AU24 speaker cable is extremely good in my experience and well regarded. Very well balanced cable, in terms of sound. (Red Dawn by contrast would be leaner, perhaps faster). AU 24 Seems to be holding it's resale value. Looks great too!
Art |
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I switched from Quadlink to Au24 speaker cable last year. The biggest difference was the bass. With the Au24 the bass was faster, tighter, and less bloated. The high end was more extended and the overall sound was more integrated. It was a good and worthwile upgrade. I tried the Au24 in my friends system, replacing Cardas Golden Cross speaker cables. He has Bryston amps and pre and Muse digital front end with Golden Cross interconnects and Vienna Acoustics Mahlers. The same changes in the bass and top end were there but in this case it was just different and not so much an improvement. He prefered the Cardas and I liked the Audience. I think that the Audience speaker cable worked well with the Cardas interconnects, I do like the Cardas sound but I can't afford the price of the higher quality Cardas cables. |
Red Dawn is clearly inferior to Au24 in all respects. Au24 is a reference quality wire; Red Dawn is not. Actually Au24 has a much more "natural" and "musical" character than Valhalla in a high resolution system and can be fatiguing. |
Correction to my previous post. Valhalla can be fatiguing not Au24. Sorry to all and especially my English teachers who did their best considering what they had to work with. :-) |
the audience au24 is a very, very good cable and sounds even better when combined with the power cords... hence, would also suggest upgrading your power cords if you havent done it yet(it is a night and day difference)
the real question is how will it sound in your system.. |
I have tried about everything out there in my system and now use Au24 on my main 2-channel system. Their PowerChords compliment the Au24 very nicely. The Au24 is hard to beat in my opinion.
Chris |
IME, AU24's and Pure Note Paragons are top cables in my system especially for the money. YMMV. |
Thanks so much for all the inputs, I really appreciate it. Once again, thanks so much.
I really could not wait to try them out!! |
Hi Stanhifi,
I just realized you compare AU24 with THE Valhalla...mmm..is it one of the best reference speaker cables of most audiophilers...wow. If the AU24 is that good, it's one of the most worth-it-to-buy cables then.
To Mikesinger,
I will upgrade the power Chords later when I am ready... I think there are a lot of option to start an upgrade; the old Krell KSA250, SFL-2, or AudioNote DAC2.
To Desmondjim,
I hope teh AU24 will do the same in my system. Can't imagine such a thin cable can make that much diffrences.
To Art, Jayctoy, the kid, and Eddykale
Thanks so much for the inputs. |
i would not underate the importance of power cords... they are just as important as interconnects and speaker cables...
it is really hard to audition cables without them...i went through 10 different speaker cables and 6 sets of interconnects till i auditioned the audience power cables with my classe cam monos and ap libra speakers....needless to say i bought them for my system. |
>>they are just as important as interconnects and speaker cables...<<
I respectfully disagree with you. Whereas I do not discount the importance of power cords (there are significant differences among them) the signal carrying wires have had a much bigger impact in every system I've owned. Just my $02. |
signal wires do have a big impact...however, going from cardas power cables to audience was pretty much at the same level as a interconnect change (in my system).... |
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Adinata,
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I would suggest getting one power cord (used) either Audience or BMI Shark or Whale Supreme (not regular whales) and roll it around your system. A good power cord can make an enormous difference if it is the right one for your system.
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I would not argue the value of power cords over interconnects. Both are critical to great sound. See if you can manage one used power cord now (better used, they are broken in).
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Do count on anything from 200 - 1,000 hours (my experience) for break-in on both power cords and interconnects. Power Cords took longer in my system.
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Let us know what you do and how you make out.
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Rgds,
Larry
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Power cords take significantly fewer hours to break in than signal carrying wires. No power cord in the world takes anywhere near 1000 hours. |
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Wcmustang,
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You have a habit of speaking about subjects you do not know about.
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Here's a simple question for you. Have you listened to every power cord in the world and carefully listened to it on a high resolution system when it passed 1,000 hours ?
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>>You have a habit of speaking about subjects you do not know about.<<
Quite the contrary my friend; let me enlighten you a little bit. Here is a quote from the Stealth Audio website. Remember these are the engineeer/owner's comments not mine:
"99% of all cables, ours and others, require about TWO days of initial break-in after the installation to show their overall, general "sound character"; before that time, some harshness, upper-midrange "brightness" or "glare" (typical not only for pure silver cables "out of the box", but other cables types, too) might be heard. For approximately 7 to 10 days after the initial break-in, sound becomes progressively smoother and more natural. In general, in two weeks after the installation, cables are ready for critical listening. Sometimes it takes longer. In general, more advanced, sophisticated and complex cable designs take longer to break in than simpler cables. Please note that in order to perform their best, our cables should be broken-in on the very same system with the very same components used for critical listening! If a cable is disconnected or used with other components, it might be necessary - for the best sound - to let it "settle" in the system again at least for a few hours - before critical listening. According to our point of view on the break-in process in cables, it mostly deals with the "ground potential differences" in the components used - that's why I recommend to break in the cables with the same components that will be used for critical listening. It may sound funny, but cables do break in ( a bit more slowly) with just equipment in "on" position (powered) even with no music or any signal passing through!... So, it's not strictly necessary to play something all the time. Just keep your equipment "on" and play something once in a while... If you wish, you can even leave tubes in "stand by" position (with partial anode voltage applied - if you have this mode...
So even if you go an extra 4 days beyond the 10 days as noted, that takes you up to 336 hours, far less than the 1000 hours you alluded to. I would tend to believe an electrical engineer/owner/designer before a mid-fi wannabee. It is you sir who does not know what he is talking about.
I accept your apology however for your erroneous characterization of my knowledge. I'm sure you just didn't know the facts. |
I've owned a ton of pc's during my 40+ years in this crazy hobby and none has come even close to taking 1000 hours for a full break in. My experience is that very very few cords are performing at less than their "peak" after 200-300 hours. I've probably owned more cords than most of the younger folks here but also humble enough to say there are many I've not heard. Just my $.02. Thank you. |
Gentlemen,
With all due respect to the power cord issue I think the ship is a little off course here. Hope I don't get dumped on for pointing this out. |
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Judy,
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No problem in jumping in. I started out just trying to help a fellow Audiogoner understand that power Cords were also a very important part of getting a system to produce its best sound. It is not my wish to hi-jack the thread, just help others with my own experience in the hopes that they can get the most enjoyment out of their systems.
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WcMustang,
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My comment about speaking about what you know and dont know comes from my assumption that you could not have possibly critically listened to every power cord ever made for 1,000 hours as it broke in. I though it to be a reasonable assumption and I took exception to my post in that you were either saying that I did not know what I was talking about or lying. If that assumption is wrong, then I apologize.
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A power cord can absolutely take 1,000 hours to break in. I along with a friend, critically listened to a power cord every Sunday morning for 7 weeks starting with a brand new PC and listening to the same music on the same system that was run 24/7 with the CD player on repeat during that whole 7 week period. We listened to 6 different pieces of music that ranged greatly from Female vocalists to Classical.
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My system had been stable for quite some time with no changes in components or tweaks made prior to doing the break-in testing on the Power Cord and there were no changes made whatsoever in the system during those 7 weeks.
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There were quite audible changes (all for the better) every Sunday for 6 weeks (which is 1,008 hours) until the 7th week when we could no longer hear any changes / improvements.
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My system is quite resolving and the changes were easy to hear. Only at the end of the 6th week, did we find that the changes were more towards subtle and in week 7 the break-in finally seemed to be over.
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My friend Pat and I were as surprised each week as anyone would be to continue to hear changes for so many hours. Since those trials, I have found that break-ins quite often take longer than manufacturers suggest.
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I would also like to suggest that you re-read your own post where the engineer/ owner of Stealth says:
In general, in two weeks after the installation, cables are ready for critical listening. Sometimes it takes longer. In general, more advanced sophisticated and complex cable designs take longer to break in than simpler cables.
He states that in two weeks after installation, cables are ready for critical listening. He does not state that they are completely broken in. He also goes on to state the complex designs take longer to break in than simpler cables.
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I am not out to pick a fight with you, but I did take exception to what I considered you taking a shot at me. I did not feel that you had the basis to make your statement of No power cord in the world takes anywhere near 1000 hours statement since logically you and no one has heard every power cord in the world break in for 1,000 consecutive hours.
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My system is far from Mid-fi and neither is my listening ability. I have gone through several power cords and this one power cord was the only cord that took anywhere near the 1,000 hours that this one did, but it did take the full 1,000 hours.
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We are probably not so far apart on our views of music and systems and I suggest that we explore our likes rather than our disagreements. I am always trying to learn more about our great hobby and feel the need to share with others so that their path to audio Nirvana is as short as possible.
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Rgds,
Larry
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Do old (used) cables deteriorate in the ability to produce good sounds? or it does not make a difference buying old used cables? Please advise. |
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Setiawansr,
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I think that power cords in general only improve with age and also with not being moved around once they get in place and settled in your system. I find that moving power cords temporarily degrades the sonics, but it returns once the power cord settles back in again.
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Power Cords, ICs, and Speaker Cables do benefit from having the connectors cleaned periodically to improve conductivity. Most people that have tried like the benefits derived from using products such as Quicksilver and Walker Audio Silver paste applications.
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Other than possible wear from handling and wires/plug connections working loose, I can not see any negatives in 20-30 year old cables.
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Some users of "Cable Cooker" and like products claim that re-cooking every 6 months or so enhances the performance of Interconnects, Speaker Cables, Phono Cables and Power Cords.
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I hope that helps.
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Rgds,
Larry |
It was as a speaker cable that the Au24 really shown. Brian Damkroger actually preferred the Au24 to his reference Valhalla in terms of tonal balance, imaging, resolution of inner detail, and sound staging."
Stereophile Recommended Components April 04 - (Vol.25 No.8 WWW)
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Beware ... There are fake copies of Au24 cables coming out of Singapore.
For more information, call John at Audience. 760-720-9611 |
Yikes! Fakes?
But I have to agree with everyone who chimed in tate the Audience PCs and cables are very well balanced and a bargain to boot. |
I don't think there are fakes. But there are certainly similar cables circling in Singapore Audio communities. They are probably Mogami 2804 for speaker cable and 2803 for interconnects. A lot of people claim they are similar to Audience in construction, some even dump their Audience for these.... :) I have a pair and I think worth every single penny. Cheers.
http://www.mogami-wire.co.jp/sales/neglex/2804.html
http://www.mogami-wire.co.jp/sales/neglex/2803.html |
I'd certainly like to know which PC took 1000 hrs. to come around; if only to avoid it like the plauge. |
Atjandra888, what did you choose for speakercable? Powercords(s)? ...and why?
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