[doggie]

I am the happy owner of a pair of Louis's Super 6 Alnico's. These have wonderful imaging and dig down pretty deep.

Currently I am using a serviceable pair of Blue Jeans Cable speaker cables. While these are certainly a good value I am starting to get "the itch" and am wondering what the next step up might be.

Any recommendations for better quality but reasonable speaker cables that mate well with Omega speakers?

Thanks!

[Canada Rob]

Hello doggie,

I would check out the Zenwave cables.  Dave's posts are all over the Omega AudioCircle under the name of DaveC113, so you can see where he comes from. 
Link to his website: http://www.zenwaveaudio.com

[RDavidson]

Coming from (I assume) standard, fairly heavy gauge, 2 conductor copper cables, the next jump without breaking the bank and keeping you off the speaker cable buying bandwagon for a LONG time, I'd recommend Kimber 8tc with the factory terminations. This is a no BS cable design, with excellent specs, and excellent construction. Hard to do better without getting into the upper echelon of cables...........which just don't make sense for most people. Not going to start a debate about that. Also, the Kimbers are a popular and respected design. If you ever need to sell them, you'll do well on the used market as long as they aren't damaged.

[DaveC113]

Thanks Rob, I appreciate the recommendation! 

RD, Kimber makes great stuff, but upocc copper is a huge advantage with Omega speakers. Since there is no crossover the speaker cable is the only thing between the amp and the speakers, and the difference in conductor quality is readily apparent. With some speakers... usually low efficiency speakers with a complicated and reactive crossover, your money might be better spent on something that uses heavier gauge and lower quality conductors like the Kimber you mentioned. But on Omega speakers, my cables will be a night and day difference vs the 8TC and you just don't need such a heavy gauge cable.

The speaker/amp relationship is much more variable from system to system than the environment interconnect cables operate in, so the best speaker cable for a system is going to vary more than most other cables. I design ZenWave cables using Omega speakers and I can guarantee they will be a great match.

As far as "getting into the upper echelon" in speaker cables, with Omega speakers it makes a massive difference. The higher end silver speaker cables I sell are not overkill for Omega speakers, they are resolving enough that there is a pretty huge difference in performance between the models of speaker cables I sell. There is no doubt in my mind that Omega speakers can be the basis for a world-class high-end audio system, but it won't happen unless the other parts of the system are also world-class.

[ZLS]

    I am using the ZenWave Copper Speaker Cables with my Alnico 6 Monitors. 
    I actually purchased them before there was a Zen Wave. 
    They mate very well the the Alnico 6's in that they have a very open and clear sound. 
    I am speculating, but if a high quality silver was added; it is my belief that the sound would only get better.

[RDavidson]

Thanks Rob, I appreciate the recommendation! 

RD, Kimber makes great stuff, but upocc copper is a huge advantage with Omega speakers. Since there is no crossover the speaker cable is the only thing between the amp and the speakers, and the difference in conductor quality is readily apparent. With some speakers... usually low efficiency speakers with a complicated and reactive crossover, your money might be better spent on something that uses heavier gauge and lower quality conductors like the Kimber you mentioned. But on Omega speakers, my cables will be a night and day difference vs the 8TC and you just don't need such a heavy gauge cable.

That's probably quite true, and I should've stopped and thought about it a bit more thoroughly before making my "standard" recommendation. With that said, I'm sure that the Zen Waves would be a great match. I'd also look at Morrow SP3's, Crimson Audio and DNM as possible candidates, depending on budget.

[FullRangeMan]

DNM makes sense to me.
I wonder what cable Gab was using?

[DaveC113]

That's probably quite true, and I should've stopped and thought about it a bit more thoroughly before making my "standard" recommendation. With that said, I'm sure that the Zen Waves would be a great match. I'd also look at Morrow SP3's, Crimson Audio and DNM as possible candidates, depending on budget.

Those are all good cables and most likely less expensive. The big downside to upocc copper is the high price. I have thought of coming up with a budget cable but there's nothing I'd want to put my name on that I've tried so far. The cables I sell are among the least expensive using genuine upocc copper, and the litz design elevates the performance of the upocc copper well above other cables made of conventional upocc copper wire, so while the speaker cables I sell are not inexpensive, I feel they are about the least expensive cables you can buy that will will not involve major compromises.

The tradeoffs for less expensive cables are they will tend toward being a little less polished, like the 4N silver cables, or toward being smooth, like OFC copper cables. My recommendation for a lower cost cable would be 6N copper or silver-plated copper mil-spec wire. Both are a really big compromise over upocc copper though, the 6N towards smoothness/warmth and the mil-spec is less refined, and the high frequencies can irritate some people.

[doggie]

Thanks for the tips.

Nice web site Dave. Very professional and ZEN!

I tend toward all copper cables. For IC's between my DAC and amp I use Signal Cable that are copper. At least for IC's I find silver to be detailed but tending toward bright. I tried Morrow IC's and found them fatiguing in my system which is using a First Watt J2 to drive my Omegas.

PS. Dave do you have any kind of trial or return policy?

Thanks!

[RDavidson]

Thanks for the tips.

Nice web site Dave. Very professional and ZEN!

I tend toward all copper cables. For IC's between my DAC and amp I use Signal Cable that are copper. At least for IC's I find silver to be detailed but tending toward bright. I tried Morrow IC's and found them fatiguing in my system which is using a First Watt J2 to drive my Omegas.

PS. Dave do you have any kind of trial or return policy?

Thanks!

I also tend toward high purity copper cables. Silver is only slightly more conductive than copper, yet MUCH more expensive........and not really "better." Another reason I like the idea of using copper is the mere fact that most electronics and speakers are wired with copper. It makes sense to me to try and use all the same conductors throughout, just for consistency and reduction of variables.

Morrow IC's can seem bright in some setups, I agree. As you have a J2 and Omegas, I can surmise that the combination is likely VERY musical and also VERY clean and revealing. This can be a tough balance and differences in cables, I'm sure, are easily apparent......with some cables turning your system's  revealing nature into one that is etched/bright. Knowing all this, I think Dave may have what you need.....which I think you may have concluded as well.

[beowulf]

+1 for ZenWave Audio's cables.  I'm using the SL version of the 17g braided UPOCC copper cables with my Omega RS7's.  There is something special with the braided geometry that just jives within my system ~ this cables throws a huge soundstage and the way it preserves note decay and tonal reverberations is unlike anything else I've had the chance to listen to.

They are also excellent value for UPOCC cable and I have had the chance to compare them to 14g Copper OFC and 11g mil-spec silver over copper and found the ZenWaves to be more organic sounding.

[RDavidson]

After thinking about this more, I tend to find more differences / improvements in IC's than speaker cables (generally). You might want to consider upgrading your IC's first. In my experience, IC's are like the main arteries in a system. Their performance affects everything else down the line.....which makes sense as they deal with low level signals. Fully preserving low level signals sent between components is not easy (if not impossible, with the understanding that all cables "damage" the signal to some extent). The idea is to get cables that do the least harm. Back to my analogy : Speaker cables are like veins. So if your arteries are "clogged," having awesome veins will bring only limited improvements.

BUT, you're running a relatively low watt / hi eff setup, so as I stated before, cable changes anywhere in your system are likely easily apparent.

[DaveC113]

With some speakers you may not notice a big difference with speaker cables... those speakers usually have a lot of low-end passive crossover components that tend to "swamp" any changes you might make. With Omegas, the speaker cable is the only thing between the amp and driver so it makes a really big difference. But it is true that the signal goes through the ICs first and if those are having a negative effect on the signal you'll hear it for sure. In audio everything makes a difference...   

[FullRangeMan]

With some speakers you may not notice a big difference with speaker cables... those speakers usually have a lot of low-end passive crossover components that tend to "swamp" any changes you might make. With Omegas, the speaker cable is the only thing between the amp and driver so it makes a really big difference. But it is true that the signal goes through the ICs first and if those are having a negative effect on the signal you'll hear it for sure. In audio everything makes a difference...   

Very true. Another improvement (at no cost) is solder the speaker cable right at the speakers terminals.
This is by payssing various connectors, biding post and some connections by contact or solders.

[doggie]

In audio everything makes a difference...   

I really agree. Some of the biggest improvements I have made recently involved changes in the OS of my music server. Go figure...

I am rethinking now. Usually upstream differences are the first you want to make. I might want to try some better IC's first. I did try that with the Morrow cables but that did not go well. Back to Dave's web site to look at IC's!

[DaveC113]

FRM, I've also heard of insulating the binding posts and using them as clamps... you need to bring the wire going to the driver outside the cabinet to do so though. I prefer to just use good quality binding posts but that does cost more money! Since I change cables way more often that most people I can't hard-wire.

doggie, if you want I can send a SC and IC to try out as a demo. That way you can try both, and also both at the same time. Many people have found there is a good synergy to be had using both my ICs and SCs at the same time as all my cables are made using Neotech wire and their sound compliments each other.

Also, don't be concerned about the silver ICs being harsh or causing listening fatigue, I guarantee that won't be an issue. I use upocc silver or silver/gold alloy, they have absolutely no issue with harshness. With ICs silver can make a really big difference, it does with speaker cable too but not to the extent it does with ICs. The Duelund cable is actually on the warm side despite using silver signal wire.

[beowulf]

IME the upgraded speaker cables made a profound difference, and made it even more possible to hear the differences with interconnect cables.  For instance I was using a Rega Couple 2 interconnect from my Rega DAC to Preamp and I always thought it was an excellent cable and had great synergy with my DAC (being of the same manufacturer), but after installing the speaker cables I came to find the Rega not as good in comparison to the ZenWave DD and D3 cables (albeit the ZenWaves are a bit more $, but worth the expense IMO).

The DD is a very sexy sounding cable with lots of tone and really makes brass instruments, percussion (such as cymbals) and other high notes sing really nice with a beautiful top end.  Bass instruments/notes are also very well rounded and full of tone.  I particularly found the DD worked really good with my digital source, whereas I like the D3 better from my amp to preamp.  I will eventually add a D3 when I get the funds and then have an entire ZenWave loom.

[Good Times]

I've made up a cable using some Furutech S-14 ohno cast copper 15awg. It's only $40pm so makes for a great value, great sounding cable. I've tried solid core copper, heavier gauge multi-stranded OCC, ribbon cables and braided Zu cables (similar to Kimber in design) but found Furutech to be the most dynamic and also smoothest of the lot.

[doggie]

doggie, if you want I can send a SC and IC to try out as a demo. That way you can try both, and also both at the same time. Many people have found there is a good synergy to be had using both my ICs and SCs at the same time as all my cables are made using Neotech wire and their sound compliments each other.

Thanks Dave. I PM'd you via your web site to talk about demoing the cables.

edit: I tried the email link on your website but it bounced

[doggie]

As a follow up. Dave sent me two IC's to try out. A pair of DD's and a pair of D3's. So far I have tried the DD's and will buy them unless the D3's better them with my Omegas. Will probably try his SL speaker cables after my wallet settles down...

I will post my impressions on his ZenWave forum since I am straying a bit off the topic of this forum now