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Cables making a difference

LordOfTRings said:
Just for fun; try to figure how much money you spent over the years on wires, all type of wires (for your speakers, electronics, AC cords, interconnects, digital cables, analog cables, audio, video, power bars/purifiers, surge protectors, ...), all the wires/wires related since you first started.

Me, it's about $69,000 all together, for the last forty years.

I know some people for who it is about $765,000 all together.

Go ahead, take your time, go back in time, and try to estimate all the money you spent on wires/cables over all the years since you first started your hobby. ...Sound, and visual.
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$400, tops. Folks can spend their money however they choose, and I may spend more in the future on interconnects and speaker cables. I'm okay with that.
 
I am a FIRM believer that cables do make a difference. Case in point, when I bought my CMT-340s they were bi-wire capable. I just connected them using one pair of cables. A few months went by and I decided to bi-wire and bi-amp my speakers. Holy Crap!!! I could not believe the difference bi-wiring and bi-amping can make with a good set of cables.

I am now in the process of setting up a vintage audio system downstairs in a dedicated listening room. Once the acoustic treatments are in, I will be installing the vintage system, and I will be using good cables. If you want to get the best sound from your system, you need good quality cables.
 
$400 on wires/cables all together, for roughly 40 years! ...Wow, some of you guys must have spent much more time outside than inside! ...Having a real life!
 
I spent $118 on ONE cable. :yikes: :D

It was tough to pull the trigger on that, but my previous 35ft HDMI cable wasn't cutting the mustard when I went from basic 720p to 1080p with all the bandwidth hogging goodies enabled.

This is what a HDMI connection looks like when there's inadequate bandwidth: http://www.sendspace.com/file/vfcly9
 
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I just spent $60 on a single firewire cable. In my lifetime, well into the 5 digit figures.

Sent from my SHV-E300S using Tapatalk
 
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Has anyone had any experience with Chris Sommovigo's LECTRALINE series ICs or speaker cables? Based on his ground breaking past with Black Cat and many Kimber designs, etc. I'm very interested.

http://www.stereolab.us/lectraline-2/

(And I've always been a real cable advocate! Especially with the mains. As the mains are the other source. And the source is where it starts.)

Happy Listener! :beatnik:
 
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One of my most profound wire experiences was with the Kondo (RIP) "Silver Fairy Hair" silver litz rewire done by the master himself) to my SME V over the stock VDH copper OEM. That and a Silver Audio "Silver Breeze" IC from the tonearm to the phonostage. Smooth, beautiful tone colour, detailed, organic, transparent as anything I've heard, but honest.

Happy Listener! :beatnik:
 
I think an important thing about cables is their length, especially when dealing with a tiny signal that is sensitive to capacitance (aka phono cart signal). I make all my cables out of 20g silver plated copper wire with a silver weave shield. On turn tables I solder one end directly to the pick up wire below deck, and use the smallest RCA connector that I can find in nickle plated on the other end. I try to use a very small RCA on the phono preamp itself as well to keep capacitance to a minimum. I like the nickle connector silver plated wire system for all my cables. Maybe 10 bux a pair when you include the silver solder, and my ears won't benefit from anything better as far as I know. Nice thing about a separate dedicated phono pre, is you can place it near the table for the small signal then run longer cables to your linestage like mentioned above. I tried RS magnet wire once and it was awful. I don't know if I used the correct size though.
 
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I've told her if she played her cards right, she could definitely be my girlfriend, no problemo...:D But, no doubt, we would compete for vinyl finds as she's actually a vinyl blogger, of all things. A beauty for sure.

Happy Listener! :beatnik:
 
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I'll just say she started on waxing poetic...
 
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Yep. The cat is out of the bag, so to speak...

Well George Harrison wrote: You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I should have listened.:beatnik:
 
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VinylRob said:
Has anyone had any experience with Chris Sommovigo's LECTRALINE series ICs or speaker cables? Based on his ground breaking past with Black Cat and many Kimber designs, etc. I'm very interested.

http://www.stereolab.us/lectraline-2/

(And I've always been a real cable advocate! Especially with the mains. As the mains are the other source. And the source is where it starts.)

Happy Listener! :beatnik:
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LeeS from Atlanta who posts on a number of boards is a fan of Black Cat cables
 
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Thanks Rbbert, read LeeS some time ago on Hoff's site and wbestf. Apparently Chris and Lee are pals, as he has auditioned them in Chris's home.
 
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Percet solution is BJC

Jayrosc said:
I'll never really know what to think about the whole good cable/bad cable thing, but i sure don't want to use the set of sony's that came with the turntable I bought recently. Now that it is ready to be connected I find I'll need a 10 footer. Don't want to break the bank, and have seen remarks here about $ not mattering....so, uh, help, anybody?


http://www.cablesforless.com/Super-...ables-Red-And-White-RCA-To-RCA-P5168C201.aspx
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Blue Jeans cable LC-1 low capacitance cable

10ft run pair with techflex (keeps them together) will cost $58.50 and have a capacitance for the whole thing of 122pf (12.2pf per foot)

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/audio/index.htm
 
I know most of the posts in this threat have related to speaker cable and interconnect, but what about power cords? I snagged up a mint Jolida FX-10 for only $300 and have been thoroughly enjoying it so far. One thing I noticed is that while build quality is superb, he stock power cord looks like it belongs on a beard trimmer. It is a detachable cable, though, so I can upgrade if I wanted to. Any positive feedback on power chords, and would they make a difference on such a low-wattage (10 wpc) tube amp?
 
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