Thought I would post my recent experiences with cables to get us started.
I had always thought that it made sense to have a quality interconnect or speaker wire carrying the signal between my components, but I really didn't think it would make a huge difference. The most I had ever paid for interconnects was about $100 for a pair of Kimber PBJ's. Ran them for about 10 years, and was not unahppy with them. Just did not think about it very much. I had made a pair myself using Canare wire and some quality connectors. Compared the two, but I never really noticed a huge difference.
At the AK Toronto meet, Gary P brought along some interconnects for us to have a listen to. To be honest, I figured we were just gonna humour him and try them, but I certainly was not expecting any big difference. Gary was looking pretty smug through all of this, like he knew what was gonna happen. Anyway, plugged them in, started up the same track we had been listening to and the difference was huge! I was walking back to my seat when I heard it. Everything smoothed right out. Imaging got better and smoother. Some brightness and roughness that we had been hearing in the highs just went away. I couldn't believe the difference. Put the PBJ's back in, and the harshness was back. Swapped them out, and it all became easier to listen to. Shelby 1420 was sitting beside me and he heard the same things. My friend John, LONG time audio guy and a real experienced tech, heard the same thing too. Of course, Gary was looking even more smug. What he brought with him were the little known, but obviously great quality, Grover Wires. I am sure Gary can chime in with some more detail on them sometime soon.
Just to make sure that I was not imaging things, I ran them by she who must be obeyed, without telling her what I had done. Her first question was 'What did you do to the system? It sounds so much better!" Now, she really had no clue that I was even doing anything with the interconnects, but she, who is a lifelong singer and has perfect pitch, heard it immediately. She told me in no uncertain terms that the interconnects were staying!
What was the first cable you heard that really made a great difference in your system?
I had always thought that it made sense to have a quality interconnect or speaker wire carrying the signal between my components, but I really didn't think it would make a huge difference. The most I had ever paid for interconnects was about $100 for a pair of Kimber PBJ's. Ran them for about 10 years, and was not unahppy with them. Just did not think about it very much. I had made a pair myself using Canare wire and some quality connectors. Compared the two, but I never really noticed a huge difference.
At the AK Toronto meet, Gary P brought along some interconnects for us to have a listen to. To be honest, I figured we were just gonna humour him and try them, but I certainly was not expecting any big difference. Gary was looking pretty smug through all of this, like he knew what was gonna happen. Anyway, plugged them in, started up the same track we had been listening to and the difference was huge! I was walking back to my seat when I heard it. Everything smoothed right out. Imaging got better and smoother. Some brightness and roughness that we had been hearing in the highs just went away. I couldn't believe the difference. Put the PBJ's back in, and the harshness was back. Swapped them out, and it all became easier to listen to. Shelby 1420 was sitting beside me and he heard the same things. My friend John, LONG time audio guy and a real experienced tech, heard the same thing too. Of course, Gary was looking even more smug. What he brought with him were the little known, but obviously great quality, Grover Wires. I am sure Gary can chime in with some more detail on them sometime soon.
Just to make sure that I was not imaging things, I ran them by she who must be obeyed, without telling her what I had done. Her first question was 'What did you do to the system? It sounds so much better!" Now, she really had no clue that I was even doing anything with the interconnects, but she, who is a lifelong singer and has perfect pitch, heard it immediately. She told me in no uncertain terms that the interconnects were staying!
What was the first cable you heard that really made a great difference in your system?