Far too many full-moons ago, with my first high end system, going from Lamp Cord, to Monster, then Kimber speaker cables was an enlightening process.
Recently, because my speaker cables developed an intermittent short, we grabbed those ancient Kimber’s ( I think they were 4-PR’s) a few weeks ago, to use burning-in a new pair of Soundlab Majestic 845 full-range electrostatic speakers. Whether those old Kimber’s were too lengthy, or simply damaged because of the 100’s of times they had been coiled, uncoiled and abused, they were much less than good.
Because of the L.C.R. values mentioned by Andrew, I happened across cables with specs appropriate for my stats. I bought them from Frank, of Signal Cable (http://www.signalcable.com/. I opted for his “most pricey” “Silver Resolution” pair. Beginning at $289 a pair, pricey they are, when compared to his lessor other two models. But they are pretty darn inexpensive in my book. So far, without comparing them to anything else and with the new speakers replacing a previous Soundlab pair, they’re sounding fantastic. When price is factored in…well, what’s not to like!?! The cables I compared them to only with memory, were Synergistic Research wires that approx.15 years ago, cost around $6k. I wouldn’t pay anything like that for speaker cables in 2008, let alone now. But after the deal was made for a used pair of CAT JL3 monoblocks, they were just thrown-in, probably because they were only 1M and they weren’t worth much in resale.
Cables are system dependent, much like everything matters in this hobby. For example, electrostatic speakers are obviously quite different from cones and domes. Disregarding other components in the chain, because one cable works on one speaker, one can’t infer they will do so on a different speaker, let alone speakers with different technologies. So, shopping for cables based on brands, while utilizing other’s results, may be better than throwing darts at a dart board littered with the names of cable companies, but I wonder how much. Nevertheless, we do need a place or two to being, don’t we?
For the direct connection between my Rossini and Atma-sphere MA-1 OTL amps, I’m using some XLR’s furnished by my amp manufacturer Ralph Karsten. Based on posts, my guess is they are a studio based cable like the aforementioned Canare or Mogami. As the Signal’s, my out-of-pocket was very minimal for Ralph’s preference. And as with both cables, I thought they would be good starting points for auditioning – i.e., if I found something more to my liking, no regrets on the funds already spent. I certainly won’t find anything for much less.
Speaking of Ralph Karsten, he has mentioned in forum posts, cable differences should be at worst, minimal, when connecting **properly designed balanced" components. He only designs balanced equipment, so that tends to confirm his contention. Not having auditioned different XLR’s with my present speaker and amp combo, I can’t confirm or deny. My intention is do some comparisons, so time will tell. But as I mentioned previously in this thread, cable auditioning is one of this hobby’s necessities that I dislike the most.
Because I recently moved from a Lampizator Golden Gate DAC to dCS, my next step, is to trial power cables on the Rossini. I know Shunyata will be one that will be in the mix. I’ve seen the mention of others, here and there. But if you have found a PC that just works on your dCS pieces and is a “giant killer” around or preferably below $1K, please advise.
