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Final Report, Canare 4S11 Speaker Cable

I posted this in the original thread yesterday, but it is so buried that unless you were following it, you would never see it.  At the end I will add a few more comments.   

This is the final report on the Canare 4S11 cables.  I let the 25 foot pair break in on my secondary system for almost 19 days 24/7.  At the 445 hour mark, I reinserted them into my main system.  I first removed the $1500.00 Groneberg Quattro Reference speaker cables and coiled them up under the floor in case I decided to go back to them. After my son helped me install the Canare cables (I had to make larger holes in the floor for the banana plugs to fit) and routing them perfectly, I am happy to say my system now sounds much better.  I no longer have the softness in highs I had with the Groneberg cable and the bass is tighter and deeper.  I was always under the impression that the higher the price, the better the cable.  The fact that a $130.00 pair of speaker cables bested a $1500.00 pair should be a lesson for everyone regarding price VS performance.    Now I have the Canare in both of my systems and I am one happy audiophile. 

A few more thoughts:    The cables sounded good when brand new with a slightly ragged treble and loose bass. I was told it could take up to 500 hours to fully break in.  For myself, I did not hear any changes after the 300 hour mark.  I let the cables cook longer than planned because I needed help from my son as i had to drill larger holes in the floor to account for the locking banana plugs.  My son lives in another state so I had to wait for him. The construction of the terminated cables is as good as many of the more costly brands.  I purchased 2 pairs of these cables in 15 foot and 25 foot pairs.    My secondary system now has the 15 foot cables back and I am continuing to break them in as I removed them from the system at the 250 hour mark.   A lot of people bash McIntosh but my McIntosh MA6600 integrated amp and McIntosh tuner never failed in 19 continuous days of 24/7 service.   The heat sinks were never more than slightly warm to the touch.    
That’s all folks.    
128x128stereo5
12blistn
30 posts
 
After seeing some good reviews of the Canare 4S11, I decided to give it a try.  I also compared Monoprice 4C 12AWG in a 9AWG config, Mogami 3404 in star quad 9AWG  config, and KnuKonceptz Krux Kable 8AWG 16C a Kimber style braid with 8C per side.  The cables were all about 6 feet long  hand terminated with pistol style locking banana plugs.  I let all the wires run in the system for a couple of weeks or so (maybe 4 0r 5 hrs./day) before evaluating.  I realize after reading some of the comments that this might not been long enough for a fair evaluation.  The Krux Kable, which I ended up liking better, has stayed in the system longer so maybe it has an unfair advantage.

Anyway, the Canare at twice the cost of the Monoprice, I thought was a little better.  The Monoprice is rated at CL2 which I'm not sure about the Canare.  The Mogami at three times the cost of the Canare I thought was a just little better than the Canare.  The Krux Kable at about the same cost as the Mogami seemed the best of all, maybe sounding a little smoother as best as I can explain it.

I was wondering has anybody had similar results with the KnuKonceptz cable?  I have no connection with the company other than being a customer.

I did my comparisons using SACDs in an Oppo 205, XLRs to a Parasound JC2BP, XLRs to JC1s to GE TRs.  I was using Canare L-4E6S XLRs.  I've since switched to some silver plated copper XLRs which really changed/improved the sound.  I will have to do another comparison when I give the Canare a little more burn in time.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5 OP
6,254 posts
 
If you didn't run the Canare 4S11 in for 400 hours, it isn't a valid comparison.  They NEED that much to sound their best.  This is from the manufacturer themselves.
12blistn
30 posts
 
Thanks!  I'll keep that in mind.  I guess I'm not dedicated enough to leave my system on when I'm not listening to it, so it'll take me about 3 or 4 months of use.  Since my amps have two pair of speaker outs, maybe I'll hook both pairs up at the same time  and see how that sounds.  The locking bananas can lock into each other.  I've also been burning in a Kimber type wire with a rope in the middle for comparison.

I was just wondering if anyone had tried the KnuKonceptz stuff since I don't hear it talked about much?
digsmithd
913 posts
 
I made a nice 7ft pair of these and burned them in on frybaby + (75) hr’s and went on to a more expensive wire just to satisfy my.."cause i can i guess"...well those are run in +/- some hr's....Just for kicks and wanting to finish up running in the canare’s i put them back in...and you know they sound dam nice with my system...a better match and i just cant find a justifiable reason to take them out other than they are not a more expensive cable... lol.
I think these are as someone put it "one of the best cable’s period" not just a great budget wire...fwiw.
jjss49's avatar
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jjss49
6,609 posts
 
@stereo5

thank you for this... with all the ridiculous expensive cable threads creating so much heat and very little light, this is a much needed voice of sanity to be heard

yes you need GOOD cables for your system, they are essential for maximize sound quality ... but good does not need to be expensive
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