[Clive197]

May I suggest an Australian XLR cable by Curious.
They have started to produce some excellent XLR and single endedcables and are a realistic price even when ordered direct from the the Co in Australia.
I’ve used their USB cable and it blew everything else off the planet, including a Audioquest Diamond USB.

[1oldguy]

Bryston XLR........very good indeed!

[Elizabeth]

I have owned my BP26 for over ten years. Ditto the 4BSST².I have used a variety of wires, settling in Kimber KS1116. Five years ago when I bought them it cost $3200 US for seven meter set.
I also use other Kimber KS series Wires in my setup.
I wish I had just gone for the better wires sooner, instead of wasting money buying lesser cables.
The main strengths of the KS series are better mids and Bass with greater definition, and greater HF clarity.
Since wires are such a personal thing, Room acoustics, your own preferences, the way the speakers sound in your room... I doubt any recommendation of any kind can actually be of real help.
But good luck on your search.
PS other things I found to add the last percents of amazing sound were Furutech AC outlets, and experimenting with exotic wood footers/ under equipment stuff to tune rather than isolate.

[Early B.]

I wish I had just gone for the better wires sooner, instead of wasting money buying lesser cables.

This is the most important statement in the entire thread.

[R. Daneel]

Bryston XLR........very good indeed!

They are made by Van Damme - the same I mentioned in my previous post.

[paleo12]

Choose something with minimal capacitance.

A thing to keep in mind is that there are two basic variants of balanced cables - twisted pair (2-conductor cable) and star-qiad (4-conductor cable). The former is typically less immune to interference but generally has lower capacitance. It is the opposite for the latter.

In a typical HI-FI / AV setup, there is really no need to use a star-quad cable. They are also less flexible and therefore more difficult to manage. Star-quad is typically more suited for professional use, live and in a studio, where additional protection against interference typically produced by power lines and lighting systems can add up to audible noise with long cable runs. That's probably not you so I'd use a high-quality twisted pair variant.

In no particular order, some examples of these are:

Van Damme Tour Grade Classic XKE Microphone cable - extremely flexible and generally an excellent value at 2€/meter

Mogami W2549 - lowest capacitance of any balanced cables that I know of but less flexible than the Van Damme, shielding effectiveness is comparable to the Van Damme and it is a good value at 4€/meter

Belden 1800F - somewhat stiff but has a very good performance overally, also suitable for AES/EBU digital standard because of it's 110 Ohm chracterstic impedance, difficult to obtain in my area

You will not go wrong with any of these. Remember that one of the benefits of having separate mono block amplifiers is to have a longer run of cable between the preamp and the power amp so that the speaker cable can be as short as possible as this is where capacitance becomes less important and resistance becomes more important. Shorter cable means lower resistance.

There are no secrets here. Electricity is something that we do know a great deal about and have known it for many years so you need to be as sensible as possible when choosing cables.

This, however, does not mean I am against all and every commercial cable out there. I am only recommending what I am familiar with. For example, QED and Atlas make some nice-looking cables and the manufacturers do specify some of their electrical and mechanical characteristics so if you're into that sort of a thing, by all means. But they will cost more.

Hope this helps.

Cheers - Antun

It does, thanks.  I think the cables you mention are available in the UK.

[paleo12]

I have owned my BP26 for over ten years. Ditto the 4BSST².I have used a variety of wires, settling in Kimber KS1116. Five years ago when I bought them it cost $3200 US for seven meter set.
I also use other Kimber KS series Wires in my setup.
I wish I had just gone for the better wires sooner, instead of wasting money buying lesser cables.
The main strengths of the KS series are better mids and Bass with greater definition, and greater HF clarity.
Since wires are such a personal thing, Room acoustics, your own preferences, the way the speakers sound in your room... I doubt any recommendation of any kind can actually be of real help.
But good luck on your search.
PS other things I found to add the last percents of amazing sound were Furutech AC outlets, and experimenting with exotic wood footers/ under equipment stuff to tune rather than isolate.

Thanks, that's very interesting, as you have the same amps I have at the moment.  I had a look at this Kimber cable, which is actually available in the UK.  It costs £1,080 for 1 metre at present, so it is beyond my budget.  Possibly something to keep in mind for the future though.

[ragg987]

I use 9m of home made mogami w2549 with neutrik connectors between my SP3 and 4Bsst. This is low capacitance wire, works great. I have compared to 2 purchased brands, one Pro audio and the other much more expensive hifi cable.

UK supplier here, sensible prices https://www.designacable.com/mogami-w2549-low-capacitance-balanced-cable-neutrik-gold-xlr-to-xlr-mic-lead.html

[Twiga]

Is it possible to order Bryston digital interconnect cables from the website? It isn't obvious from the website. Or does one also have to purchase cables from a Bryston authorized dealer? 

[paleo12]

I use 9m of home made mogami w2549 with neutrik connectors between my SP3 and 4Bsst. This is low capacitance wire, works great. I have compared to 2 purchased brands, one Pro audio and the other much more expensive hifi cable.

UK supplier here, sensible prices https://www.designacable.com/mogami-w2549-low-capacitance-balanced-cable-neutrik-gold-xlr-to-xlr-mic-lead.html

Thanks, that's a useful supplier

[James Tanner]

Is it possible to order Bryston digital interconnect cables from the website? It isn't obvious from the website. Or does one also have to purchase cables from a Bryston authorized dealer? 

Hi

You could order directly from us but due to poor sales of cables over the past few years we are not really offering cables any longer.

james

[G E]

Some folks hear tonality differences between cables and others don’t.

Before you spend a lot of money see if your dealer will loan you several different pairs to evaluate.

Or at least offer a money back guarantee.

Here in The States there is a company that makes it easy to do this online.

I had RadioShack Gold interconnects and lamp cord wire for speaker connections for years.

A low end Monster Cable speaker connect opened my ears

As your system’s resolving power and speed improves, cables become more important to get the most out of it

I’ve had Blue Jeans LC-1 ICs, lots of various levels of Morrow cables including “6” and Elite Grand Reference speaker. I now have Black Cat 32xx series throughout my system. All copper. 16 foot xlr run between preamp and bryston mono blocks.

They cleaned up the Morrow’s slightly slurred high end, added additional detail but play with a sense of ease. The background is “blacker” due to lower noise. There is no loss of speed or PRAT. And this with their second to the bottom of the line cables.


Oh, and if your system is up to it, power cables are a beautiful investment. I was strongly in the non believer camp, but putting Cardas Clear beyond on my 28’s was not a subtle improvement.  It was a eyes bug open jaw dropping moment … in a good way

Do try before you buy.  If it doesn’t move the needle much than just get well built jobs that maintain a solid connection.

But the most important step before you drop a bundle on cables is to get your acoustic space dialed in with absorption panels, bass traps and diffusers. Until that happens you are wasting time and money. This will, by far, give you the most bang for your buck.

[R. Daneel]

It does, thanks.  I think the cables you mention are available in the UK.

Yes, they should be. Van Damme is a manufacturer based in England, even though most of it's cables are made in Italy. Mogami is made in Japan and I am not certain as to the origin of Belden.

Cheers - Antun

[Twiga]

I am assuming that the only difference between Mogami 2549 and Mogami 2534 Neglex is that the 2549 is two conductor and the 2534 is quad-core? I am only looking at a six-foot length, so I suspect that the additional isolation isn't required.

Also, if one is looking at balanced cables, how can a balanced signal be carried with only two conductors. I would have thought that at least three (corresponding to the three pins of the connector) would have been required. (Obviously I am no electronics expert!).

I am considering the Mogami brand: https://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Microphone-XLR-Female-Gold-Connectors/dp/B0002E1P2Q/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Mogami%2BGold%2BSTUDIO-06%2BXLR%2BMicrophone%2BCable%2C%2BXLR-Female%2Bto%2BXLR-Male%2C%2B3-Pin%2C%2BGold%2BContacts%2C%2BStraight%2BConnectors%2C%2B6%2BFoot&qid=1637089179&qsid=132-9998512-7449154&sr=8-2&sres=B0002E1P2Q%2CB0010CFQRE%2CB0002N5MX0%2CB0010H88OM%2CB0002E2908%2CB09799FTJH%2CB00P0HKW7E%2CB00VFGUCHY%2CB0002E28ZE%2CB00B7LQJEC%2CB00VFGVNDQ%2CB0979BW8D8%2CB0010CDSOM%2CB08NC1NR92%2CB011187URA%2CB01DTZGTNE%2CB00JFEK8RC%2CB0979DNDY5%2CB00JFEK2I2%2CB00VFH0N5Y&srpt=ELECTRONIC_CABLE&th=1

versus the "World's Best Cable" brand:

https://www.amazon.com/Mogami-Microphone-XLR-Female-Gold-Connectors/dp/B0002E1P2Q/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Mogami%2BGold%2BSTUDIO-06%2BXLR%2BMicrophone%2BCable%2C%2BXLR-Female%2Bto%2BXLR-Male%2C%2B3-Pin%2C%2BGold%2BContacts%2C%2BStraight%2BConnectors%2C%2B6%2BFoot&qid=1637089179&qsid=132-9998512-7449154&sr=8-2&sres=B0002E1P2Q%2CB0010CFQRE%2CB0002N5MX0%2CB0010H88OM%2CB0002E2908%2CB09799FTJH%2CB00P0HKW7E%2CB00VFGUCHY%2CB0002E28ZE%2CB00B7LQJEC%2CB00VFGVNDQ%2CB0979BW8D8%2CB0010CDSOM%2CB08NC1NR92%2CB011187URA%2CB01DTZGTNE%2CB00JFEK8RC%2CB0979DNDY5%2CB00JFEK2I2%2CB00VFH0N5Y&srpt=ELECTRONIC_CABLE&th=1

Can anybody offer any comments?

Thanks.

Twiga

[sfraser]

I currently use the Monoprice XLR's (primecable in Canada) . I have them installed between an Outlaw pre-pro and Bryston 4B's and 3B  & 2BLP's. I also use them between an Anthem AVM60 and Bryston 9BST. In a slightly different approach I have a couple of install's  interconnecting  Pi/HiFiBerry DAC's directly to Crown XLS series amps. Cable length is 3-6', construction appears robust, and the system is dead quiet. I am particularly impressed with the Anthem/9BST configuration which sounds amazing.

Cheers,

Scott

[NekoAudio]

Also, if one is looking at balanced cables, how can a balanced signal be carried with only two conductors. I would have thought that at least three (corresponding to the three pins of the connector) would have been required. (Obviously I am no electronics expert!).

The cable shield can be connected to the ground pin/signal. But technically you only need two conductors for a balanced connection since the signal is a differential between the two conductors and ground is not needed as a reference point.

[acadie_bazz]

I use Cardas Clear balanced (4 M) between my Bryston 4B3 and 7B3 ( using another brand amplifier but considering getting 28B3).

I’m lucky to have the same audio dealer for the last 25 yrs, he always gave the opportunity to try cables at home. I wish a cable like a Mogami would be at the same level sound wise, but in my system it was not the case.

The linestage is a Purity Audio Design Statement.

It is what works for the individual, that’s the main thing.