Speaker cables - cables make a difference

@mceljo  I’m not sure I like smaller-gauge conductors speaker cable at that price tag, mainly because their higher resistance reduces the amplifier’s damping factor, which could potentially result in less controlled or fuzzier bass.  While reduced skin effect may be an advantage of smaller conductors, the skin effect itself is essentially negligible in the audio band for typical 10–12 AWG speaker cables.

Frankly, when I saw how popular Morrow speaker cables are on this forum, along with their generous 60-day trial period, I was tempted. I was considering the SP4, but when I realized that a $440 pair uses only 13 AWG conductors, I hesitated. The Micca 14 uses an even smaller conductor, but it costs less than $30 per pair.

On my 2nd rig with Micca 14 the bass does not sound thin / soft after the Veritas Angentum xlr was put in. (I realized the previous thinner bass is from WBC)  So, I think I’m set for now. Toward the end of the year, I may pick up / try a pair of Veritas Aperta speaker cables when it is on sale.

@buellrider97 

+1

...and YES YES on the digital cable.  I am still a novice in the cable game, other than the S/PDIF cable going from my various streamers to DACs over the past 5 years.  It has been truly remarkable the importance of that cable.  Paul McGowan talked about this in one of his videos where they were at Axpona one year and the system was total crap.  He called his Audioquest guy who was on his way and brought a much better cable and swapped them out and everyone's draws dropped in the room.  I had Transparent Ultra G5 and went to Shunyata Alpha 1 on my speaker cables and the music got so much more lively and dynamic.  I suppose the Transparent filters were restricting too much??  Interconnects I simply got some Transparent and have left them alone as I have very long runs to my amps to not easy to try anything else.  Power cables are next.  I have not ever had anything more than a $75 Pangea.

@cdtd 

Glad they worked out and it is very cool that it was one of your personal projects

@dhite71 Just use USB. S/PDIF has effectively analog without error correction or lost packed retransmission. No one connects external hard drive over S/PDIF.

@mikhailark 

I have never owned a USB cable.  I am also unclear if I could simply connect a USB cable or if drivers would have to be installed.  I am not using an external hard drive.  I currently have an Auralic Aries streamer.  I have used my S/PDIF cables with Bluesound and Aurender streamers as well.  I did try XLR once with the same cable and did not appreciate any difference between the two.  I am curious about USB but have simply not pursued it. 

@dhite71 - what I mean is that S/PDIF connection does not provide any error correction facilities and hence it is subject to noise, jitter, clocking issues, etc. 

USB is a computer interface that is designed to transfer data 100% reliably. Data goes in packets, error correction included, anything that may be corrupted or lost is retransmitted and reassembled. This is why you can connect external hard drive to the computer and copy files back and forth without losing any single bit. So do Ethernet cables and networks.

Typically modern USB DACs do not require any drivers. Although standalone streamers rarely provide USB connection to the DAC.