[mick wolfe]

Mick, what else have you tried besides the Clear Day cables?

Also, Clear Day no longer has a product page on Audiogon, and I would really like to see what I would be considering to purchase  from them or anyone. Is their another webpage for Clear Day?

I actually settled on the Clear Days when I was using Spendor 2/3s. The Clear Days replaced Harmonic Tech Pro 11s. Also in the mix at that time was AQ Type #4 and Mapleshade Single Helix. All were decent wires , but the Clear Day cables were the "clear" winner. Now I hasten to add that when the SongTowers arrived, I just continued using the Clear Day cables. As far as recent comparisons are concerned, I've used single, double and triple shotgun versions of this cable and concluded the best bang for the buck is the " Double Shotgun ".
Paul also runs an ad over at AudioAsylum , but I do believe his ads are still up at Audiogon. If you have trouble reaching him, just e-mail me at ( rosannmic@aol.com ).

[sanlanman]

Thanks Mick, You have definitely run some of the highly regarded cables through your system. I doubt I am going to that price level of cable any time soon. But, the itch may strike down the road.

Thanks everyone for all your input.

At this point, I think I may just start out with an economy speaker cable such as Blue Jeans Cable or Mogami, that is a step up from basic speaker wire, and live with that for a while until the V3s and the rest of the system are very familiar to me. Then I would likely start experimenting with other cable options. But I think there are probably some more equipment upgrades that need to be made before I take much action on listening to other cables.

[mick wolfe]

Actually the AQs and Mapleshades are fairly modest in price by today's standards. The HTs were the most expensive at around $400 yrs. ago when I bought them. The basic Clear Day Shotgun is under $200. Don't worry, there are plenty of good choices in ICs and speaker cable that won't break the bank.

[audiotom]

I'm using Acoustic Zen satori shotgun on my Veracity HT3's

great detail, warmth, holographic imaging etc
really bring out all the extra details the salks are capable of

you can usually pick these up on audiogon for $400-$500

I also use their matrix reference interconnects

well worth it


moscode 401hr amp / dodd battery powered preamp

[AliG]

Wow.... you have almost exactly the same thing as I have... twin brother?

I'm using Acoustic Zen satori shotgun on my Veracity HT3's

great detail, warmth, holographic imaging etc
really bring out all the extra details the salks are capable of

you can usually pick these up on audiogon for $400-$500

I also use their matrix reference interconnects

well worth it


moscode 401hr amp / dodd battery powered preamp

[audiotom]

yes, twin brother

[sanlanman]

Here is what I finally did. Put together my own speaker cables. Parts consist of:
1) 12 guage speaker cable (cable only) from Blue jeans cable
2) Cable Pants from PartsExpress.com
3) Spades and locking Banana Plugs from Orange County Speaker Repair website.

I have not hooked them up yet. My V3s are still in progress and stand a good chance of getting here around Christmas.
One day I may step up from these to something else if I am convinced that my hearing and my equipment level warrants doing so, or if I am just plain dissatisfied with these.

[funkmonkey]

Your cables look great sanlanman.  I am on a similar path.

My original plan was to get a length of wire from HomeDepot or Lowes and use it, I went to Home Depot looking for some 12/4 (12 awg / 4 conductor) in a black jacket .  They only had something close available by special order.  Lowes doesn't list anything comparable on their web site, so I didn't bother making that trip.  So, I figured that since I had to order what I wanted, I would make a set of cables that look as nice as the really expensive ones for just a couple of bucks more than the Home Depot solution.  I ordered some Canare 4S11 (from BlueJeans Cable)http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm and some expandable sleeving and heat shrink (from PartsExpress) http://www.parts-express.com/index.cfm and threw in a pair of automatic wire strippers to get the total high enough for free shipping.  The total cost, with shipping was about a dollar more than without the strippers, so those are basically a freebie.  I bought enough wire and sleeving to do two pairs (4 runs) of cable for my mains, and a shorty for my HTC.  That is enough for me to play around with bi-amping through a single cable, or two separate cable runs, or a single amp channel and stick with jumpers.  All that I will be gaining with the various possiblities would be effective cable thickness (and watts w/ bi-amp!!)...  single run bi-amped (14 gauge), single run with jumpers (11 gauge), double run bi-amped (11 guage to each pair of binding posts).  I'm not sure that any of the various scenarios will make a whit of difference, especially over a relatively short run (about 7', but I may make 9' cables for some adjustability).  If nothing else it will be fun to experiment.

[RPM123]

Curious... no one using Salk's cables? 

[yooper]

Curious... no one using Salk's cables? 

Salk cables?    I don't recall Jim making cables, although I could be wrong.

Mark

[funkmonkey]

I know Jim has made cables for at least one dude. (the guy that owned the HT3s that I auditioned told me that Jim made his cables for him).  Other than that, he lists some for sale on his website. http://www.salksound.com/cables.shtml

Not sure if Jim makes 'em or just brokers for Carl Smith.

[oneinthepipe]

I use monoprice 14/4 with bananas (covered in shrink wrap tubing), which I had used to bi-wire my previous speakers.  With the SongTower, two 14 gauge copper wires run from each amplifier terminal to each speaker post.  They are not particularly long runs, and I don't know if it would be better to use only one wire per terminal/post.

[jsalk]

Just a quick note on our speaker cable offerings.

A number of years ago, I met Carl Smith at a speaker gathering.  Carl spent his entire working career as a high-end cable designer/builder for Bell Labs.  The cables he developed had to be highly noise immune with tightly controlled capacitance and inductance.  He employed winding/braiding methods that are state-of-the-art. 

Carl's hobby is high-end audio and he spent several years researching the finest wire available world-wide.  After talking with him for an afternoon, I was convinced that Carl's cables employed the best methods and materials possible.  Since he was building his cables at the kitchen table, I volunteered to put them on my web site to help Carl develop his business.  I knew that if people wanted high-end cable, they were unlikely to find any that were superior in any way. 

At the same time, many of our customers did not want to spend the type of money required for Carl's cables.  So, upon request, we have built cables for some customers.  But it is not something that we have never promoted and you won't find them on our web site.

There are plenty of companies out there selling every conceivable type of inter-connect and speaker cable.  And people seem to have strong feelings about the subject matter.  So we feel we are better off leaving it to others to sort things out.  That said, if someone wants us to build speaker cables, we will do it.

Just for the record, unless the customer has a specific wire he or she feels strongly about, we use generic 12-gauge oxygen free copper wire in a TechFlex jacket and terminated with good, but moderately priced connectors.  These cables serve us well and we have no problem building them for others.

- Jim

[Russell Dawkins]

Usual Disclaimer
I do not intend to insult anyone who does have expensive cables or prefers expensive wine.  I only point this out because it is widely understood that differences in price have a genuine effect on people's perception of performance or quality.  Maybe something similar is going on in audio.

That's why we're thinking of raising the SongTower prices to around $50,000 per pair.  Then they would REALLY sound good!  aa

- Jim

Well, I'm sure there's more than a little truth in that!

[sanlanman]

FYI, Jim can now build anyone some cables using nice pro looking spades or locking banana plugs.

[fishinbob]

Old style Monster Z 2 for the Songs. Had it laying around the house and made use of it. Otherwise I wouldn't put my dollars into high-end cable upgrades at present.  10 ga. and fat, it lays on the floor real nice.

[Big Red Machine]

Fat isn't necessarily good.  Helix configs of multiple smaller gauges are usually more desireable from a noise and RLC perspective.

[fishinbob]

Fat isn't necessarily good.  Helix configs of multiple smaller gauges are usually more desireable from a noise and RLC perspective.

I was just pointing out the positive attributes that I actually realize.

[Big Red Machine]

Hopefully I'll never look like my avatar.  oops, too late.