Favorite cable company?

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Favorite cable company?

Post by admin »

I was wondering if people had a preference for certain cable manufacturers? This could be speaker cable, interconnects, or other types.

My two favorites are Signal Cable and Blue Jeans Cable. Both offer very affordable cable options. I use some SignalCable Biwire Ultra Speaker Cables for my speakers and although I made my own custom interconnects, they are based on the Belden LC-1 cable that is specifically made for Blue Jeans Cable in their reference interconnects. The reason I decided to make my own cable is that I have a strong like for locking RCA plugs and I was thus able to incorporate both a great cable as well as locking plugs. Plus, I kind of like how the cable is unique, you can check out my DIY guide here.

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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Ray »

YES on both of these companies, I've used both on several occasions.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Bluesbob »

I've been getting good results with DH Labs Sonic Silver series, both the Q10 speaker cable and the Air Matrix IC's. These wires are also reasonably priced, I feel, however they are getting more expensive.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Ray »

"Home Grown Audio" has some reasonably priced cables, kits and assembled.
I've used DH Labs also, great stuff!

and lastly I'm currently using speaker cables from Moon Audio.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

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Some very nice stuff at both "Home Grown Audio" and "Moon Audio". Now I want to start building more cables again! Thinking of getting some locking RCA plugs from Home Grown Audio, they look really nice and not to bad at about $10 a piece.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Ray »

I was thinking I might want to jump back into the cable building /experimenting realm again also..and those LOK connectors from HGA would be a nice connector choice for some home made RCAs.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by eagle6014 »

I found a good HDMI cable w/ Ethernet from partsexpress dot com (part # 180-674) that has the same video quality as my $100 AQ brand. This cable is very small, flexible, & cheap in price. It doesn't have the weight to stress the video inputs which is my pet peeve. Also, my bro told me that when I upgrade the USB cables that I'm to start using v3.0 USB cables. It's going to be the next thing computer makers are going to use for faster data transfer rates. I said ok, he's the computer expert. As far as my fav cable company goes, for me Nordost audio cables sound good for me. As for the video cables, I thought AQ was good, but now I've seen the difference. Low cost HDMI cables are just as well in my opinion. I've come to like this parts express company. They're price on all purpose cables are fair and their shipping is fast. Pat
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by camusmuse »

Man I dunno. Maybe I will just play the devil's advocate here, but I have had some expensive cables(vintage Apature) that were silly expensive. Both RCA and speaker. Some old french company that slips my mind now but it was just single twisted pair solid core. Pure silver custom made by me. What I have found is that wire is wire. I know I am making some people out there who have spent thousands on cables VERY upset, but that is not my intention. I look at it like this... Yes, cables make some differences. There are particular instances where a certain gauge is REQUIRED for subs and such. Shielding is important, but only if you have something throwing off "interference". Different types of wires do sound different. Silver is VERY bright, single strand copper can be great for midrange, but not much else. Those are just a few examples I have found personally and of course everyone's ears and perceptions are different. So to me it boils down to this....we are trying to recreate LIVE music. We use lots of "technology" to achieve this goal. Just like wires, different amps sound different, and the same for speakers and every other part of the reproduction chain. I MAY use a specific type of wire to brighten up some speakers that dont have much of high end, or those single strand for a system that is lacking in midrange. In effect I believe that you can use the wires inherent properties, their "voicing" for specific applications, but do just that. Dont buy something just because it is expensive....though locking rca ends are great, as are ALL connections; really those can make more of a difference than anything. Ive seen installs where the owner had to use two adapters to get their super duper speaker wire to find the bindings on their amp....how much does that change the sound? He was a friend's "customer", so I kept my mouth shut. Anyway, try the cheapest connects and speaker wire you can, swap it out, and do a blind test with a friend....you might be surprised. Sell them cables and buy some better gear....or, use what you have to and ditch the rest. Again I am not trying to put down any of the manufacturers here, quality is quality...and making great cable regardless of the type of wire or wrapping can be a very tedious and time consuming occupation. I know because I either make my own cables, or buy the cheapos, where I know that there really isnt any difference. Give me a minute to get a shield before I get hit with all the rotten tomatoes. lol....
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Good Dog Jocko »

I have a dog that especially loves to sit in my lap when I spin vinyl, as it tends to get rid of HF noise that a lot of digital audio is plagued with. A lot of dogs will leave the room when the source is switched from analog to digital, especially early digital and early digital recordings. Some sort of microwave filtering is mandatory these days if you live in a highly populated area, near a cell phone tower, microwave land link towers, etc.

I made most of my interconects from Mogami Neglex cables and connectors. You can buy finished Mogami Neglex cabling from pro audio sources such as Musician's Friend. Mogami is the most used cabling in pro recording studios. By using Mogami, you hear through the same brand of cabling that most likely your recordings were originally made with. My cables were compared to far more expensive van den Hul cables, and were every bit as good. One audio store in Dallas sold their own private brand of cables using Mogami Neglex components, but the cost was 3X what I paid by buying the components myself and doing my own assembly.

The best cabling will be made from pure copper or silver and using woven cotton or silk as insulation material. Using synthetic insulation causes micro discharges of static electricity. My Audioquest tonearm came with the upgraded cabling that uses woven silk insulation material. The smaller the signal, the more important you use natural silk insulation. For very sensitive loudspeakers, such as PHY-HP, it is also important to use natural insulation. The electrostatic discharges produced by synthetic insulation is fixed in size, so the use of low efficiency loudspeakers that came on the scene in the 1950's tended to mask this problem. The early music amplifiers such as Fender that used very high efficiency alnico speakers used woven cotton insulation that was varnished, thus getting rid of parasitic electrostatic discharges that are caused by vibrations and electric current flow in the wiring.

If you paid a lot of money for cabling and didn't get natural insulation materials, then you got screwed and were sold a package of BS. Look at old microphone cables, and you are going to see natural insulation materials. Going to high efficiency speakers will reveal the problems of synthetic insulation, just as using a low output moving coil cartridge will do. Those who build custom guitar amplifiers using high efficiency alnico speakers will usually include naturally insulated wiring in their point-to-point wiring designs. Getting rid of the synthetic insulation used in printed circuit boards is also a part of the problem solution. However, if not using natural insulation, then the audio circuit design must include some kind of microwave frequency filtering. It is imjportant anyway because of cell phone microwave noise that is everywhere these days. That is why my old Hafler FM stereo tuner can no longer be used. I cannot use my old Garett metal detector in town because of microwave interference. If you are in a microwave infested hellhole, then you may no notice any difference in using natural insulation, as the effects is totally swamped out by external sources that have nothing to do with the audio signal generating internal interference by interacting with synthetic insulation materials.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Bill Stevenson »

Blue Jeans stuff is fine, no frills, high grade copper wire (Belden) and connectors, reasonable prices. If there is anything better, I don't know what it is.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by AnotherJohnson »

It really depends on what gear you’re connecting.
As a starting point AudioQuest MacKenzies work well with a lot of different gear. I think they’re the sweet point in the AudioQuest line.
It’s just stuff. I like mine. I hope you like yours. I probably like yours too.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Wildcat »

I've got a mix of cables I like. The interconnects from DirectStream to preamp, and preamp to amp, are Cardas Cross. The phono interconnects (tonearm to phono stage, phono stage to preamp) are both Morrow Audio--they offer a great discount during audio shows. Speakers are wired with Kimbers. Power cord are PS Audio and Silnote Audio.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by Big Dog RJ »

Great topic, and some very valid points.

Especially on those high priced items... I'm one of those guilty members and I've used far too many to even remember. Starting from the British stuff Cord Cobras, then onto Monster cable, Kimber, and MIT during the hey day the early 90's. Slowly began to realise that most of this is highly system dependent...

Went onto Audio Note, Cardas, Van Den Hull, Audio Quest, DH Labs, and Crystal cables, plus Transparent cables. I used to get hold of similar cables as those famous reviewers were using in their systems, based on Stereophile and HFN & RR. Then followed TAS and whatever else they offered, and the vicious cycle continues...

However, during all those years, there was always one brand that remained in one form or the other, whether it were interconnects, speaker cable or power cords, one brand always seemed to bring out the best as our systems progressed, and that being Nordost.

As CJ's slogan goes "it just sounds right" and Nordost says "making the connection." I sincerely believe that in order for it to just sound right you simply need to make the connection!

It's always been Nordost since I was able to afford their entry level stuff since 1998. They do make some fancy stuff at crazy price points but I believe their flat-line concept with dual micro mono-filament tech, is one of a kind. Utilizing copper with pure silver plating and goodness knows whatever else they do, they're definitely onto something!

And as one other member very rightly pointed out that there's plenty of fantastic stuff out there for value for money and can easily live up to expectations, I say go ahead and make that connection!

Cheers and enjoy, RJ
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Re: Favorite cable company?

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Probably the number one truth about cables is that, if I find one I like, the shortest sample sounds the best to me. If I can run 2m, it sounds better than 3m. If I can run 1m, it sounds better than 2m. In my systems, this has always been true.

I cannot support blanket statements like “balanced always sound better than unbalanced.” This has not been true for me.

I don’t care for silver compared to copper. I don’t enjoy an advantage of bi-wire just for the sake of bi-wire.

I was surprised when I first noticed cable differences. I wish they weren’t real, but they are. I’ve tried a lot of things ... at one time (35 years ago) I operated a high end dealership as a hobby out of my house in order to try things at wholesale.

In the end, my experience is that with modest gear, modest cables are probably OK, and cost effective. With high end gear, different interconnect options will probably be audible. But I don’t support blanket statements like “You should spend 15% of your equipment budget on interconnects.” It’s not been necessary. I’ve got one system that would retail for $80k, and the retail value of the interconnects is less than $2k. It sounds better than any show or store demo I’ve ever heard, probably because of the room, and the care in set up as much as anything else.
It’s just stuff. I like mine. I hope you like yours. I probably like yours too.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by roberto »

Hola,
I am going to share with you my liking with cables. Interconnects, obviously, RCAs single ended. I like the depth sense with 1.5m length. 1m seats me at the first rod center of the theatre. too much up-front. 1,5m locates me at the 5th, 6th or 7th center rod of the theatre. I like more this presentation. Usually I use silver over copper plated cable. Nordost Blue Heaven is the one that my ears liked most. But there are so many different cables with great sound too.

Happy listening!
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Re: Favorite cable company?

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AnotherJohnson wrote: Sat May 09, 2020 7:51 am Probably the number one truth about cables is that, if I find one I like, the shortest sample sounds the best to me. If I can run 2m, it sounds better than 3m. If I can run 1m, it sounds better than 2m. In my systems, this has always been true.

I cannot support blanket statements like “balanced always sound better than unbalanced.” This has not been true for me.

I don’t care for silver compared to copper. I don’t enjoy an advantage of bi-wire just for the sake of bi-wire.

I was surprised when I first noticed cable differences. I wish they weren’t real, but they are. I’ve tried a lot of things ... at one time (35 years ago) I operated a high end dealership as a hobby out of my house in order to try things at wholesale.

In the end, my experience is that with modest gear, modest cables are probably OK, and cost effective. With high end gear, different interconnect options will probably be audible. But I don’t support blanket statements like “You should spend 15% of your equipment budget on interconnects.” It’s not been necessary. I’ve got one system that would retail for $80k, and the retail value of the interconnects is less than $2k. It sounds better than any show or store demo I’ve ever heard, probably because of the room, and the care in set up as much as anything else.
Spot on there AJ!
Very true, tried and tested. An awful lot of snake oil out there... and the high-end dealers absolutely love it! $$$ signs in their eyes!

For quite a while we used Cardas and Audio cables in our Apogee and Premier 8 monoblock & ART system. After I migrated to Aus, having sold off the entire lot and having to start over, ended up with Quads ESL2905's, Classic 60se and the ACT2 series2. The cables at that time were mostly DH Labs Silver Sonic and Q10 in biwire mode but terminated with single connections. It was fantastic, and for the price real VFM!

Few years passed and I ventured back into Nordost since I managed to afford it. Cost an awful lot as they're usually known for but so far the synergy has been truly special, top notch stuff with the Frey2 and Heimdall. The CLX's driven by the monoblocks with the Frey2 brings out a different dimension in speed of bass, agility in the highs and transparency in the midrange. I always wondered how far these guys can push the limits, so I tried the next reference grade, the Valhalla and Odin's, oh my goodness! What a level of fine detail and immediacy of transfer in signal but comes in at a hefty price. So I left it at that and I'm glad I didn't go there simply because in a few years those reference grade versions would be updated and the vicious cycle continues... So it's good enough for now!

If something doesn't reach my benchmark in improvement, which is around 40-45% then I don't bother. Anything less than that is an incremental improvement, and small improvements will always be surpassed. Whereas, the 45% in improvement is a very high percentage, so if the component or gear can live up to that level of performance then it's worthy of a decision. Otherwise it's a waste of money, to me at least.

Dealers will always try to oversell the item, making such claims as you've pointed out backed by the well known reviewers in top high end mags, which they always seem to refer to... The only major thing these reps don't understand is that at the end of the day it's not up to the reviewers, rather it's our ears and our hard earned money, so might as well trust our own hearing when making the final decisions. As our good mate Rob in Costa Rica always says, trust your own ears, they're the final judges!"

Cheers, RJ
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Re: Favorite cable company?

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Chicos,

You know what? I think that if you are very happy with your sound, keep it as it is. There are a lot of snake oil...and believe, a lot. My advice is, if you can hear the difference, go for it, if not, keep it as it is. Make your system simple. If you can hear it, go for it!.

Because you can hear a difference and I am not, these does not means that I am not enjoying my sound and system.

Happy listening!.
ML CLX BF-210 Stage X Motion 4. CJ 120SE amp ET7V2 pre, Holo May Kte Dac. Mac Pro. Power Cond. BPT Signature+ 3.5, Gaia II Feet. USB Lush^V3. Nordost SPM IC and Spk. Shun Mook, BCanto CD2 CD3. Linn LP-12/Unitrack tonearm/Denon DL103R MC.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

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roberto wrote: Wed May 13, 2020 7:59 pm Chicos,

You know what? I think that if you are very happy with your sound, keep it as it is. There are a lot of snake oil...and believe, a lot. My advice is, if you can hear the difference, go for it, if not, keep it as it is. Make your system simple. If you can hear it, go for it!.

Because you can hear a difference and I am not, these does not means that I am not enjoying my sound and system.

Happy listening!.
Truer words were never spoken!
It’s just stuff. I like mine. I hope you like yours. I probably like yours too.
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Re: Favorite cable company?

Post by roberto »

Hola Chicos,

To those that are using DACs and computer music, you should try the Lush ^V2 usb cable. It is making good things in my system. The bass went deeper but without dynamic coloration, and the stage changed for good. I have more air between the musician(s) and easier understand the guitar keyboard. The vocals are projected more lived, and the harmonic texture is much better. Highly recommended .
Stay home. Stay safe.
Happy listening!
ML CLX BF-210 Stage X Motion 4. CJ 120SE amp ET7V2 pre, Holo May Kte Dac. Mac Pro. Power Cond. BPT Signature+ 3.5, Gaia II Feet. USB Lush^V3. Nordost SPM IC and Spk. Shun Mook, BCanto CD2 CD3. Linn LP-12/Unitrack tonearm/Denon DL103R MC.
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