Cable confusion


Help. Am replacing my system after 30 years. (Former system Pioneer integrated amp, Alison One Speakers, Thorens turntable, nice stuff in its day). Have chosen speakers - Wilson Audio Watt Puppies 5.1 (got a great price used); BAT Preamp; Sim Audio W-3 amp, CD player TBD (maybe a Sim or a BAT). Hard enough sorting through all these possible choices. Now I have to pick speakers cables and interconnects (interconnects need to be balanced because BAT and Sim amp are balanced). 30 years ago store would just throw cables and interconnects in. If you had driven a particularly hard bargain they'd charge you $10.00 for a 50' spool of copper wire. Now people are paying $1,000 for speaker cable (Geez my Alison Ones, which were considered fairly high end speakers at the time cost less than that). Interconnects can be equally expensive. Silver? Copper? Titanium? Read all the hype and it sounds like, if you make the wrong choice your $20,000 system ends up sounding like a transistor radio. I just want a decent speaker cable and the necessary interconnects that won't sound like crap and will cost under $1,000 for the whole shebang. Am willing to buy used or demos if it will save me some money. Can anyone help me out here? Just want a cables and interconnects that isn't going to change the sound of my pretty expensive components. Isn't that the whole point?
houndog1

Showing 1 response by eagle

Houndog:"My general approach to purchases is to buy quality once and then stick with it, rather than buying something that's less expensive and then upgrading every few years."

I generally agree with that, except I have found "less expensive" is not always lower quality when it comes to audio cables. It has been my experience that the $80/8'pair Speltz Anti-Cables speaker cables sound better in my system than an $1100, and other highly regarded and well known cables have. This same experience has been shared by others, on this forum and in emails, when comparing the same and other higher priced cables with the Speltz Anti-Cables.

There may be other great cable values out there, like the Speltz Anti-Cables, and now the new Anti-Interconnects. Most come with a trial period. My advice would be to start with high value cables while you are experimenting with system setup, room placement for the speakers and room treatments for the acoustics before sinking hundreds of dollars into cables.