Richard Vandersteen Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 Years ago, I invited some dealers to the factory and to hear my system in our home (no sound room at the factory) where we do all of the listening. We had 5A's at the time and Radio Shack was still in business, so I wired the entire system with Gold Ends interconnect cables, Zip Cord speaker wire (short but bi-wired) and removed all power conditioners (we do have 2 dedicated 20-amp circuits) for this listening session. Our visiting dealers were amazed at the sound (expressed a desire to get theirs to sound as good) but surprised by my cable selection and no power conditioning. After a few demos they asked why the cheap cables and no power conditioning and asked if I didn't believe they made a difference? I said that they definitely make a difference but for the cost of the better cables and power conditioning a customer could have 5A's and all the better cables and power conditioning would never make a pair of 3A Signatures play music like the 5A's were. Be careful to not "Major on the Minors" and get the majors where you want them before polishing it off with the important cables and power. RV 6 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKDad Posted February 29 Share Posted February 29 Personally, as much as I liked the sound of Treo CT’s, spending the extra for Quatro Wood CT’s instead of spending that amount on cables was 100% worth it to my wife and me. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted March 1 Share Posted March 1 On 2/28/2024 at 7:13 PM, BKDad said: Personally, as much as I liked the sound of Treo CT’s, spending the extra for Quatro Wood CT’s instead of spending that amount on cables was 100% worth it to my wife and me. BINGO. To ME, this is 100% and how I've always built my system. Too often we get a cable/cord or accessory instead of waiting and upgrading a 'real' component in our systems. That's dangerous to do. Going from a well set up pair of Treo's to Quatro's was a mind bender in my room. Yes, my cables and cords have made a really nice difference, but I also have my money saved for the DAC I ended up getting and now for Richards pre when it comes to market (I sold 5 Hurricane's to put towards it as I have to have a strict budget). It was a no brainer. The Waversa EXT Ref I got was well worth it as it took my digital to a different level. It also allowed me to sell the extra LPS unit and optical switch and gear which was a mess behind the system. The Waversa is a small box that's passive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghamilton Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Consider Morrow Audio cables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Edwards Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 On 3/4/2024 at 7:47 AM, ghamilton said: Consider Morrow Audio cables I'm running them from my pre to amp and amp to Quatros ghamilton; they sound very good to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Malter Posted March 21 Share Posted March 21 On 2/28/2024 at 11:14 AM, Richard Vandersteen said: Years ago, I invited some dealers to the factory and to hear my system in our home (no sound room at the factory) where we do all of the listening. We had 5A's at the time and Radio Shack was still in business, so I wired the entire system with Gold Ends interconnect cables, Zip Cord speaker wire (short but bi-wired) and removed all power conditioners (we do have 2 dedicated 20-amp circuits) for this listening session. Our visiting dealers were amazed at the sound (expressed a desire to get theirs to sound as good) but surprised by my cable selection and no power conditioning. After a few demos they asked why the cheap cables and no power conditioning and asked if I didn't believe they made a difference? I said that they definitely make a difference but for the cost of the better cables and power conditioning a customer could have 5A's and all the better cables and power conditioning would never make a pair of 3A Signatures play music like the 5A's were. Be careful to not "Major on the Minors" and get the majors where you want them before polishing it off with the important cables and power. RV This is very interesting Richard. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKDad Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 On 3/4/2024 at 10:47 AM, ghamilton said: Consider Morrow Audio cables Have you compared them to various Audioquest offerings? Luminous Audio Technologies? Testing all these cables is hard, even if you can use the Cable Company's lending library, such as it is. At least with loudspeaker upgrades, like Quatro CT to Kento, there's a good chance that you can listen to to both in comparable environments. Cables, not so much. As I've said before, my opinion is that loudspeaker cables tune the performance of your amplifier as much or more than anything else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oregon Posted March 22 Share Posted March 22 At the recommendation of another forum member I tried AudioQuest bi-wired GLC (Great Little Cable) terminated with Parts Express spades. Sounds fine to my garden variety ears. Cody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 I have had so many cables in my system over the years and none have been as neutral to my ears as any of the Garth designed cables. I always liked AQ in the past, but nothing like what Garth has done with their stuff. Again, we all hear differently and we all even have some companies who's gear we used years ago and still like due to reputation. Heck, I had the top MIT cables and cords for years and years, but they weren't the most neutral and I don't use them to tune my system as some try to do. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Heckman Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 My William Tell Silver Biwires didn't come alive until I put in Thunderbird ICs. My dealer told me that Garth told him this was key to unlocking the performance of the WTSBs. It changed my disappointment with the WTSBs to pleasure. Jim Heckman 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GdnrBob Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Johnny Rutan said much the same to me. There are AQ cables that positively interact with each other. B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Heckman Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 Bob, I didn't realize this, thinking that all AQ cables, being from the same company, would work equally well with each other. This is the kind of "inside knowledge" you come up with with with enough time in this hobby, and a knowledgeable dealer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ctsooner Posted May 10 Share Posted May 10 It show how Garth designs things. Like Richard wanting an active speaker system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC-93 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 RV said: " Zip Cord speaker wire"..... 👍 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 16 hours ago, DC-93 said: RV said: " Zip Cord speaker wire"..... 👍 🙂 Me too, but I bi-wire them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghamilton Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC-93 Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 (edited) Separate all the way back to the amp. Edited May 13 by DC-93 Details 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmz Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 On 5/14/2024 at 5:28 AM, DC-93 said: Separate all the way back to the amp. Do you loosely twist the pairs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC-93 Posted May 15 Share Posted May 15 Nope. They are separated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olds1959special Posted May 19 Share Posted May 19 I use a pair of these for each speaker. https://www.amazon.com/GearIT-Speaker-Cable-Banana-Plugs/dp/B091JBKJNM/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1STAGFM5HRVBI&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.oQqmngtO2WX90tOVo0t0rNQ8qlAnQiZGZ4py-hHqVdc8Mcfx1OSytd7h86F04Y549idS9gOvvfsiUJGSmS3grcnnCuLOXiuZE9pllv6rasH1sIqvs_SsBr3glFKVcbPSvBrSsyTw21TJlSPvWsyb803p9U1nmwRCZrGYBu27fvDyWW7t0PPI2MBJ0tKdbRcLYN1WeJmDUi90UtJqtCEay43N8CiFyAdQLxrdNty_AvQF42I9AANoJPUWt-9GDiYGHw7eC5VmLw0B6wD5U4igLPgl-wKTgxEcsMGwtCDF0Qg._m3On6ONIC2eHtrnWoO2G0bSmH02XB5W_YSoUWpzJoo&dib_tag=se&keywords=gear%2Bit%2Bspeaker%2Bwire%2Bbanana&qid=1716130732&s=electronics&sprefix=gear%2Bit%2Bspeaker%2Bwire%2Bbanana%2Celectronics%2C156&sr=1-5&th=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DividedSky Posted June 20 Share Posted June 20 (edited) On 5/2/2024 at 3:45 PM, Jim Heckman said: My William Tell Silver Biwires didn't come alive until I put in Thunderbird ICs. My dealer told me that Garth told him this was key to unlocking the performance of the WTSBs. It changed my disappointment with the WTSBs to pleasure. Jim Heckman This exact thing happened to me with a change of a single RCA interconnect going from Doshi phonostage to Doshi pre. I went from colorado to Thunderbird and it was like a component upgrade- it was hard to believe. I was using William Tell biwire (non silver). Another mind bending level jump was from getting cart analysis and custom shim from JR Bosiclair from WallyTools Edited June 20 by DividedSky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now