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Have experienced pinnacle performance listening to Sound Labs in conjunction with Threshold’s WeberWire and Roger Skoff’s early generation XLO Signature Series interconnects. Threshold apparently had some incredible engineers and designers on its staff, who to put it humbly as i’m just an end-user, produced instruments that withstood the rigors of time and stellar implementation out in the field.
WeberWire specs*:
Cable Architecture: Ribbon configuration equivalent to 4 gauge
Resistance: 0.00053 Ohm per linear foot
Current Capacity: 100 amps rms, 500 amp peaks
Capacitance: 0.2 nanoFarads per foot
Velocity of Propagation: 3 nanoseconds per foot
Signal transmission: DC to beyond 5 megaHertz*Information excerpted from Threshold WeberWire publication. WeberWorks, Inc., Threshold Corporation
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In France we have a company called WhyNot Cables run by Nathalie Fougues. Her cables (with active shielding) are widely considered by french audiophiles as the very best regardless of the budget. When they appear on the S/H market they are usualy sold within 2-3 days. In my system (A645 + MA1 + MP1) I’m using her power and speakers cables and they are realy excellent. My XLR cables are inexpensive Mogami cables recommended by Ralph which are also very good. Another brand I would recommend is Fadelart cables, very popular in Germany (still it’s a french brand). Mr. Fadel was obsessed with Quad and Sound Lab speakers. His “coherence 2” cables were specificaly made for Sound Lab speakers. However they are (much) more expensive compared to WhyNot and I’m not sure that they are acutaly better than WhyNot cables. If you choose one of these companies you can’t get wrong. Finaly there’s Mr. Reza under SASU TMC company who makes active interconnects and power regenerators. These are quite expensive but also worth every €€€.
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I’ve found excellent performance using JPS Labs Superconductor. It has half the inductance of the previously mentioned Signal Cable for a low effective dielectric constant of 1.16 where the ideal is 1.
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chungjh, I have information to add to my above post. This information is pending Administrator approval. Why, I don’t know. Hopefully, the Admin will append what I submitted to this thread. If not, I assume they will give me the Ok to insert it….
Since you mentioned them, I have had good luck with Synergistic interconnects. Formerly, I used them when I needed swtiching capabilities. Now, because I’m running a dCS Rossini DAC direct into Atma-sphere MA-1 monoblocks, I’m using cables furnished by Atma-sphere’s Ralph Karsten. As others have mentioned, Ralph believes if the connected equipment is “truly” balanced, differences in cables become quite minimal. Ralph’s cables were as inexpensive as the referenced SignalCables. My guess based on some of Ralph’s posts that I was able to find, is that the cables he provided were probably fabricated using some sort of studio-type cable like Mogami.
At any rate, like my reasoning for purchasing the SignalCables, because of XLR interconnect cost, I thought they would be a great starting point for potential future auditioning. That is, not much to loose because they are such economical baselines.
The bottom line is that I believe it is really difficult trying to source cables based by Manufacturer name alone. Because of equipment and room differences, trial and error — meaning auditioning — distinctly enters into the cable decision making equation.
Hopefully after Admin approval, there will be more to follow….
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I found cables with ICR (Inductance, Capacitance and Resistance) specs that my research suggests were appropriate for electrostatic speakers. I bought them from Signal Cable (http://www.signalcable.com/).
I opted for SignalCable’s “most pricey” “Silver Resolution” pair. Beginning at $289 a pair, “pricey” they are, when compared to SignalCable’s lessor priced other 2-models. But compared to the market, they are pretty darn inexpensive.
So far, without directly comparing the Silver Resolution’s to anything else and with my new Majestic 845 speakers which replaced a M1PX Soundlab pair, the SignalCables are sounding fantastic. When price is factored in…well, what’s not to like!?! And with a 30-day trial period, there is nothing to loose.
The cables I compared the Silver Resolutions to memory-wise, were Synergistic Research wires. I had used them exclusively with my M1PX’s. However, before the Majestic 845’s arrived, the cables developed an intermittent short and hence, were unusable.
The Synergistic cables I used were their “Absolute Reference Type 1 Speaker Wires (X2)”. They are approx.15 years old and were a used pair when I acquired them. Their original MSRP was around $6k. I wouldn’t pay anything like that for speaker cables in 2008, let alone now. But after I made a deal for a used pair of CAT JL3 monoblocks, the dealer threw-in the Synergistic wires, probably because they were only 1M in length and thus a difficult resale and perhaps because he had already made a profit when he sold the CAT’s & cables to their original owner.
However, over the years, I did audition the Synergistic cables against some others. But, the results never caused me to switch-out the Synergistic wires. Over the years, the cables I auditioned the Synergistic “Absolute Reference” wires against were: Purist Audio Proteus Provectus, Straight Wire Expressivo, Magnan Signature and Kimber Bi-Focal.
I do plan on trialing some much more expensive Nordost cables. I’m choosing Nordost because of my past experience with them, but primarily because Nordost is one of the few companies that publish their cable’s (ICR) electrical specifications. I wonder why that is? Yeah, I believe I have a clue! While I recognize that specifications alone, never fully tell the tale, specs would at least give us auditioning starting and comparing points.
Continued on My Following Post –> -
In my country system with the U-1PX speakers, I do use the Teo cables. When I introduced them some 4-5 years ago, I experienced a major improvement over what I had been using. The 20+ year old MIT cables they replaced are now in my city system with the U-545PX speakers, and are still delivering much delight. If I were willing to spend the crazy stupid $’s to have another set of Teo cables, I have no doubt I would be delighted with the improvement. But, I am a music lover more than an audiophile who is constantly seeking the next “high”. My systems are already highly evolved and deliver pure musical delight. Sound Labs are extremely revealing and will reward one with better sound every time you make a positive move. But at some point, I believe one needs to step back from the chase, and simply enjoy the music!
My IC’s are all balanced and about 20 years old. I believe balanced cables are not nearly as subject to the very noticeable differences one experiences with single ended IC’s. Thus, I have not explored this rabbit hole in many years.
Rather than recommend I prefer to suggest you try different cables for yourself, and then decide (within your budget) what pleases you.
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