I find it rather disturbing that it seems all right for some people to give cables from Cardas, Nordost, Siltech etc their endorsement, but it's not all right to say the same for a company that charges a reasonable price for their goods?
I have used a lot of cables over the years, from Cardas, Shunyata, Harmonic Tech,Blue Circle,MIT,Transparent to name a few.
All were good, all were more expensive than the Clear day.
Some systems were mix and match, Cardas IC and Blue Circle speaker and other combinations.
The Clear Day speaker wire was auditioned and it was a definite improvement to what I was using, the much praised and cheap Home depot wire.
I was using Shunyata Aries IC or Cardas Golden Ref from my cd player to my amp.
Good sound with either of them, but when I tried the Clear Day IC, everything pulled together.
Since I didn't have any Shunyata or Cardas golden ref speaker wire I only can state my experience with the Clear day pairing.
I would assume similar results however in a same brand pairing of IC and speaker wire.
The Clear day cable pairing has given me the most homogenous sound yet from my system,I like the tone the solid silver wire brings to my system that other cables at more cost failed to do.
Stranded wire cables have always had a fuzzines in the upper treble area that I never felt was worth the extra bass that they can deliver.
I would think that a forum is supposed to be about sharing experiences, both positive and negative and to stir interest to or avoidance of products one has hands on experience with.
If you haven't tried "a" how can you have an opinion? |
Well I used to be a firm believer in seasoning the taste of my system with mix and match cables.
The cables as tone control type that some here seem to feel is the path to sonic nirvana.
Been there, done that, have a box full of cables, cheap to expensive that I have collected in the 35 years at this hobby.
Are you surprised, did you think I was newbie?
Just to this site not to the hobby.
Got a moving coil cartridge that is tipped up in the treble?
Use some Cardas IC to tame it down.
Got a tape deck that is a little bland sounding? Spice it up and go with some PBJ and add some zip.
It is unfortunate that all components do not sound the same from system and room to room.
It would then be very easy to just wire the rig up with the cables that came in the box and be done with it.
As I am sure there are many in this site who laugh at all the ink spilled over cable debates.
The point that I was trying to make was that in my situation with the cables that I most recently tried,it was the first time that all the components jelled together.
I never felt the need to add more or less of anything.
I would probably say the same if I had a full set of Kubala Sosna, or Nordost.Maybe not.I would have to try those cables,as others would have to try my cables to really be able to express an opinion.
But I didn't have any of the really expensive above mentioned cables lying about. I just had the Clear Day.
It was reasonably priced and seemed to do the things in my system that the big boy cables are said to do in the big boy systems that I have read about.
If I bruised a few of the egos of the big boy crowd, sorry about that.
I hope I have "hammered home" my views about cable synergy and "nailed" it for those who didn't understand the first time around. |
Maybe I should be more specific about what I am trying to describe and submit a theory I have about what I think is going on in my system.
A few years ago I used all Cardas Gold Hex 5c in a syatem composed or Sonic Frontier electronics and Mirage M3si speakers.Nice sound, but sometimes A different IC could change what I felt was too much of a good thing.
Later I had Atmasphere MP3 and S30 power amp driving stacked Quad 57's.I used a custom made Canare wire system, all balance XLR IC using Canare wire and Canare speaker wire.Again I felt the need to play around with wire as tone controls.
Another system with Martin Logan CLS11z,Classe DR 8 mono blocks, and Blue Circle BC3 Galatea mk11 pre and Shunyata Aries IC and Orion speaker wire.I felt the need to play around with different IC to tune the system.
The system that I have now is a pair of Tannoy Arden, Red Dragon power amps and Audio Aero cd/pre.
I use the Clear day balanced IC and their speaker wire.
The sound with the Clear day is more cohehrent than when I used the Shunyata or my Cardas Golden Ref IC.
Before I tried the Clear day IC I liked the extra crispness of the shunyata and other times I lked the darker tones of the Cardas.
Now on to my theory.
All the cables except the Clear day are constructed differently.The wire content and strand count is different from IC and speaker wires.
By that I mean that the Cardas IC use different guages of wire and purity and geometry than the Cardas speaker wire.
You can see that the speaker wire is much thicker.
It is the same story with most cable companies.
The IC and the speaker wire are not identical in construction, content or strand count.
The Clear Day IC is made from the same wire as the speaker.
Each solid core strand is identical in constuction and content.
This I feel, is why I think my system sounds more like it is one component than a series of components.
Yes I have substituted the Cardas and Shunyata and everytime I preferred the Clear day IC.
So IMOP, even if you are using all the cables from the same company,there is a lot of variation going on in the structure and content of those cables.
And if some think those things don't alter the sound of things, then why do people feel the need to mix and match? |
All power cords are Shunyata Annaconda Helix vx.
Dedicated 30 amp line into a Furman IT 1220.
A Hydra 2 for the power amps.
The last two( or the first two, depending on how you look at it)wires are my Ic and speaker wires,my speaker wires are soldered direct to the Tannoy crossover,but a captive wire of unknown quality takes the signal to the tweeter and woofer sections.
Cable debates go on forever, I'm not trying to change anyones mindset.
You believe what you believe and experience what you experience.
My experience is that the sound is more unified with the new cable runs,why this is so is just speculation on my part.But that's just human nature, trying to understand why.
But it is rather more common sense than theory to assume that if two wires are of identical contruction and material that they will share similar sonic characteristics.
More similar than cables made from unlike substances,designs and wire thicknesses.
In my universe I believe all cables have their own Sound,all wires have their own sonic characteristics.
To avoid all the sonic variables inherent in mix and match,it makes sense to me to keep as much of the wiring the same.
To rewire my whole system and hardwire everything with the same exact wire,from panel to driver would be the ultimate fruition of this. |
I have no affiliation with clear day.
I live in Canada, and found out about clear day cables on this site in a cable thread.
There was alot of good words spread about Morrow and Speltz cables.But they aren't solid core silver.
I had been using Goertz fine silver speaker wire the type Gizmo used on his Tannoy's.
Yes there is something to be said about mix and match.
Seems like silver is a good match with Tannoys, and is used in a lot of amplifiers from Audio Note Japan and is the preferred choice of transformer wire.But I digress and once again have to prove my intentions are nothing more than to explain my experience with a run of wires from the same company.
What sets the clear day cables apart from other cables that I have used such as all Cardas Golden Hex 5c IC's and speaker wires, all canare wired, all Harmonic Tech pro silway and Shunyata ic and speaker wires is that the solid core silver wire in the speaker cable and the IC is exactly the same, not pairs of twisted cables of different guages and geometries as is the case with cables from other companies.
Could this consistency of construction be the reason why I find this combination to be the least intrusive cables I have owned?
I don't know.But as far as I know, no one else goes down this road other than clear day.
They are the least expensive run of wires that I have owned that get out of the way of the music and don't colour it as other cables I have used.
Maybe the clear day are coloured, but it's a colouration that suits my system better than other cables that I have used.
Like I said I haven't tried the Kubala, or synergistic or siltech(my friend loves them on his Sonus Faber Strad set up)or Cystal, Indra stealth... etc.
I can only relate my experience with cables that I have experience with.
If some find something sinister about that then perhaps they had better check under their beds at nite.
My intent of this post was to find out if others in this hobby have had similar experiences with cable synergy.
Not to stir a hornet's nest.
Leave that for those who feel all cables sound the same. |
Perhaps I was a little too defensive,but I have a sore spot when it comes to questioning my intentions and experience.
I totally agree, assembling music reproducing systems is not rocket science.
It is more of an art.
Anyone who assembles a system using text book formula or flavour of the month components has no guarantee of achieving good sound either.
Some people never become musicians, some become very good at what they do, others are true artists.
It takes more than luck and more than just following the charts.
It takes hard work, skill, patience and a desire to strive for perfection.
To me that is what it takes to assemble a good(not expensive) sounding system.
You also have to have access to hearing a great many very good systems.Knowing what real instruments sound like up close and personal also helps big time.
You have to have evolved and matured in what sound you are going for.
Then you go about finding the pieces that work together that give you that sound.
It takes years and numerous "this is the last ....I will buy" trial and error combinations.
The more you are exposed to better gear the more you hear the limitations in your "best sound ever" component.
Your tastes evolve.
Not just in gear but in the reason we all got into this hobby, the music.
To me, it is when the components and in my case, the wires, just disappear.
The Clear day combination of balanced IC and speaker cable works in my system better than anything before it.
I am not naive to think that they can't be bettered.
That was someonelse's asumption.
There was a time when I thought my CLS 11z speakers were about the best sounding stats I had heard.
Then I heard another audiophiles Soundlab Ultimates, and realized I was nowhere near the sound they could provide.
Maybe ignorance is bliss.
I know it sure saves you money.
Recently I was also very impressed with the new Martin Logan CLX.
So if they are in my future maybe the Clear day cables won't do the things that they do on my Tannoys.
It is all mix and match, but it is nice to be able to bring a little continuity to the proceedings and ease the variable factor. |
But what if I change speakers?
If I were to upgrade to the CLX,which after owning Quads and CLS for years are high on my wish list, would these wires be the best choice?
Maybe something like Kubala would be the order of the day.
My ride on the cable merry go round was never in the big leagues, but I have heard what some of the better cables can do.
I have heard how the Sonus Strad can be made to sound even more like music less like a speaker when my friend moved up the siltech line.
If I had it to do it over I would spend for the best cabling and then upgrade components later.
I always felt a new amp or speaker would be the answer,when all along it was because the sound of the gear was being compromised by the cabling.
New amp, and six months later want another new amp.
The only things I kept constant were the cables, and that's what I should have changed.
Cables always seem to be suspect to claims of snake oil and price gouging, and I admit that's what kept me from playing with the big boys.
But when you hear what some of them can do with good gear not just great gear, it starts to make sense.
It's a great day when you can find some cables that don't cost a fortune that can improve your system and end the search. |
I just read a very interesting review of some cables by Steve Marsh at 6 moons.
I no longer feel all alone. |
