[werd]

Trackball

I am the kind of guy that would spend money on cabling and we are talking more then 200 bucks for a mtr. But i am also realistic and i would never recommend pricey cables  to you since the way i look at cables took awhile to develop. You may not see the benefits as i do at this point. The best cables for you are probably the Blue Jean brand. They seem to do pretty good around here and they are not expensive. Get those in your system, and then if you have a chance later on you can play with different brands. You might find that  there is something you like about them... or not.

[jhm731]

Take look at:

http://www.groverhuffman.com/home

[rpf]

I agree Blue Jean makes a good inexpensive cable but I prefer Signal Cable's  Analog Two with Eichmann bullet plugs (disclosure: I have one of my two pairs up for sale). Not much more than the Blue Jean and well within your budget.

And connector plating does make a sonic difference. I like gold for it's warmth. I find silver too dry sounding and forward.

[davidrs]

David, my original budget was up to $200 for a 1 m interconnect. Sounds like it might be too much. I would rather apply the amount to a new DAC and music, etc.

Tell me more about terminations, is there a sonic difference from gold plated, copper and silver, etc?

I do believe cables make significant contributions towards achieving the sound quality and performance goals that work for you.

Having said that, one does not have to spend boatloads to make that happen.

Since you are starting out, I would take small steps and see what you hear and experience and end up preferring. The process takes time and I'd recommend enjoying the journey.

All of us can really only tell you what has worked for us. So it comes down to personal trial and your making the right decisions once you know what your goals and objectives are, and what's the best way to achieve the synergy within your system to get there.

At this point I would be more concerned about the type of core wiring used: copper, vs silver coated copper, vs silver vs. whether the return wiring is the same or different --- than the termination plating.

In addition to the brands mentioned by other members, also take a look at:

Audio Art, Supra, DH Labs, MAC, LAT etc. All have product available within your budget. If you go the used route you will be able to walk up their product ladder by a rung or two for these brands, and still be within your budget.

- David.

[avahifi]

Avoid overly stiff cables and those with locking clamping fittings.

Stiff cables can pop out of their connection jacks and cause damage to the equipment.

Clamping jacks allow you to actually twist RCA jacks off of some chassis.  Not a musical improvement.

Avoid large space lugs for speaker wire terminations.  Too often use of a pipe wrench to tighten these results in speaker jacks broken off.  Dual banana plugs (Pomona brand recommended) are the most reliable and easiest to use speaker wire connections.

Otherwise decide if you would rather spend money on cables or on source material.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

P.S.  My entire cable connection probably costs under $100 and most of that is for overpriced HDMI cables.  If you absolutely have to pay more than you would at Radio Shack, consider Bluejeans cables.  At least these are built to good real engineering standards.

[trackball02]

I appreciate everyone’s helpful comments.
A few questions based on previous comments:
Signal Cable also has Silver Resolution cables, is there any advantage over Analog 2 in my application?
Capacitance of 12pf per foot? I never heard that one before. When shopping for cables, is there a range that is acceptable?

The bottom line…….I think that I’ll go with Bluejeans, get a set, try them, and hopefully don’t look back.

[pansixt]

I use Kimber PBJ IC's between a Mac C28 preamp and MR78 Tuner and from preamp to ST70. And Kimber 8TC speaker wire that I bought used in 1989 I think. 50 feet for 50 bucks. Couldn't beat the price. And pretty good cable, even now. Takes a lickin.
If I were starting now, I would call BlueJeans. I am sure I would get the same or better sound. IMO.
Today I received my AVA Vision DAC into which I run a Bluejeans Coax and LC 1's from the DAC to the Preamp.
Some tracks with the DAC made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It sounds that good. The DAC is amazing.
Now I need the ST70 upgraded. But I'm just gonna listen for a while first.
Thanks Frank and Associates. Thanks.
And as for Bluejeans Cables, they are made to order, no frills, no nonsense, non-Boutique, clean, clear amazing musicality.
And___ Well, enough said.
James
 

[modular747]

Werd is right. That kind of hyperbole can diminish all the sound opinions you are getting.

No, not hyperbole.  You really should see what the cost of bulk cable is, including the most "exotic" types (none of which is actually manufactured by the "high end" audio cable makers anyway).  Labor and termination costs are nowhere near what is being charged, and are fixed for any set of cables, regardless of length, yet the price is quoted per foot or meter.

Anyway you calculate it, the markup is at least 1000 - 10000% for a great deal of what is sold as "audiophile" wires.

[pansixt]

I should have added that IMO (and that's a humble opinion), the best termination is no termination.
Just bare cable. Of course some speakers or components won't accept this. But if this is an option,
why not try this first.
James

[modular747]

And connector plating does make a sonic difference. I like gold for it's warmth. I find silver too dry sounding and forward.

Yes, that is true only when the listener knows what the connector is.  Never when blinded by any method.

The one thing that is certain is that people often hear what they expect and want to hear - not just with music but with language as well...

[jrtrent]

I’m soon to be a proud owner of an Avastar and Ultravalve, which is replacing my Linn Classik integrated CD receiver. Right now, my only RCA interconnects are those throw aways that come with my TV and DVD player and are nothing special.

The throwaways are likely just fine.  I'm using interconnects I picked up at a hardware store for a few bucks.

I think you'll be very happy with your AVA stuff.  I went solid state and have an OmegaStar PAT-5 and Insight 240 (compact chassis) which replaced a Linn LK1/LK2 combination.  I've been very pleased with the sound I'm getting.

[stereocilia]

It's hard to beat bluejeans cables LC-1 interconnects:

great shielding, great construction, no nonsense, prices are low compared to audiophile standards, and best of all you can order the length you need.

http://bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm

[modular747]

At this point I would be more concerned about the type of core wiring used: copper, vs silver coated copper, vs silver vs. whether the return wiring is the same or different --- than the termination plating.

The only difference between pure copper and pure silver wire (neither oxidized) is 7% less resistance for silver, for the same diameter.  Thus for the same gage, a 100 foot silver wire has the same resistance/impedance as 93 feet of copper.

FIY, there is no such thing as "return wiring."  The 2 conductors in a standard speaker wire are in series.  The thing to look out for is to make sure the wires to both speakers are the same gage, composition and length.

[JLM]

I'm another old audio fart that won't spend thousands for wiring, various supports, or other tweaks.  I use Kimber PBJ and Element Cable (like Signal/Blue Jean) on my secondary and HT systems, but have moved to all custom cabling by Scott Endler (great quality, extremely reasonable prices):

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze4c5pt/

[mca]

Take a look at Virtue Audio cables, there is a great new review over at Stereomojo.com. Another great choice is Reality Cable, plenty of info can be found on them on this site.

[pansixt]

Nice site MCA. Thanks for the link. 
Hey Frank, you should maybe talk to your web guy. Scantily clad women are a good draw.

[simon wagstaff]

I know what all is written on the net and Frank's opinion is well known about cables and I respect that. However, in my experience cables can make a significant improvement in sound. I picked up some Audioquest colorado interconnects and CV8 speaker cables on E-bay and the difference was really surprising, though I tried hard not to hear it, as of course it can't possibly exist.



I picked mine up on E-bay from a seller in Hong Kong, price was most reasonable and though some might think they are counterfeits near as I can tell, and from the feedback, these are legit cables, probably straight from the factory but not in the complete packaging.

VERY happy with them, sort of the icing on the cake.

[oneinthepipe]

RAM Electronics makes custom-sized cables and is less expensive than BJC on specific products (Belden).  They also have a larger variety of connectors, IIRC, and I have found delivery to be faster.   They also sell a lot of other stuff, which can reduce shipping costs, which has been lower than BJC.  I use cables from both vendors but will also consider the above-posted recommendations.

Happy Valentine's Day.   

[davidrs]

FIY, there is no such thing as "return wiring."  The 2 conductors in a standard speaker wire are in series.  The thing to look out for is to make sure the wires to both speakers are the same gage, composition and length.

Per trackball's original post,  Interconnects (and not speaker wire) are what is being discussed and is what I commented on.

Trackball:

The 'return leg' is another term for the negative run or the ground wire. Some Interconnect manufacturers offer slightly different compositions between the positive and negative wires. To their ears and to the ears of many listening to these cables, the different compositions do and can impact sound quality in positive ways for these individuals.

- David.

[Wayner]

I appreciate everyone’s helpful comments.
A few questions based on previous comments:
Signal Cable also has Silver Resolution cables, is there any advantage over Analog 2 in my application?
Capacitance of 12pf per foot? I never heard that one before. When shopping for cables, is there a range that is acceptable?

The bottom line…….I think that I’ll go with Bluejeans, get a set, try them, and hopefully don’t look back.

pf stands for Pico Farads and is a capacitance rating. The big problem in cable design is coming up with some cables that don't hose up the signal. High capacitance cables will start to alter the high end of the frequencies as the pf rating goes up. There are also other concerns, but less impactful like resistance and inductance.

So as an example, if you bought some Bluejeans 1 meter cables, they will have about 36pf for the cable and perhaps another 7pf per RCA jack, giving you a cable that has about 50pf rating. I know this to be true, as I have a meter that can measure capacitance down to the Pico Farad zone and have measured a set of Bluejeans and the value is indeed 50pf. A comparable cable from another major cable maker was 175pf for the same length. A picofarad is one trillionth (10^-12) of a farad.

Wayner