Speaker cables from same brand as interconnects?


Many of the fellow audiophiles say in one's system speakers cables should be from the same brand as the interconnects. In my opinion this is not often the case. It is true that many cable brands have their own "house sound", so certain sonic characterics apply for both the interconnects and speaker cables. But one has to realize that they should have other properties as well as they are meant to carry different kind of electrical signals (voltage based vs current based electrical signals). In my case I'm using Cardas Golden Reference speaker cables and pure silver interconnect cables (Wireworld Gold Eclipse) because I feel these are the strategic places these cables can offer the most sonic benefit. I think the same theory holds true for power cords and digital interconnects. What do you think?

Chris
dazzdax

Showing 2 responses by jwpstayman

Hey guys - ease UP a bit on the critique! I said BASIC RULE OF THUMB it's best not to mix silver and copper conductors in the same system. Of course there are exceptions - I use Siltech (silver and gold) along with Nirvana interconnects and PAD speaker cables,in my own system BUT - I have the luxury of being able to try virtually anything that I want to whenever I want to. How many audiophiles can do that? That's why this is a guideline (which is what a basic rule of thumb is) and not a rule.
Sean - transfer speed of an analog audio cable has to do with ALL of the factors in the cable- overall design, conductor materials( and size, shape, and number of conductors, etc), dielectic material and location of same relative to conductors. Transfer speed is the rate at which a signal in the audio frequency domain travels from one end to another end of a cable ( or some could argue, between two components). I was trying to keeping my comments more on the general vein for those people sincerely interested in getting good, useful, practical, EXPERIENCED advice on this subject.
Chazzbo - your idea has very little merit. Cable shootouts only produce valuable results IF:
- you happen to have the same components as the reviewer(s)
- you happen to share the same listening preferences (acoustical presentation) as the reviewer(s)
- you happen to have the same room acoustics as the reviewer(s)
- you happen to share the same taste in music as the reviewer(s)

Otherwise what you "wish" would happen is a waste of time for all concerned. I would rather wish that someone would come up with a set of measurements/electrical characteristics that might HELP in determining how a particular cable might sound, BUT - this has yet to happen with components, so I am not holding my breath.

Back to the thread at hand - I have the luxury of being able to test an almost endless array of cables in my system in a controlled manner, so my cables are matched to the system rather than each other. This works great for ME, but is probably not the best approach for everyone else ( that doesn't have the access to so many cables to test). SOME cables are best when used throughout like Virtual Dynamics, JPS Labs, MIT, Transparent, and a few others that slip my mind at the moment. The basic rule of thumb is to stay with cables that have the same relative transfer speed, ie - do not mix silver and copper signal cables in the same system. Use your ears as the guideline, and try as many cables as you can before making any purchase decisions. Have FUN!