Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I will certainly start from my source to my preamp and go from there. I had done searches before on best type of IC to use from your amp and couldn’t find anything conclusive but from this thread it appears, in most cases, the best IC to use, is the best one you have. Looking forward to giving it a shot.
Best place to insert a new higher end cable in my system?
Hello. I picked up a good deal in a Audioquest Water 1.5m cable. It’s the most expensive one in my system. I have mostly other AQ cables such as Mackenzie, Sydney, a Columbia and an old school AQ cable going from my amp to preamp that sounds pretty good. Components include amp, preamp, phono preamp, server, streamer and universal player. I have a Cardas Blue Heaven phono connect going to my phono preamp but on occasion use a step up transformer former and use an old school Musical Concepts super connect II .5 meter from the SUT to the phono preamp. Where will I get the best performance from this Water IC? Thanks for your consideration and feedback.
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@bfoura Its a fairly easy listening test to try in reverse. Put your worst cable first at your source, and your best cable between your preamp < > amplifier. Try it for a week, then swap. See if you notice an improved sound with the best cable first. Its a test some of us do comparing OFC to OCC copper or silver over copper ICs. The swaps and results are much more noticeable on well matched systems.
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To clarify, when we say source are you all saying try with a particular source or my most used source like my Sony HAP server/streamer? AQ seems to be a polarizing brand but they’ve served me well. I will say that I bought two sets of Nordost speaker cables recently (upgraded from one to another) and noticed an improvement in sound with both pairs over a pair of older AQ speaker cables I had, so open to trying other brands that offer a definite ROI. |
I like the early in the chain thought, makes huge sense, and likely true. Also agree to let it settle, very true. Also system dependent. Too much fun. Audioquest, great mid cable and maybe above? Of course get some basics first, which for me is 85 to 90% of the the way to a total system. Not saying I am there. Ok, 84. |
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