What cables do you use in your systems?

[Legion1capone]

What cables do you use in your systems?

Interconnects:

Speaker cable:

Coax cable:

USB cable:

Power cable:

 

[RayDunzl]

Copper.

 

[graz_lag]

Copper.

@ what degree of purity ? 99.99999% or 99.9999999999%

 

[SIY]

For my main system:

Interconnects: Mix of generic (crossover to power amps) and home-made (phono cables)

Speaker cable: Home Depot extension cord with ends cut off

Coax cable: Generic coax and optical (whatever was cheap at Ace Hardware)

USB cable: Generic

Power cable: Generic

 

[andreasmaaan]

Interconnects: doesn't matter

Speaker cable: doesn't matter

Coax cable: doesn't matter

USB cable: doesn't matter

Power cable: especially doesn't matter

(Sorry to be provocative )

 

[Patrick1958]

What cables do you use in your systems?

Interconnects:

Speaker cable:

Coax cable:

USB cable:

Power cable:

I use exclusively Audioquest cables. I believe in good engineered cables, not expensive one.
Mostly the Cinnamon, Red River or Big Sur series for interconnects, usb and Coax/AES EBU (on two dacs The I2s -hdmi Cinnamon series between usb/spdif bridge and dac.
Between dac and amp audioquest XLR Red rivers series.
Power cable the NRG2 series.

The Audioquest series has the advantage it comes in different lengths. Starting from 70 cm to 5 meter. The short cables come in handy between stacked devices.

Speaker cable from Oehlbach.

 

[sergeauckland]

I will not respond to cable threads
I will not respond to cable threads
I will not respond to cable threads



Alright then, I use whatever comes free with the kit, some DIY cables or whatever Amazon sells for less than £5 a stereo pair, whether XLR or RCA. for loudspeakers some 15 amp mains cable.

S

 

[TungstenC]

What cables do you use in your systems?

What I have lying around preferably in black ...so the generic stuff nothing fancy

 

[SIY]

I use exclusively Audioquest cables. I believe in good engineered cables, not expensive one.
Mostly the Cinnamon, Red River or Big Sur series for interconnects, usb and Coax/AES EBU (on two dacs The I2s -hdmi Cinnamon series between usb/spdif bridge and dac.
Between dac and amp audioquest XLR Red rivers series.
Power cable the NRG2 series.

The Audioquest series has the advantage it comes in different lengths. Starting from 70 cm to 5 meter. The short cables come in handy between stacked devices.

Speaker cable from Oehlbach.

Man, they saw you coming.

 

[graz_lag]

What cables do you use in your systems?

Interconnects: XLR DIGITAL BLUE PC, from Supra, Sweden

Speaker cable: I am in passive by-wiring
HF ---> DIY made from 25th Silver Anniversary XT from QED, England, banana plugs from Nakamichi
LF ---> DIY made from SC-Twincord from Sommer Cable, Germany, banana plugs from Nakamichi

Coax cable: DIY made from XBK-COAXIAL from XBK Kabel *, Germany, with plugs from Canare, USA

USB cable: USB 2.0 from Supra, Sweden

Power cable : DIY made from XBK-CONTROL shielded cable from XBK Kabel *, Germany, with SCHUKO and IEC 3-pole plugs from Sommer Cable, Germany

* XBK Kabel is my supplier for shielded cables for my packaging machineries, so I count on samples for free ...

 

[Legion1capone]

The reason I ask is because I recently purchased a few amazon basics cables. They seem very well built, durable, good connectors. I pulled my Audioquest G snake cable out that went to my powered monitors. I was suprised to hear the difference (downgrade) especially in the high frequencies and the tightness of the bass when I swapped it for the amazon basics cable. So I just ordered a 1M morrow audio MA3 interconnect. I'll be interested to see if it will be the same, equal to or much improved. FYI I do care about small differences, yes I believe cables can help tweak a system. Oh boy here we go.

 

[andreasmaaan]

The reason I ask is because I recently purchased a few amazon basics cables. They seem very well built, durable, good connectors. I pulled my Audioquest G snake cable out that went to my powered monitors. I was suprised to hear the difference (downgrade) especially in the high frequencies and the tightness of the bass when I swapped it for the amazon basics cable. So I just ordered a 1M morrow audio MA3 interconnect. I'll be interested to see if it will be the same, equal to or much improved. FYI I do care about small differences, yes I believe cables can help tweak a system. Oh boy here we go.

Haha

Well you know the one and only reliable way to rule psychology out of the equation...

But despite my previous post, I suppose it's conceivable that a particularly poor cable could have an audible impact, although the electrical engineers here may be able to disabuse me of this belief too.

 

[Dialectic]

I use exclusively Audioquest cables. I believe in good engineered cables, not expensive one.

This cable thread has been entirely too civil for a cable thread, so to escalate things, I'll just ask how much you paid for your Audioquest cables, whether you use the ones with the batteries in them, and what engineering principles are embodied by Audioquest's different flavors (or price tiers) of cable.

 

[Legion1capone]

I think the audioquest G snake cables where about $40 at the time I can't remember. I've had them a long time.

• two solid 24-gauge Long Grain Copper conductors per cable
• PVC insulation
• triple shielding (foil/mylar/foil) minimizes interference
• conductors labeled for proper direction of signal flow
• RCA plugs are gold-plated to resist corrosion
• black/blue textile braid jacket

But I just spent $99 on the morrow MA3 interconnects. lol

 

[SIY]

Yeah, that signal flow direction is critical, otherwise the music plays backwards. Thank goodness those engineers paid attention to that critical parameter.

edit: I actually have some of the Morrow cables (they were a gift from LSAF, where we shared a room with them). The shielding is significantly worse than the generic cables I'm currently using.

 

[GGroch]

......Well you know the one and only reliable way to rule psychology out of the equation.....

I sold audio components for many years in a mid-fi store, one of the top Monster dealers in the country percentage wise. What surprised me most was the extremely low customer refund/return rate on them. Much lower than most other products.

So, obviously very few buyers did that reliable test that dare not speak its name. They must have heard a difference at home, and enjoyed listening to their systems more. This minimized any guilt I might have felt. Well; that and the free trips and bonuses I got.

My cables:
I use cheap but reliably built cables. With speaker wire my focus is on sufficient gauge (14 is plenty in my setup) and tight fitting banana plugs. RCA cables are the same (and here the old Monster turbine plugs worked great, you can hardly get them off). I think I am past focusing on cables as making an audible difference, and focus instead on vanishingly low THD and high S/N ratios in my DACs....carefully avoiding objective tests.

 

[Dogen]

For the most part, I use those old Radio Shack Gold interconnects, y’know, the ones so tight that they’ll rip circuit boards from their moorings? Indestructible.

 

[graz_lag]

This cable thread has been entirely too civil for a cable thread, so to escalate things, I'll just ask how much you paid for your Audioquest cables, whether you use the ones with the batteries in them, and what engineering principles are embodied by Audioquest's different flavors (or price tiers) of cable.

I set the rule with zero experience - so more following what I read on the reviews, when I bought my 1st serious H-Fi system : max 15% investment on cables on the total system cost.
I did not reach that 15%, stayed well below 10%.
Since, at each system upgrade, I have been investing some money and a lot of time in doing DIY cabling tweaks, especially with shielded power cables, with the intent to translate into the Hi-Fi setup what I have learned on my packaging machineries.

Ohh ... and the current cost for cables is really a small fraction of the total :
$5 per meter for the SC-Twincord speaker cable from Sommer Cable, Germany
$75 for a pair of XLR DIGITAL BLUE PC interconnects, from Supra, Sweden
$ 40 for the USB cable from Supra, Sweden
the shielded power cable ... I have it for free ... to it you add $10 per each SCHUKO plug

That's all, not much TBH ...

My actual setup cost 10x the cost of the 1st system, but the cabling cost went down instead significantly ...

I prefer my way for reliability, not audio quality.
You guys say in English "Piece of Mind", right ?

 

[Webninja]

I've been happy with Monoprice speaker cable and Blue Jean Cable for RCA and HDMI. I think the BJC looks well built, but I can't say if it makes a difference in sound.

 

[Wombat]

For my main system:

Interconnects: Mix of generic (crossover to power amps) and home-made (phono cables)

Speaker cable: Home Depot extension cord with ends cut off

Coax cable: Generic coax and optical (whatever was cheap at Ace Hardware)

USB cable: Generic

Power cable: Generic

Ditto