Interconnects: Ernst&Engbring 3-lead shielded microphone cable with the third lead as return for the shield or ground if used for balanced connection or DIN connectors with e.g. Naim equipment. This cable is used by Neumann and Rupert Neve and is intended for professional studio use. I have made interconnects with this cable that have proved to perform much better than cables costing over 40 times more per meter and at about $1.50/m it's a steal.
Speaker Cable: Klotz 1.5mm2 professional round speaker cable. Intended for stage monitors and similar use it is rugged and sounds fantastic for it's low price of about $2/m.
These are both no-nonsens professional cables that outperform many esoteric and expensive so called High End cables at a fraction of the price.
Another Speaker Cable that sounds much better than expected is Linn K20 / Naim Naca4 at about $8/m. It is however somewhat restrictive at the upper end of the spectrum so it's best suited for use with speakers and/or amps that sound a little too "bright". It is very musical and forgiving instead of being primarily analytical and transparent but it can remove unwanted harshness from some systems making the music more pleasant to listen to even if some details are lost in the process. Filtering out the nastiness it can sometimes be the right way to go... Please remember to connect it in the correct direction with the text on the cable originating at the speaker end as intended. It makes a small but noticeable difference.
As for Power Cables it is mostly the plugs that make a significant difference. Use good quality outlets and plugs. You can remove the connector all together on your equipment by soldering the cable directly into the unit or replace them with Neutrik PowerCon connectors. I live in Europe and our 240V Shuko wall outlets are much better than the US 110V outlets. If I lived in the US I would replace that end with PowerCon as well. If you want to be able to hot-swap PowerCon use the more expensive black and yellow type rather than the cheaper blue and grey as they are not intended to be connected or disconnected when power is switched on. There are plenty of professional Power Distribution Units on the market that utilise PowerCon but you can easily build your own if you want to save a few bucks.
When it comes to SPDIF the main factor is NOT to use cables that are 1m in length! This results in jitter as reflections due to impedance mismatching arrives just when the next bit is to be detected. Use either very short cables, 75cm cables or cables at least 1.5m but NEVER 1m cables! 1m 75ohm coax cables are intended for video, not audio, and should be avoided under all circumstances.
Speaker Cable: Klotz 1.5mm2 professional round speaker cable. Intended for stage monitors and similar use it is rugged and sounds fantastic for it's low price of about $2/m.
These are both no-nonsens professional cables that outperform many esoteric and expensive so called High End cables at a fraction of the price.
Another Speaker Cable that sounds much better than expected is Linn K20 / Naim Naca4 at about $8/m. It is however somewhat restrictive at the upper end of the spectrum so it's best suited for use with speakers and/or amps that sound a little too "bright". It is very musical and forgiving instead of being primarily analytical and transparent but it can remove unwanted harshness from some systems making the music more pleasant to listen to even if some details are lost in the process. Filtering out the nastiness it can sometimes be the right way to go... Please remember to connect it in the correct direction with the text on the cable originating at the speaker end as intended. It makes a small but noticeable difference.
As for Power Cables it is mostly the plugs that make a significant difference. Use good quality outlets and plugs. You can remove the connector all together on your equipment by soldering the cable directly into the unit or replace them with Neutrik PowerCon connectors. I live in Europe and our 240V Shuko wall outlets are much better than the US 110V outlets. If I lived in the US I would replace that end with PowerCon as well. If you want to be able to hot-swap PowerCon use the more expensive black and yellow type rather than the cheaper blue and grey as they are not intended to be connected or disconnected when power is switched on. There are plenty of professional Power Distribution Units on the market that utilise PowerCon but you can easily build your own if you want to save a few bucks.
When it comes to SPDIF the main factor is NOT to use cables that are 1m in length! This results in jitter as reflections due to impedance mismatching arrives just when the next bit is to be detected. Use either very short cables, 75cm cables or cables at least 1.5m but NEVER 1m cables! 1m 75ohm coax cables are intended for video, not audio, and should be avoided under all circumstances.