[musikfan]

Hi, I'm fairly new to AudioCircle.  I recently purchased Vandersteen 5a carbon speakers. I'm using them with Aesthetix Calypso Signature pre-amp and an Atlas Stereo Signature amp.  I am going to upgrade the cd player to an Aesthetix Romulus. (Currently I am using a Rega Saturn cd player.)  But before I do so, I wanted to get some advice on which interconnects and speaker cables you might recommend for my system.  Currently, I'm using Kimber 12TC speaker cable and Kimber Hero interconnects.  I think the Hero interconnects are probably the weakest link.  (I'm also using Sablon Gran Corona power cords on the amp and pre-amp and an Audience AU24 for the cd player.)  Any advice or recommendations are appreciated.  Thanks.

[Nick B]

Hi               
I have not had any Vandersteens but am also interested in new cables.. Have been reading the postings here under >Video Gear and Systems > The Path of Least Resistance and posts at Head-Fi  and Audiogon. The cables that interested me the most were from  http://www.co and zcables.com/  and   http://stereomatic.com/  abd they are very reasonably priced as well. Also, one of the members here suggested The Cable Company to me and I had forgotten all about them. Good luck with your search
Nick

[Nick B]

Sorry for the typos    should have been     http://www.cozcables.com
Nick

[rpf]

Check out Kaplan Cables: http://www.kaplancable.com/

These are the most natural and resolving cables I've heard in my system (I'll be posting a review soon): Speaker, ICs and PCs.

I haven't heard the 5A Carbon but am very familiar with the regular 5A and think the cables would make an excellent match.

[pjnad]

My two cents: look into Wywires cables...speaker, ic , power. They are wonderful in my system and have been garnering lots of positive press. They have been used in some of the "best of show" rooms at recent audio shows. There are now cables available in three different series ( price points)...oh, and Alex S.(proprietor) is great to work with.

[jeffreybehr]

I recently purchased Vandersteen 5a carbon speakers.  GREAT choice, I believe.  If you love your 5A-Cs as much as I love my 5As, you'll never sell them.
I'm using them with Aesthetix Calypso Signature pre-amp and an Atlas Stereo Signature amp.  I am going to upgrade the cd player to an Aesthetix Romulus. (Currently I am using a Rega Saturn cd player.)  But before I do so, I wanted to get some advice on which interconnects and speaker cables you might recommend for my system.  Currently, I'm using Kimber 12TC speaker cable and Kimber Hero interconnects.  I think the Hero interconnects are probably the weakest link.  (I'm also using Sablon Gran Corona power cords on the amp and pre-amp and an Audience AU24 for the cd player.)  Any advice or recommendations are appreciated.  Thanks.

Good morning, at least in the Arizona desert.

I've been an audiofool for many decades...actually about 50 years...and does that ever make ME feel OLD.     I've gone thru so many variations of purchased and DIY speaker and IC cables I can't remember most of them.  I was an Audioquest dealer in the early '80s and still have a soft spot in my heart for 'all' things AQ.  However, since falling under the spell of Sonic Craft's SoniCaps and owner Jeffrey Glowacki's advice, the sounds of my system have improved dramatically. 

But first, understand that I am NOT a golden-eared audiofile, able to quickly hear the tiniest of differences.  I can hear some differences farly quickly, but I have to work hard at it--I've said many times that my 'A/B' comparisons are actually AAAA/BBBB/AAA/BBB/AA/BB/A/B/A/Bs, and sometimes even that doesn't work.  However I can eventually determine if my system's transparency and tonal characterisitcs have improved or worsened, and my system, most recently described in the new Conrad-Johson Owners forum...
http://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/index.php?sid=b6cb15d93e7e63444d391a0c6654062b
...here http://www.conradjohnsonowners.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=142
...has NEVER sounded better*, overall.

All cables in critical paths (that is, excluding surround and bass channels) use Neotec UPOCC solid conductors in Teflon insulation.  Many of us (including Glowacki) feel that quality of conductor material AND dielectric AND geometry all make a sonic difference, so I suggest you e-mail Sonic Craft at mail@soniccraft.com, mention that I sent you, and ask him to call you to discuss your system and requirements.  He's quite familiar with V-steen 5As and will be able to recommend affordable, custom-selected and -wound cables for YOUR particlular applications (length, etc.)

Glowacki is the only audio advisor with a perfect record with me.  That means that every recommendation he's made has worked well and that his nonrecommendations, if I did those anyway, didn't work well.

Good luck in your quest.  Where are you?


* I think the system was slightly more transparent with the quad of improved Marantz MA-24s in it, but even a quad of those amps had not enough power and sounded a bit thin, overall.

[jjc1]

  I use the Hero and 12 TC, bi-wired, with Quattros and enjoy them quite a bit. Don't know why you think the Hero is a weak link. Of course if you spend a lot more $ I'm sure you'll get better sound. It really depends on how much you want to spend. The Kaplans might be better than the 12 TC but  they cost twice as much.

[rpf]

I went from Kimber 12TC to Kaplan. The difference was night and day.

[Nick B]

Hi jeffreybehr
I just got off the phone with Jeff at Sonic Craft. I had lots of questions and he answered everyone of them. He did not try to push any products or mods on me, but his answers made sense and so did the pricing. So I'll have Jeff make me digital and interconnect cables and then mod a dac that he highly recommended. So thank you for mentioning his name!
Nick

[dminches]

I went from Kimber 12TC to Kaplan. The difference was night and day.

Have you ever used Grover Huffman cables?  The Kaplan cables have a nice reputation but they are not inexpensive.

[rpf]

Have you ever used Grover Huffman cables?  The Kaplan cables have a nice reputation but they are not inexpensive.

No, I haven't. I'm not a fan of silver cables, especially with my speakers. Yes unfortunately, they are not inexpensive.

[dminches]

No, I haven't. I'm not a fan of silver cables, especially with my speakers. Yes unfortunately, they are not inexpensive.

You are not a fan of silver cables because of the sound characteristics?

[jeffreybehr]

Hi jeffreybehr
I just got off the phone with Jeff at Sonic Craft. I had lots of questions and he answered everyone of them. He did not try to push any products or mods on me, but his answers made sense and so did the pricing. So I'll have Jeff make me digital and interconnect cables and then mod a dac that he highly recommended. So thank you for mentioning his name!
Nick

I'm glad, and you're welcome.

[geowak]

I am using Analysis Plus Clear Ovals, at the time they were Chocolate in color. They sound pretty good for the budget I had for my 2CE Sig II's.

[rpf]

You are not a fan of silver cables because of the sound characteristics?

Yes. I have found that, at the least, there is a dryness in the upper mid-range and treble (at worst they are bright). This makes instruments, violins in particular, have an unrealistic tone, lacking in their true body. My speakers (with a Seas Millenium tweeter) are very revealing.

I have had Nordost Valhalla and some other expensive silver/silver blend wires in my system (Siltech, etc.) and this has been the case with every one. Would they work with very warm speakers? Probably. The Kaplan Cables, however, reveal the harmonics of music more than any of the many cables I have heard.

YMMV.

[dminches]

Thanks for your explanation of your experience with this.

Final question (ha) - do your comments regarding silver pertain to silver-plated wire too?  I use Straightwire Virtuoso which is "Six stranded conductor groups of heavy Silver Plated OFHC Copper are compressed and helically twisted around a non-conductive core to comprise the positive conductor group. Two Silver Plated OFHC braid shields with a Foam Polypropylene dielectric between them comprise the negative conductor group. "

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[rpf]

Thanks for your explanation of your experience with this.

Final question (ha) - do your comments regarding silver pertain to silver-plated wire too?  I use Straightwire Virtuoso which is "Six stranded conductor groups of heavy Silver Plated OFHC Copper are compressed and helically twisted around a non-conductive core to comprise the positive conductor group. Two Silver Plated OFHC braid shields with a Foam Polypropylene dielectric between them comprise the negative conductor group. "

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Yes. And it also pertains to silver RCA connectors. (Rhodium, btw, is even worse: forward, often glarey, with a glaze over the sound.)

Similarly, my experience with un-plated copper (which I have never seen in RCAs) spades is that the tonality is more natural and the sound more resolving than with any plated material.

[jjc1]

I went from Kimber 12TC to Kaplan. The difference was night and day.

  Like I said, the Kaplans might be better but they cost twice as much as 12TC

[rpf]

I found the 12TCs quite good for the money. I would (as I did) change out the stock connectors (even the WBT upgrade) for Cardas un-plated copper spades. If you can't use spades, I'd recommend ETI (Eichmann) copper bullet plugs.