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Thread: What type of cable has the biggest impact on SQ?

  1. #11
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Seaton, Devon, UK

    Posts: 13,239
    I'm Adrian.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stereosane View Post
    That is a tuff one.. I found the most significant change was using the same brand of cable for all three which gave me the most noticeable improvement, I guess there’s a synergy when using the same brand.

    Best is to lend a few cables and play around.
    Completely agree, I did the same and also had a few demo cables, I have ended up with a mix, but found Chord for speakers and Ecosse for interconnects suit me best.
    Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.

    Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner

    Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive

    Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp

    Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones

    Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links


    I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.

  2. #12
    Join Date: Jul 2013

    Location: Kingsbury, NW London

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    I'm Clive.

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    Thanks guys for all your answers. Some of you may have misunderstood my intention.

    If I asked what has the biggest impact to SQ between speakers or amplifiers, which would you buy 1st. I’m deliberately not asking about source as that would invariably open a can of worms. I would hope I’ve made my self a little bit clearer.
    SOURCE:OPPO UDP-205 BluRay, SkyQ, Technics SL1210M5G/HexMat Eclipse/MN Bearing/Origin Live Gravity One puck/Isonoes with Boots/Jelco TK-850S Tonearm/Hana Umami Blue, PS Audio Stellar Phonostage. I also have an AT-OC9XSH as a spare cartridge.
    AMPLIFIER: Bryston BR-20 Pre/DAC/Streamer & Bryston 4B3 Power Amplifier
    SPEAKERS: Spendor D7 on Iso-Acoustics Gaia III’s
    HEADPHONES: OPPO PM-1 with Atlas Zeno cable, B&W Pi7 S2 and B&W C5 v2.
    CABLES: Analogue: Speaker Atlas Mavros Grun. Interconnect - Atlas Mavros XLR x3, MCRU Silver Tonearm cable
    Digital:Audioquest Carbon Ethernet x 4, Audioquest Carbon digital, English Electric 8Switch, Chord Optichord, Atlas Optical.
    Mains: PS Audio Perfectwave AC-05 x 5, Isol-8 Powerline Extreme with Quantum Science yellow fuse on input cable, Sounds Fantastic 6way Mains Blocks.
    STORAGE: Synology DS216J NAS with 2 x 3Tb WD Red hard-drives. Samsung 500Gb SSD.
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  3. #13
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

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    I'm Neil.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Clive197 View Post
    Thanks guys for all your answers. Some of you may have misunderstood my intention.

    If I asked what has the biggest impact to SQ between speakers or amplifiers, which would you buy 1st. I’m deliberately not asking about source as that would invariably open a can of worms. I would hope I’ve made my self a little bit clearer.
    I’d buy speaker cable first, because I have been able to spot differences more readily.
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  4. #14
    Join Date: Apr 2016

    Location: Bishops Stortford

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    I'm Chris.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stereosane View Post
    That is a tuff one.. I found the most significant change was using the same brand of cable for all three which gave me the most noticeable improvement, I guess there’s a synergy when using the same brand.

    Best is to lend a few cables and play around.
    If you cant hear improvements by changing things like mains cables, then I would start changing components.
    Source
    SW1X Universal Music Server UMS I Signature with Power Supply Unit PSU I Signature
    SW1X USB II
    SW1X DAC III Special
    Audiolab 6000 CDT transport
    Amps
    Pre amps -- Hi fi Collective twin mono ladder stepped attenuator, with Charcroft Z-foil and silver wired. And First Watt B1 active no gain buffer.
    Power amps -- Welborne 45 SET monoblocks 1.8W / Decware Taboo 6W / Elekit 300B TU-8600SVK plus further improved components 9W / ICE Power 1000W
    Speakers
    Highly modified Endorphin P17 open baffle speakers containing both vintage and modern alnico drivers and paper cones. All silver wired - 8" Cube Audio FC8 full range drivers and vintage 15" Altec VOTT 416 bass drivers. All sat on Townsend Audio Podium seismic isolation platforms.
    BK Electronics XLS400FF Sub.
    Cabling
    Silver mains cables, interconnects and speaker cables by SW1X
    Headphones
    HRT HeadStreamer and SennHeiser HD650 headphones

  5. #15
    Join Date: Apr 2008

    Location: Warrington

    Posts: 3,451
    I'm Neil.

    Default What type of cable has the biggest impact on SQ?

    Blind testing is a good idea too. Not some horrible group ABX session with unfamiliar gear, but single component changes. I know subjectivists can pooh pooh it but it’s very interesting, for example, running 2x identical transports & CDs with different cables, and flipping between the two with your DAC’s source selector, or preamp if using the analogue outs. This was very very eye opening for me.

    I had no issues, for example, in spotting the differences between Tellurium Q Black speaker cable, and my LFD Hybrid Ribbon cable. I also experienced a strange brightness when using a power cable, which I swapped out and alleviated the issue. Am not saying this stuff doesn’t make a difference...
    Mana Acoustics Racks / Bright Star IsoNodes Decoupling >> Allo DigiOne Player >> Pedja Rogic's Audial Model S DAC + Pioneer PL-71 turntable / Vista Audio phono-1 mk II / Denon PCL-5 headshell / Reson Reca >> LFD DLS >> LFD PA2M (SE) >> Royd RR3s.

  6. #16
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

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    Weirdly, a new perspective for me, HDMI cables used for i2s connection have a bigger impact on subjective sound quality swapping between them than any other bit of wire that I've tried.
    Over the years I've tried a lot of different interconnects, speaker cables, power cables, DC cables from power supplies...all made a difference, but I'm hearing more variance swapping between HDMI cables running i2s.

    Mad as it sounds, that's what I'm hearing.
    Fascinating.

    Clive,
    between speaker cable and interconnects I'd go with speaker cable.
    The boxes that produce the sound are the most important factor for me, and getting the "speaker output" right (speaker+cable=synergy) makes the biggest impact in my experience.
    Room > Speaker > amp > source IMO
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  7. #17
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Valley of the Hazels

    Posts: 9,139
    I'm AMusicFanNotAnAudiophile.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gazjam View Post
    I'm hearing more variance swapping between HDMI cables running i2s
    That's probably because I2S was never intended to have 1m plus cables connected between digital and analogue stages.
    It's intended for internal use over millimetres between adjacent ICs on a PCB.
    Chris



    Common sense isn't anymore!

  8. #18
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stratmangler View Post
    That's probably because I2S was never intended to have 1m plus cables connected between digital and analogue stages.
    It's intended for internal use over millimetres between adjacent ICs on a PCB.
    Your right Chris.
    0.3m Wireworld Platinum Starlight I think, toast n beans for another couple of months.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  9. #19
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Valley of the Hazels

    Posts: 9,139
    I'm AMusicFanNotAnAudiophile.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gazjam View Post
    Your right Chris.
    0.3m Wireworld Platinum Starlight I think, toast n beans for another couple of months.
    Cheapskate!
    That's only £470.00 more than I'd consider using
    Chris



    Common sense isn't anymore!

  10. #20
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,656
    I'm Gary.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stratmangler View Post
    Cheapskate!
    That's only £470.00 more than I'd consider using
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

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