OK I'm sold on interconnects, now speaker cable?


I just hooked up a pair of Audioquest Blue Racer interconnects from my Cambridge Audio 740 C to my Mcintosh MA 6500 and WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Much better treble, and bass, and overall a richer, fuller sound. New to all this and happy to learn.

Next question is what speaker cable to move to for the B&W 683 floorstanders within the same system. Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Michael
michaeld53
I've owned several sets of B&W speakers. They love Transparent speaker cables. Lots of price points. All of them are great performers. Pick you level of price pain and jump. You won't regret it.
I'd second Imin2u's statement. I have B&W 602 S3 speakers (last year's large standmounts) and have found different speaker cables - even switching from copper to silver - made little discernable difference.

I like my 602's, but I believe the 600 series B&W's are simply not resolving enough to warrant large expenditure on cabling; don't buy anything you can't return or sell!
Heard that the Van Damme speaker cables are inexpensive but perform way beyond their price! Bryston uses these cables which says a lot! I am using Auditorium 23 SC (which cost me a bomb even tho' it was 2ndhand). Will try the Van Damme cables sometime soon!
I second the Clear Day Cables solid core speaker cables.
Great bang for the buck.
I just got a pair of Clear Day Solid Core. They only have about 20 hours on them so far and I'm really pleased with them. He is also a great guy to deal with.
Try Audioquest Type 4 speaker cable in bulk. Terminate yourself or leave raw cable ends and twist together. $4/ft and sounds very good once it has run in for a while (breakin key for this AQ wire). Kimber in bulk is another good choice. I like both of these bulk cables because you are paying for the wire and dialectric and not fancy packaging or connectors.

Or, check out these discontinued AQ cables from HCM Audio:

http://hcmaudio.com/comp.asp?compID=61
RUN!!! DON'T WALK!!!

I'm not sold on the speaker cable thing yet and I have 3 pair that total over $1000
best cable line--hands down--'transparant'. i found the cardas 'quad model' matches great with b&W
FWIW, synergy seems to be the most critical thing with cables.
If you like the your Audioquest cables between your cdp and amp it's likely you'll like the matching Audioquest speaker cable.

Having said that, I tried some really inexpensive cables for my 2nd system that I made following the directions at
http://6moons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html
Are they the ultimate cable? No, but inexpensive and surprisingly good. Try 'em.

btw I was happy with the above mentioned Kimber 8tc for a long time so that's another way you might go.

Last, I currently have a set of Crystal Cable Micro cables and a set of JPS Superconductor3 cables for my McIntosh system. Both are good but different -- the CC more neutral, the JPS more "lively". Either sounds best as a complete set.
Synergy.
Hello Michael,
I had good luck running Kimber to my 801's for years. I then switched over to MIT-770 with good results.
Synergistic makes cables for the B&W line of speaker. I have not owned them in my systems but have heard them many times with B&W speakers and the sound was above average.
It's the last link in the system to get music. There are many many good cables out there from very expensive to less expensive. See if you can get your audio dealer or the Cable Co. or a friend to let you audition different cables. As always new cables can sound hard and bright until they are broken in. A good set of cable can stay with your system for many years as you upgrade or change out the front end or amps or speakers.
Good luck in your pursuit of musical enjoyment.
Joe Nies