2. cables
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Speaker cable upgrade please help........

I am very happy with where my system is today but I still wonder if I am hearing everything it is capable of. Do the Audioquest cv-6 24dbs speaker cables I am using allow me to hear what my amplifier and source are capable of? I have coughed up the dough on some nice interconnects going between Acoustic Zen Silver Ref II and Audioquest Cheetah 36v dbs but have kept my speaker cables through several system upgrades. I love the sound I have now and wonder if a move into one of the following would provide much improvement. I am looking at the following: Audio Magic Sorcerer, Coincident TRS or TRS Extreme, Audioquest Mont Blanc or Volcano, Audience, others I should be considering? I have been hesitating on this upgrade because I know there are two schools on high end cables. I know of audiophiles who have $10k in speakers and really nice digital and amplifier and use home depot speaker cable. I also see those who go crazy and spend as much on cable as on the components upstream. Thanks for your much needed help.
nicksgem10s

Showing 2 responses by tommywall

tommywall
23 posts
 
Hi Nick,

Of your list, the only cable that I have passing acquaintance with is the Audio Magic Sorceror. As far as I can tell, it is the only ribbon-conductor cable on your list.

Regardless of your other choices, I'd definitely recommend trying at least one ribbon-based speaker cable set- in my evaluations, the difference between a ribbon-based cable and everything else was dramatic.

There has been a lot of substantial discussion about why ribbon-based speaker cables are different, both here and on AA- Unfortunately, the relevant threads tend to get trolled pretty badly, so a little patience is needed to dig out the good stuff.

A (non-comprehensive) list of manufacturers of ribbon-based speaker cables:

Alpha Core
Audio Magic
Magnan
Pure Note
Silversmith
Stealth

I'll point you toward a recent thread where a lot of cable design issues got addressed- it should get you started in backtracking to other discussions, should you be so inclined:

cable thread

Also, the most authoritative article on signal propagation theory I've found is here (.pdf format):

Hawksford Essex Echo

The article explains Malcolm Hawksford's theory of how cable design and signal propagation interact. It turns out that a ribbon geometry is one good solution to the signal distortion issues he discusses.

All FYI and FWIW only,

Good Luck,

tommywall
23 posts
 
Oops.

For whatever reason, the Audiogon formatting system messes with the Hawksford Essex Echo paper url in the previous post. Here it is for cutting and pasting:

www.essex.ac.uk/ese/research/audio_lab/malcolmspubdocs/G3%20HFN%20Essex_Echo_(cables_1985).pdf

Cheers,
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