[ozoid]

Positive Feedback Online writer Jeff Day started something when he reported on his blog (jeffsplace.me) about the gift he received of some NOS Western Electric WE16GA speaker cable and Belden 8402 mic cable to be used for interconnects.

Since it seemed likely the WE wouldn't be available for long (at least at only $1.20/ft.), I bought some thinking I'd hold onto it until my living situation changed and I could rebuild a fuller system than the PSB desktop gear I'm using now. That intent lasted almost a whole week and I thought those who read the Omega Circle posts might be interested in what I posted as a comment on Day's blog.

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It turns out it takes a stronger man than I to buy speaker cable with nothing to connect it to. So while the future listening room is still occupied (this is actually a very good thing, all things considered) I looked around my temporary listening space and concluded that there was a viable, if not quite optimal, way to fit in a pair of Omega Alnico monitors.

When I spoke with Louis, I mentioned the WE16GA and your experience with it. He immediately recognized the cable. I sent him the URLs for this and the Decware thread, as well as the eBay link, and he intends to buy some for himself. He uses a Swedish cable for the internal wiring and I decided to go with his stock wire. Then we discussed cabinets. I noticed that he occasionally offers non-standard driver combinations and cabinet sizes as one-offs, and he explained that while the market generally prefers a narrow baffle, he personally prefers the sound of a wider baffle. So following his expertise, mine will be 24″ H x 14″ W x 9.5″ D, rather than the standard 20″ H x 11″ W x 14″ D.

There’s no room for an MC-225 and an ARC SP6c, much less an LP12, so I’ve also ordered a 2-wpc Decware SET using a NOS Russian milspec SV83 output tube. (EL84s also work) Designer Steve Deckert recently re-designed the transformers so they’re flat to 80kHz. “There’s just more detail,” he explained to me. I’ve heard one of Don Garber’s X SETs several months after I heard the Decware, so I’m hard-pressed to describe the difference, but I liked both. The Decware is usually equipped with two inputs, but I’ve asked for one input converted to a second output, in case I choose to use my PSB subwoofer for a little extra low end.

The Decware can function without a preamp. unlike Garber’s X, and with more than a TB of music on the HD and less than 20 linear ft. of LPs, I can wait to bring the record player online.

Neither Omega nor Decware sell through dealers in the U.S., but Louis and Steve (I understand they talk on a regular basis) were very generous with their time so I was able to spend a few hours with each of them to listen to their equipment and hear them talk a bit about audio. Louis doesn’t have a real listening room, but a Chicago-area Omega owner was kind enough to invite me to listen to his Alnicos, using my MacBook Pro-Audirvana Plus-Meridian Explorer.

Among the great pleasures of returning to fine audio has been becoming acquainted with these dedicated audio engineers. (The characters assembled for the Garrard Project felt familiar) In addition to Louis and Steve, I’ve also corresponded with Paris-based Damien Plisson, the creator of Audirvana, for which I’ve lately served as a beta tester. I’ve read that Audio Research restores older models like my SP6c, and will even update them to some extent. Since the closest Linn dealer is outside Milwaukee, some Chicago-based audiophiles have identified a local LP12 expert who will revive my record player. And, of course, I’m looking forward to acquiring one of M. Beauvais’s restored MC-225s once everything else is in place.

Getting the cable first seems a bit strange, like my dad used to say about his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma: the school tried to be worthy of the football team. I think the Omega & Decware combo will match what you said of the WE16GA: “rich, musical, detailed, dynamic, and with a very good sense of timing, tempo, melody, that makes music sound very artistic, engaging, and dramatic.” It won’t be a Porsche, much less a Ferrari, but like a Mazda MX-5 in the Appalachians, it will be great fun.

Thanks to the proprietor (Art Dudley too) for helping me to focus on finding gear that can present recorded music like I imagine it can. Or at least assure me that I’m not crazy to think so.

[DaveC113]

Sounds like the beginning of a great system.    The WE wire is a great budget alternative. If you find it a bit too warm and smooth the teflon insulated silver plated copper mil-spec wire you can get from Apex Jr is a also a great deal. You can twist it into a star quad with a drill and have a nice set of budget speaker cables, and the solid-core ~26g stuff can work for IC cables although for IC cables I'd splurge on more expensive Neotech UPOCC wire as you don't need to buy nearly as much as you do for speaker cables.

Let us know how it goes when you get it all together!

[ozoid]

Thanks! And of course your cable is always in the back of my mind. Louis speaks very highly of it, and when he speaks about speakers & cables, I listen.

[DaveC113]

That's cool but I totally understand wanting to spend less...  that's how I got into building my own hifi gear.    Eventually I'd like to offer some cables made with WE and MilSpec wire as well...

[hdrider]

Ozoid- I just sold my ARC SP-11 at the end of last year after 13 or so years, and I can speak highly of the ARC service dept. I had some burnt resistors on the main board and returned it and they went through the unit completely including the power supply and replaced what needed upgrading and added a mod to the phono section that was not in my unit. That being said, my Decware ZMC 1 >ZP3> Rachael >Omega 7XRS mkII kills whatever my ARC was doing. I don't need a preamp, the ZP3 phono is AMAZING and Omega's well….I can't wait for Louis to call this week to tell me my sub is shipping. Happy Listening, Chris.

[ozoid]

Ozoid- I just sold my ARC SP-11 at the end of last year after 13 or so years, and I can speak highly of the ARC service dept. I had some burnt resistors on the main board and returned it and they went through the unit completely including the power supply and replaced what needed upgrading and added a mod to the phono section that was not in my unit. That being said, my Decware ZMC 1 >ZP3> Rachael >Omega 7XRS mkII kills whatever my ARC was doing. I don't need a preamp, the ZP3 phono is AMAZING and Omega's well….I can't wait for Louis to call this week to tell me my sub is shipping. Happy Listening, Chris.

That's good news on both counts. I'm glad to hear that ARC hasn't changed their service attitude, and of course I'm not at all surprised that Steve makes an absolutely first-rate phono stage.

Restoring & installing the SP6c is the plan right now, but I'll defer the decision until it's time. Last November I was considering the desktop speaker. A week ago when I spoke to Louis it was the 3i. And what's finally coming my way now is the Alnico monitor. So you see how it is.

But at least you've inspired me to re-think the amp mod to substitute an input for a second speaker output. I'm thinking less of the idea of supplementing those Alnicos with a little sub and more of the idea of keeping the second input to remain more flexible about a Decware phono stage. I'm pretty sure, however, that the revision would be easily reversible.

What 'table, arm & cartridge are you using?

[ozoid]

That's cool but I totally understand wanting to spend less...  that's how I got into building my own hifi gear.    Eventually I'd like to offer some cables made with WE and MilSpec wire as well...

Dave, if you go to Jeff Day's blog and sift through the comments to his post about the WE & Belden cables, you'll see a reference to a wire company that acquired the company that made the cables for WE. They may still be making the wire.

[hdrider]

Oziod- I have a Sota Star Saphire Vacuum Table with a Fidelity Research FR-64 tonearm and am at present using a Shinon Red LOMC cartridge. I picked it up for a song years ago when people were dumping tables because they bought into the perfect sound forever. I did buy some medical grade 99.99% silver wire with Teflon insulation (wire is .005'' diameter and with the insulation a total diameter of .008'') which I run direct from the cartridge pins to the Decware ZMC1 transformers. That was a huge difference. Happy listening, Chris.

[doggie]

 He uses a Swedish cable for the internal wiring and I decided to go with his stock wire.

Is this the Supra cable? Anyone tried it for their external speaker hook up?

My local "Ultra-Fi" shop sells it as their budget cable...

[DaveC113]

Is this the Supra cable? Anyone tried it for their external speaker hook up?

My local "Ultra-Fi" shop sells it as their budget cable...

Yeah, it's a good cable imo, made with copper litz wire.

[doggie]

Thanks Dave. Still loving the IC's you made for me...

[doggie]

I also read Jeff Day's article and decided that for $1.39 per foot what could I lose?

This was one of the best purchases I have made in audio. Mates perfectly with my First Watt SIT2 and Omega Super 6 Alnicos.

They have a somewhat warm sound that really draws one into the music. No ruthless truth at the expense of enjoyment. Detail is still there with excellent sound stage depth and mid-range magic.

PS. You need two runs per speaker as these are a single wire. I slipped some Techflex over them and did not twist the pair. I also went with bare wire ends rather that going down the connector rabbit hole.

[ozoid]

Thanks for confirming the sound of the Alnicos fed by the WE16GA. Your description is exactly what I want. I've also ordered a set of the Belden 8402 interconnects from Best-Tronics, which terminates as Day specified. Incidentally, Day is a big fan of the Alnicos and strongly recommended I buy them.

Louis says mine will ship early next week. Big fun really soon! 

[doggie]

Thanks for confirming the sound of the Alnicos fed by the WE16GA. Your description is exactly what I want. I've also ordered a set of the Belden 8402 interconnects from Best-Tronics, which terminates as Day specified. Incidentally, Day is a big fan of the Alnicos and strongly recommended I buy them.

Louis says mine will ship early next week. Big fun really soon!

Bought the Belden also although I have not tried them in my main system yet. I want to get used to the WE16 SC's first. Actually I bought a used proaudio cable from EBAY that I took apart and re-terminated. It used the 8402 cable. Gave me enough for two pairs of IC's. Again a very cheap way to experiment...

[squirrelman]

I just got some of the WE16ga cable in today and I have to say they do sound really great right away.  You really can't go wrong with these at the prices it's going for on eBay.

[doggie]

I finally moved the Belden IC's into my main system and they complement the WE's nicely. Great image depth, tone, and detail without being analytical/edgy. Just right for me and an amazing bargain.

[roscoe65]

I just got some of the WE16ga cable in today and I have to say they do sound really great right away.  You really can't go wrong with these at the prices it's going for on eBay.

Do you have a link on Ebay for these?

[doggie]

Here is a link to the EBAY seller who seems to have legitimate stuff. Evidently there are some fakes out there. Imagine that! Fakes on EBAY!

I just looked and did not see the exactly one that I bought so I would email the seller and ask.

     http://stores.ebay.com/Jake-s-old-Western-Electric-Stuff?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Here is the link for new Belden as found on Jeff's Place blog:

     http://btpa.com/CA-0582.html

I bought my Belden as a used pro audio cable but I might buy more from these folks...

[Flinx99]

Would this be worth considering?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/per-ft-Western-Electric-AIW-16g-cloth-STRANDED-BLACK-/351445468022?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51d3c84376

[doggie]

Would this be worth considering?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/per-ft-Western-Electric-AIW-16g-cloth-STRANDED-BLACK-/351445468022?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51d3c84376

I would send the seller an email and include the link for the wire that I bought asking him that question. I can really only speak for the wire that I bought. The seller had listed it as the "best" choice for speaker wire but it seems to be sold out now.

You could also check in at Jeff Days blog page and pose that question. The WE wire experts are in da house there