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One of my first introductions to ASR was Amir’s article/review titled “when 12 gauge wire isn’t 12gauge”. Ok, I knew that “Reduced Dislocation Density” was probably just cable marketing...but various 12 gauge wires having different measured properties. Yikes!
A few months after reading this article, I decided that it was time to replace my home made star quad speaker cables with something that didn’t look like it was born in a dark basement.
My initial specs were simple... good looks, heavy gauge and affordable. Shortly after my search began, I remembered the 12 gauge article and wondered if I could also find cables that were tested.
After looking high and low I came to realize that very few cable makers talk about how their cables measure. And then I happened upon a small company called Pine Tree Audio on an eBay site and on Facebook and Reverb .
Not only did they make a wide variety of beautiful audio cables but the craftsmanship looked to be quite high and for $25, test results for DC Resistance, AC Resistance, capacitance and inductance were provided.
I began a dialogue with the company; Jesse answered my endless barrage of questions quickly and adequately. Subsequently, I asked if they could make a hex braid speaker cable from 14 awg wire resulting in 9 awg legs. They said yes, the order was placed and shortly thereafter a beautiful pair of hex braided cables showed up at my door... very well packaged... with 2 pages of test reports included.
If you check out the links above, they show a wide variety of Pine Tree Audio's various products and capability. Below I've included some photos of my cables and the test reports. As Amir proved, wire isn't always the wire you think it is. It's great to be able to get quality made and good looking cables to your own design if you want them that way and with test reports so you know what you actually purchased!
Ok, how do they sound? Well, probably not a surprise, they sound pretty much exactly like the cables they replaced. I say pretty much because every now and then it seems that the clarity is just ever so slightly improved…and maybe it is, who knows. All I can say is that these are beautiful cables, well made and great sounding that didn’t cost a mortgage payment…or anything close.
Pine Tree Audio.... very highly recommended.
A few months after reading this article, I decided that it was time to replace my home made star quad speaker cables with something that didn’t look like it was born in a dark basement.
My initial specs were simple... good looks, heavy gauge and affordable. Shortly after my search began, I remembered the 12 gauge article and wondered if I could also find cables that were tested.
After looking high and low I came to realize that very few cable makers talk about how their cables measure. And then I happened upon a small company called Pine Tree Audio on an eBay site and on Facebook and Reverb .
Not only did they make a wide variety of beautiful audio cables but the craftsmanship looked to be quite high and for $25, test results for DC Resistance, AC Resistance, capacitance and inductance were provided.
I began a dialogue with the company; Jesse answered my endless barrage of questions quickly and adequately. Subsequently, I asked if they could make a hex braid speaker cable from 14 awg wire resulting in 9 awg legs. They said yes, the order was placed and shortly thereafter a beautiful pair of hex braided cables showed up at my door... very well packaged... with 2 pages of test reports included.
If you check out the links above, they show a wide variety of Pine Tree Audio's various products and capability. Below I've included some photos of my cables and the test reports. As Amir proved, wire isn't always the wire you think it is. It's great to be able to get quality made and good looking cables to your own design if you want them that way and with test reports so you know what you actually purchased!
Ok, how do they sound? Well, probably not a surprise, they sound pretty much exactly like the cables they replaced. I say pretty much because every now and then it seems that the clarity is just ever so slightly improved…and maybe it is, who knows. All I can say is that these are beautiful cables, well made and great sounding that didn’t cost a mortgage payment…or anything close.
Pine Tree Audio.... very highly recommended.