What cables do you use in your systems?

[Wombat]

The ocean cannot always be condensed into a thimble. Trust those who are knowledgeable and understand what they are talking about.

 

[Sal1950]

A simple chart similar to SINAD for DACs is something I cannot find online. It will look funny for sure, like the $10000/meter cable performing same as $1.99/meter cable etc. Will be a total waste of testers time but I think it can be a great resource for people who google about this. I wonder if some of those expensive cables do something stupid and perform worse?.

Not everyone understands the science a single metric representation for comparison can be very helpful.

Amir wrote a good article and did a nice round of measurements on speaker cable at below link if you haven't seen it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/when-12-gauge-wire-is-not-12-gauge.3/

 

[geek101]

Amir wrote a good article and did a nice round of measurements on speaker cable at below link if you haven't seen it.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/when-12-gauge-wire-is-not-12-gauge.3/

Does not have the “snake oil/magic”cables in the comparison.

 

[Snarfie]

For my speakers ordinairy thick ground electric OFC power cable around 6 mm thick (combined). Did realy tried a lot specific speaker cables this sounded for me the best an was the cheapest ( ha ha the thicker the better). But for interlinks JK acoustics Interlink 1 made of OFC copper with a pure silver coating sheelding. Yes their was a clear difference with the Van der Hul.

 

[MattHooper]

I don't even remember if I posted in this thread yet, but what the heck:

My cables are a mishmash of old stuff I bought, or that other audiophiles lent to me, and more recent aquisitions.

The oldest are the Kimber PBJ interconnects that dot my system. Those are interspersed with, I think, some Audioquest and even a pair of Nordost (didn't buy those, just needed another set and a buddy lent 'em to me). For speaker cables I use Belden 10awg bought from Blue-Jeans cable years ago. I went 10awg because I had a long 45' run from my source room to my home theater and 2 channel listening room, going through walls, and I wanted peace-of-mind in terms of signal loss.

All power cables - whatever came with the device.

I've heard my own speakers hooked up to gazzillion-dollar cables (at my friends) and they sounded no better than what I have.

 

[Juhazi]

Here is a review of 27 power cables. I just might have guessed - they all do sound different!

https://audiobacon.net/2019/08/17/27-audiophile-power-cables-reviewed/

 

[Julf]

Here is a review of 27 power cables. I just might have guessed - they all do sound different!

https://audiobacon.net/2019/08/17/27-audiophile-power-cables-reviewed/

Well, yes, it being audiobacon after all...

 

[DonH56]

So which one sounds like chicken?

 

[graz_lag]

Well, yes, it being audiobacon after all...

What greasy hands has this audio-bacon web site owner ...

 

[graz_lag]

So which one sounds like chicken?

or crickets ?

 

[RichB]

Interconnects: BlueJeansCable Canare XLR

Speaker cable: Canare 4S11 with angled locking banana plugs Fronts and Center. BlueJeansCable 10 gauge for the rears.

Coax cable: None

USB cable: Kimber (what the heck)

Power cable: All stock

- Rich

 

[milw50717]

Interconnects:
- DH Labs BL-1 Series II
- Belden 1694A and 1505F

Speaker cable:
- White Lightning Moonshine
- Chord Company Clearway

Coax cable:
- Black Cat Veloce
- Monoprice

USB cable:
- Khadas as supplied with the KTB DAC

Power cable:
- Heavy duty wire and Pass & Seymour connectors for the things with big power draws
- Nothing special for the sources.

All except the USB and Black Cat are DIY after buying bulk lengths of cable.

 

[cjf]

Wow...

View attachment 31936

And that's the Used price..Lol

Yes the price is obscene for these wires. In my case I was in a pickle and had to take a loss on a pair of troublesome Mola Mola Kaluga Amps I had. They were paper weights in my system (I've posted here in the past about my troubles with those Amps and my Speakers) so my choice was to:

A. Keep a pair of $10K paperweights
B: Try and find a dealer willing to take them in on a trade for something else near their Used price that I wanted

I tried to sell them multiple times on Audiogon and no one was interested so I was fortunate enough to find a dealer willing to take the Amps in on trade for something else. My loss, his gain as there was nothing wrong with them. They just didn't get along with my other gear. So, I chose speaker wires because I needed some anyways and that was all I could get out of my trade in cash from dealer (Dealer only deals with super esoteric gear).

I took a very warm bath on the deal and learned an expensive/valuable lesson in the process. NEVER buy expensive Audio gear that has only a handful of owners and little to no real world testing out in the wild with more well known gear. I would imagine even the most dedicated ASR forum member here can appreciate that lesson. It was a mistake that I will never make again and wouldn't wish on my worse enemy.

So with that all said, yes the cables are expensive and I guess I'm fortunate enough to happen to like how they sound so in the end it wasn't a complete loss. If they sounded like $hit, then I would be real salty about the whole ordeal.

Buyer Beware!

 

[Sal1950]

o with that all said, yes the cables are expensive and I guess I'm fortunate enough to happen to like how they sound so in the end it wasn't a complete loss. If they sounded like $hit, then I would be real salty about the whole ordeal.

I remember that thread. Sorry to hear you took such a bath on the amps but I got to admit I'm a bit confused.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-speakers-and-cables-connected.291/post-18549
Are you so in love with those Magico speakers to take the big financial bath on both the amps and having to buy those hideously expensive cables? Magico built a pair of speakers with what I would consider a broken crossover design that caused the amps to go unstable unless you introduced some freak LCR cables into the system.
Personally I'd have dumped those speakers for something a bit more conventional.
No disrespect meant,
YMMV

 

[cjf]

I remember that thread. Sorry to hear you took such a bath on the amps but I got to admit I'm a bit confused.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-speakers-and-cables-connected.291/post-18549
Are you so in love with those Magico speakers to take the big financial bath on both the amps and having to buy those hideously expensive cables? Magico built a pair of speakers with what I would consider a broken crossover design that caused the amps to go unstable unless you introduced some freak LCR cables into the system.
Personally I'd have dumped those speakers for something a bit more conventional.
No disrespect meant,
YMMV

I hear you Sal and appreciate your thoughts. It really comes down to the losses suffered in resale value of such equipment on the Used market. It would have been even more expensive to sell off the speakers than it would have been to keep the Amps. It appears the Audio market puts the Car market to shame when it comes to losses suffered as soon as you "Drive it off the lot" so to speak.

I do enjoy the speakers greatly though despite their finicky nature with certain other gear. Sometimes even testing at dealer before purchase doesn't uncover these kinds of issues (which I did). You can only know for sure if the gear in question is sitting in room at your own home which of course is another lesson to take away from it all. The problem there is one of logistics though. Getting a pair of 300+ pound very expensive speakers delivered in home for testing only is not common place so its all a gamble really. Amps and other front end gear are a different story.

 

[murraycamp]

Blue Jeans Cable for all. Keeps it simple. Now I don't have to read all those brain-liquifying cable threads.

 

[Get a hearing test]

The cheaper they are the better they sound.

 

[thomasjast]

Since I'm in Canada and things like Blue Jeans Cable are very expensive to ship here, I've been buying the Hosa Pro cables with Rean Silver connectors. I'm not sure it's possible to make a nicer (and nicer feeling) cable for ~$20.

 

[ernestcarl]

monoprice, amazon basics, hosa, etc... mostly I use generic or the ones that come free with the device... I like the flexibility and aesthetics of more expensive cables -- but since my cables are mostly hidden, I honestly don't care all that much. I always test balanced cables with a cable tester as well...

 

[Oukkidoukki]

Question....I have these xlr cables to my active speakers....and even though many here says there is no difference in sound......in my ears these sound better than basic ones. I red about this skin effect here ......cables specs says they are unshielded....could that be the cause for ”better” sound?