[Roger A. Modjeski]

Just tell the truth about what you have bought and how it has performed. If we get enough votes and comments I'll tell you what I think is good and bad in popular cables. With encouragement I might even name some names of the most foolish makers you should avoid.

[Russell Dawkins]

I must admit the only time I have heard a surprising difference between analog cables was between some conventional "good" cables (like low-end Monster) and some 6-nines silver cables a customer (and cable maker) brought in to our store back in 1993. I believe they were litz-like in construction, but were not shielded. I think they had some fancy dielectric intended to come close to air in performance.

We demo'd them to visiting dealers in an AB set up and most of them thought we were cheating by having attenuation on the other pairs, or that plus a capacitor across the other pairs, since by comparison their highs were slightly rolled and they definitely sounded less dynamic and lower in level in a significant way.

That was the first time I had such an unmistakable difference demonstrated to me. Unfortunately, enough wire to replace my microphone cables would have cost much more than my microphone and I could not justify it. As it was my 35' pair going to my main mics cost me $700 in materials - 3rd down from the best Monster microphone cable available at the time.

My ideal interconnect would be silver, I guess, low capacitance, flexible, cotton or silk insulated, shielded (which implies large diameter, given my low capacitance requirement)  and less than $5 a foot, so I could use it in 50' runs for mic cable.

By the way, it is possible to choose only one criterion in your survey. Is this intended?

[Roger A. Modjeski]

Hi, Russell,

Thanks for your reply. I just changed the poll so you can vote for as many things as you want. I'm new to polling, just getting my feet wet.

[parr3n1]

Hi Roger,
Looking forward to your views on interconnects.
Nice to see your participation again.
Happy Holidays

[Photon46]

This will be interesting. I've not been one to spend too much time flitting from one cable to another, but over the years I've used a few that struck me as good values. I used Music Metre's Calibres in my system for many years and they struck me as very good "do no harm" sort of signal conduits. I experimented with others after that and nothing struck me as a real serious improvement although I did end up using Signal Cable's Silver Reference as they possessed a slight bit more clarity  than the Calibres. It wasn't until I tried the Luminous Audio Synchestra Reference that I heard a higher dollar (to my budgetary standards) interconnect that brought something to the party that made my ears stand up. I don't have any problems with errant CB radio operators or such, so the unshielded design of the Synchestras works fine for me. Obviously, that wouldn't be the case for everyone. Interestingly, the only other interconnect that sounded almost as good to me is the cheapest interconnect I ever used, an unshielded homemade silver wire, 3M packing tape, and Switchcraft RCA recipe that was detailed in a Soundstage column years ago. The magnet wire version sounded almost as good.
http://www.soundstage.com/synergize/synergize021998.htm

[rockadanny]

Best interconnect I've used on my system is built with minimal proper stranded wire guage, with minimal inductance (most important), though capacitance is also low, and it is not shielded (<$1k). Second best has been ultra low mass and shielded (<$200), so I wonder how much better it might have been unshielded.

[Russell Dawkins]

I should add that if I had the time to experiment (which I don't) I would look into the unshielded option, and into the effect of highly polished surfaces on the conductor(s) carrying the signal. Denis Morecroft has done some significant and early research in this general field which has led him in the direction of using a single conductor of the smallest practical diameter to do the job, as well as non-metallic enclosures for his amplifiers.

[jamesgarvin]

My system comprises largely Audioquest cabling that I have purchased with pretty good deals over the years. Whereas I can generally remember the model numbers of my audio equipment, I could not swear to the model designations of the cables. Type IV for speaker cables, that much I know. I generally get the cables priced at between $50.00 to $125.00 a meter.

My first cable was an inexpensive Kimber which replaced garden variety radio shack cable. I felt it offered a dramatic improvement. Then I purchased the Audioquest, and I thought it a very modest improvement over the Kimber.

I was at an audiofest last year and a cable manufacturer did a comparative listening session of three of his cables, in ascending price. My wife and I preferred option number two, but there was not a dramatic difference between the three to my ears. We raised our hands supporting option two. We were told that option three was the best cable. It was the most expensive, naturally.

Judged by the lack of raised hands in the room, the other attendees were either unwilling to commit to their favorite, or failed to hear any differences. My philosophy on cables is that they make a difference to a point, but that not nearly to the degree as the other components in the system, and that they are entirely system dependent. I don't want to disparage the segment of the industry, but I suspect there is more tom foolery going on in cable manufacture than any other part of the audio industry.

[DustyC]

After playing around with some different brands I decided to replace all my interconnect with a DIY coax with Belden 85259 and some DH Labs RCA's. Spending thousands on wire just didn't make sense to me. 

[rbwalt]

the best interconnects and speaker wire i have had in my system so far is the Cardas Clear.It is not cheap but there is allot more expensive stuff out there. just remember God does not will the signal!!

rob.

[Clio09]

I too have traveled the cable merry-go-round and it was a very expensive lesson. Today my favorite interconnect cables use a Litz geometry and I can recall a time about 5 years ago someone told me this was a very good means to construct a cable (low capacitance, good noise suppression) and actually used a Litz design in building his cables (his initials are RAM;).Too bad it took me so long too figure it out for myself. These days I use Q-Audio and Decware cables, one copper Litz the other silver, both unshielded, and both under $325/meter. I also like Mogami Neglex Studio Gold between my preamp and amp as the added shielding helps.

So for me, something with a Litz geometry in choice of conductor flavors and shielding options would suffice. Under $300/meter would be nice too and of course low capacitance.

[Speedskater]

By interconnects, do we mean:

Un-balanced analog interconnects?

As balanced analog and digital both un-balanced & balanced have other parameters.

[BobRex]

How to vote, how to vote....

Let's see, I've heard cables that fell into all of the price ranges and I'd say that for a large commercial offering (Kimber, AQ, Nordost...) while there is a point of diminishing returns, there is also something to some of the expensive offerings, I guess it depends upon the resolution of the system.  So not gonna vote for the prices.

Construction is a different story - low cap, generally good, although I've hears some really good higher cap cables (again system dependent.)  Flexibility and robust construction should be a given, but like all assumptions..... 

Now the exotic materials idea is rather ummm, unique.  Silver? Gold? Platinum? Teflon? Kapton? What defines exotic?  Right now I'm using Grover cables, these are a silver and copper mix.  I've heard good things about the Crystal cables, as well as KCIs, both of which use gold, so who knows?? 

Maybe you should also add a questions regarding a consistent "loom" or mixing cables.

[Sense63]

The best interconnect I've heard so far, is the Crimson cable interconnect which is manufactured in England.  It's not cheap, but it's not expensive either.  ($360 1M)  It's the one that seems to do everything right.  Many may not have heard of the company as they have a sparse dealer network in the US, but when I introduced the interconnects and speaker cable into my system, it made a huge difference on every level.

Roger, I'm very interested in which cables/manufacturers you think are not worth the money.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[parr3n1]

I went to the Crimson website and I find it interesting that the interconnects are described like every other interconnect out there. There is no capacitance figure or any other info to make it different than all the rest of the interconnects being marketed. More info would be beneficial.

[schw06]

Since it has been more than a month since this thread started, I am hoping Roger will chime in on his original promise and share his knowledge with us.
David

[Sense63]

I went to the Crimson website and I find it interesting that the interconnects are described like every other interconnect out there. There is no capacitance figure or any other info to make it different than all the rest of the interconnects being marketed. More info would be beneficial.

I'm not trying to promote the Crimson audio cable, but did want to give you a place to get more info.  The US importer for Crimson is Austin Hifi.  If you look them up, talk to Creston as he's the one who knows everything about these cables.

[Wind Chaser]

The only criteria I have for judging ICs is what my ears hear.  I really don't care about anything else except the price.  I have owned expensive silver ICs with very low capacitance only to find a copper cable with significantly more capacitance and cheap Switchcraft plugs that has far greater clarity and transient attack.