Audioquest Makenzie XLRs


I have the opportunity to purchase Audioquest cables at approx 40% below retail... 

I cant spend hundreds or thousands on cables.

Is there a better XLR cable for the money at the price point of $110 a pair than the Audioquest Makenzie?  110 is my cost.  Next up the line in AQ more than doubles my cost.... cant swing that much on ICs.

Gear consists of Marantz 7704, ATI 1807 Amp, B&W CDM 9NTs.
Not high end by any means but it's far better than what I had.

So .... is there a better cable for the money?
Seems AQ Makenzie is well reviewed and well designed.

Thoughts? Comments?  Assistance and advice is appreciated.
lightfighter2018

Showing 2 responses by bdp24

@lightfighter2018, if both your source and your amp conform to the AES standard, you should not have to switch your speaker cables. If either doesn’t, you won’t get the full benefit of balanced connection even if you use XLR connections. In that case, I would have cables made that do the Pin switching for you, rather than switching at the speakers. Take Five Audio in Ontario, Canada will build then for you, and their prices are reasonable.

The professional balanced/XLR pin arrangement in the U.S.A. adheres to AES File 48:

Pin 1: Ground

Pin 2: Non-inverted signal

Pin 3: Inverted signal

That is how all pro equipment is wired (as well as consumer electronics designed by engineers who wish to conform to that standard, such as Atma-Sphere's Ralph Karsten, Music Reference's Roger Modjeski, and EAR-Yoshino's Tim de Paravicini), and how all pro audio cables are terminated.

In Europe, pins 2 & 3 are reversed.