AudioScienceReview?
I think to just disagree and keep side tracking every thread by telling us what he thinks....
 

DWI

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
495
Likes
437
@srkbear
Point taken. With no interest in headphones, I have no idea what that site is all about.
Attitudes to hifi seem to be very different in the USA as in the UK/EU.

In the UK at least value for money has always been sought after. I've used several Quad amplifiers. They sold in huge numbers, hundreds of thousands. They were specifically designed in the 1960s to measure incredibly well, be very reliable and cheap to service. They were redesigned in the 1970s, since when they are largely unchanged. The current model costs about £1,500, about $2,000. Used ones cost about $700. A service and recap costs $130 and it comes back like new. They last decades. My son uses an integrated amplifier from 1985 that was refurbished by the original manufacturer about 5 years ago for $150.

Many of the more expensive brands tend to come from places like Germany and Switzerland.
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
I think to just disagree and keep side tracking every thread by telling us what he thinks....
I appreciate your efforts Amir, and I learned something valuable from this review. And at 18 pages of comments I think it’s evident that others have appreciated it as well. And if 18 people still rated this cable as “great” at this price despite your null test, I think there’s obviously still work to be done.
 
Last edited:

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
@srkbear
Point taken. With no interest in headphones, I have no idea what that site is all about.
Attitudes to hifi seem to be very different in the USA as in the UK/EU.

In the UK at least value for money has always been sought after. I've used several Quad amplifiers. They sold in huge numbers, hundreds of thousands. They were specifically designed in the 1960s to measure incredibly well, be very reliable and cheap to service. They were redesigned in the 1970s, since when they are largely unchanged. The current model costs about £1,500, about $2,000. Used ones cost about $700. A service and recap costs $130 and it comes back like new. They last decades. My son uses an integrated amplifier from 1985 that was refurbished by the original manufacturer about 5 years ago for $150.

Many of the more expensive brands tend to come from places like Germany and Switzerland.
I thought you said that your wife buys all your gear.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DWI

DWI

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
495
Likes
437
I think to just disagree and keep side tracking every thread by telling us what he thinks....
Refute assertions that all audiophiles buy into expensive cables, don't care about value for money, believe everything they read, aren't concerned about good measurements, change kit every 10 minutes, are capable of understanding electronics with a little effort and buy cables just to show off. In my experience, none of these presumptions are true. Other people may have different experiences.
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,692
I'll just stick with my $12 Monoprice XLR cables
I’m not super happy with Monoprice’s build quality. Build quality and durability are what guide my cable purchasing decisions. In that vein, my current go-to (for RCA cables) is Mogami cable with Switchcraft RCA’s. Cost is about $30-$40 pair.

And not like you will ever see them in the back of your equipment, but those Switchcraft jacks are beautiful.
 

DWI

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
495
Likes
437
I thought you said that your wife buys all your gear.
Often a joint decision. She has a veto on aesthetics. According to the main dealer I use, this is frequently the case.
 

Billy Budapest

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 11, 2019
Messages
1,812
Likes
2,692
I’m not super happy with Monoprice’s build quality. Build quality and durability are what guide my cable purchasing decisions. In that vein, my current go-to (for RCA cables) is Mogami cable with Switchcraft RCA’s. Cost is about $30-$40 pair.

And not like you will ever see them in the back of your equipment, but those Switchcraft jacks are beautiful.
284DFB5C-A9FC-4B84-B0BC-D041FC0D033E.jpeg
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
Many of the more expensive brands tend to come from places like Germany and Switzerland.
Hi-Fi brands headquartered in the UK (abridged):

Linn, NAIM, iFi-Audio and Abbingdon, Bowers & Wilkins, Cambridge Audio, Celestion, Creek Audio, Epos, Focusrite, Hiwatt, Chord, KEF, Leak, Meridian, MQA, ATC, ProAc, Fyne, Quad Electronics, PMC, Rega, Roksan, ATC, Cyrus, Arcam, Rotel (Europe), QED, Wilson Benesch, Spendor, Sugden, Partington, Croft Acoustics, SME…

Couldn’t resist, it’s a character defect of mine I’m working on. Now I’m outta this one…
 

Bghead8che

Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2019
Messages
29
Likes
6
Thank you. I found Glen's response. He's basically saying, yes, all Amir's measurements are spot on, however, we don't have the tests to properly measure the differences. Which then made me wonder......... if we can't measure the differences, how did he test and design for the same? Glen said the differences between the cables lies in "physics" that simply can't be measured. Hmmm....
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
Often a joint decision. She has a veto on aesthetics. According to the main dealer I use, this is frequently the case.
I dunno what to make of your dealer’s POV—my husband and I tend to both appreciate aesthetics, although I’m usually the one looking under the hood. He must be one of those straight guys who really gets women.
 

CtheArgie

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 11, 2020
Messages
509
Likes
773
Location
Agoura Hills, CA.
Hi-Fi brands headquartered in the UK (abridged):

Linn, NAIM, iFi-Audio and Abbingdon, Bowers & Wilkins, Cambridge Audio, Celestion, Creek Audio, Epos, Focusrite, Hiwatt, Chord, KEF, Leak, Meridian, MQA, ATC, ProAc, Fyne, Quad Electronics, PMC, Rega, Roksan, ATC, Cyrus, Arcam, Rotel (Europe), QED, Wilson Benesch, Spendor, Sugden, Partington, Croft Acoustics, SME…

Couldn’t resist, it’s a character defect of mine I’m working on. Now I’m outta this one…
Isn’t Harbeth British too?
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
Thank you. I found Glen's response. He's basically saying, yes, all Amir's measurements are spot on, however, we don't have the tests to properly measure the differences. Which then made me wonder......... if we can't measure the differences, how did he test and design for the same? Glen said the differences between the cables lies in "physics" that simply can't be measured. Hmmm....
Read his rejoinder to Amir, if you can stomach it. According to him, those immeasurables are part of his “vision of the future”. He’s an evolved being, don’t even try to put a name to it.
 
Joined
Mar 16, 2022
Messages
57
Likes
95
Location
Earth
Thank you. I found Glen's response. He's basically saying, yes, all Amir's measurements are spot on, however, we don't have the tests to properly measure the differences. Which then made me wonder......... if we can't measure the differences, how did he test and design for the same? Glen said the differences between the cables lies in "physics" that simply can't be measured. Hmmm....
IOW, magic?
 

Blumlein 88

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 23, 2016
Messages
20,524
Likes
37,057
Thank you. I found Glen's response. He's basically saying, yes, all Amir's measurements are spot on, however, we don't have the tests to properly measure the differences. Which then made me wonder......... if we can't measure the differences, how did he test and design for the same? Glen said the differences between the cables lies in "physics" that simply can't be measured. Hmmm....
I think is approach effectively is like others we've seen at least all the way back to MIT cables early on. Showing us better performance in the megahertz range. It simply has no bearing on audio. In this case he seems to imply settling and signal transfer times in a complete system.

I liken it to maybe making car tires. If they are close enough to perfectly round we feel no problem from them. But you could develop some process to make them so close to perfectly round as in round to the molecular level. OK, physics says that is better and has to be better. Maybe we can measure the roundness, but not the effect upon the passenger in the car. That is great and all, and physics says it has to be better smoother than a non-round tire. But if this increases price by 35 times and the passengers feel no difference then what exactly was the point?

Apologies for stupid car analogies.
 

Doodski

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 9, 2019
Messages
20,753
Likes
20,785
Location
Canada
Thank you. I found Glen's response. He's basically saying, yes, all Amir's measurements are spot on, however, we don't have the tests to properly measure the differences. Which then made me wonder......... if we can't measure the differences, how did he test and design for the same? Glen said the differences between the cables lies in "physics" that simply can't be measured. Hmmm....
So he's saying this cable is a engineered up the hoopla cable. With deep physics calculations and stuff?
 
Top Bottom