Alpha Core Goertz......need recommendations

Before i run my mouth, which Perreaux amp do you have ? I have owned ( still own ) several different Perreaux's and am quite familiar with their tonal balance. I also own several different models of Goertz speaker cables and have opinions on those too. Then again as everyone knows, i have an opinion on EVERYTHING : )

Shoot us some specifics as to the amp model, the lengths for each run and where that length is going, etc... The only reason i say this is that the Goertz MAY not be optimum for this combo, depending on the specific amp that you have. Sean
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Here's a few observations based on my past experience. While i have not tried that specific combo of amps / speakers / cables, you might find it of some use.

The reason that i asked about which Perreaux amp is in use is as follows. The 2150's that i've had personal experience with were noticeably leaner than the 3150's and amps produced after that point. While i remembered the 2150's as having tremendous bass capabilities when they first came out, more recent exposure to them has somewhat altered that opinion. Since Goertz cables tend to sound somewhat warm and smooth, this might actually tend to help you out somewhat. If you had a 3150 or later series of Perreaux amp, i would have said that Goertz might give you too much of a good thing i.e. overpowering bottom end.

For the record, the only cables that i've ever found that REALLY altered the sound of the bigger and newer Perreaux's were YBA Diamond speaker cables. This produced a MUCH more open sound than i had ever heard these amps produce. At the same time, it also thinned out the bottom end. Other than the YBA's, i think that the Perreaux's are not very speaker cable sensitive and tend to be extremely consistent in terms of tonal balance / performance into various loads.

Having said that, i PERSONALLY prefer MI-2's over MI-3's in almost every aspect of performance. Never played with the AG series silver cables, but i've been told that they work best with "tubey" sounding tube amps. Probably restores some of the top end that seems to get eaten up with all of the "romantic warmth" that they tend to generate. I would not put ARC amps into the "warm and mushy" tube category though, so you might be better off with their copper cables.

My biggest concern with your situation is how to stabilize the woofer amp. I also recommend the use of an impedance compensation network ( zobel ) when using Goertz cables. As you probably know, using these with wide bandwidth amps can send the amp into oscillation. The zobels are typically placed in parallel across the speakers binding posts. Since you have two runs of cable ( one from amp to crossover, the other from crossover to speakers ), how would you work that out ? Would you need one at the input to the crossover and another at the speaker input terminals or just one at the crossover or just one at the speaker ? I would contact both Goertz and the Cable Company and compare the notes that you get from both sources. While Goertz may make the cables, i think that the Cable Company probably works closer with the end user. As such, they might have acquired a greater amount and more in-depth customer feedback.

If you are working with the Cable Company, you might want to see if you can pick up some Nordost cables also. I think that they are also good cables, but present the music from a slightly different perspective. As you know, cables are both system dependent and up to personal preference. If you don't like one, you'll probably like the other. I'd be interested to see where you end up on this specific journey though. Sean
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The Micropurl interconnects are not that high in capacitance even though the design looks somewhat similar to their speaker cable design. They took this into account when designing them. That is why they have the "extra" third conductor in them. The placement of this "dead" conductor increases inductance, bringing the cables much closer to what one would expect from "normal" interconnects. This also adds some versatility to these cables, as they can easily be converted from a two conductor RCA cable to a three conductor balanced cable.

Awdeeofyle, were you using impedance compensation networks with the Goertz when you ran them ? What you describe sounds like an amp on the edge of oscillation i.e. lack of clarity and focus. When an amp goes into oscillation, you see that type of "image" on a scope. While you can see the "correct" or "primary" image, it is floating in a haze of oscillation. It looks fuzzy, lacks detail and definition and is nowhere near as clean or pure as it should be. Once the oscillation is removed and stability restored to the circuit, the clarity and focus are back to what they should have been to begin with.

The reason that i said it sounded like your specific amp was on the edge of oscillation is that you would have smelled it cooking itself to death if it was in "hardcore" oscillation. The smell of "burnt electronics" is unmistakable. Due to differences in design and bandwidth, some amps are more stable than others. As such, some will self destruct while others will not flinch in the same exact situation.

The bottom line is system synergy and personal preference. Since we are the ones that have to live with and listen to our systems, we might as well make ourselves happy as best we can. Go with what you like, regardless of brand or cost. That is why i have several different brands of cables in several different systems. There is no one cable that is universally the "best" in my opinion. Sean
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