Cable talk-Qed,Kimber,Nordost

[neo]

Hello!
Has any one compared the various cables from qed, kimber, nordost etc? what is the diff in sound & the tonality of various brands?

Has any one compared kimber 8tc/ nordost blue heaven or red dawn/ qed silver aniversary xt??

& a kimber hero/nordost blue heaven or red dawn/qed quenex 3?

Basically i'd like to know exp with cables & diff if noticed, pl aslo mention your set up on which you've experimented.
Thanks,
Regards.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi neo,
Actually i love to hear various opinions on cables myself as it gets tiring to keep experimenting.I have still not got the right balance of cables.
I have a Cyrus cdp,Bryston Pre/power,B&W 805 combo now but have been experimenting with cables from the last 20 yrs with the various set ups i had.
Firstly i dont believe i need to spend a fortune on cables and hence i do not try the loony priced stuff. Can give my opinion on what i have heard and secondly lots of these so called cable cos actually buy cables from bulk manufacturers(Belden) and put their logo. Very few are making them and i feel the best cable is a cable that does nothing which i hear is the most difficult to acheive.

Have tried most Van den hul cables. Decent ones i thought were D102, The jubilee hybrid, First metal screen and speaker cables from this brand i liked was a CS 122, and the more expensive revolution hybrid.Great bass at the expense of some treble.
Have tried all Kimbers and they made my set up a little lean, at least the 4s seemed to lack weight. Had the 4vs,4tc,8tc plus the hero/pbj/timber ICS. Actually these two brands are at opposite ends of the spectrum.
Transparent makes some great products and if they work in ur set up u will be immensely pleased. The music link range i still have and they work well.I love the ICS from this brand and u get these at great prices in the US.
Supra has a good IC in the EFF. Can work well and the sword range is good too but pretty pricey. Though they did make a difference in the bass for the better. All supras are coated in tin and i feel they bring things forward so may work with laid back set ups.
Chord i feel is good for ICS. The chameleon/chorus being good but i really could not be a 100% certain about their qualities and the cobra i didnt care too much for. The much rated carnival silver seems an average performing speaker cable though i had i think an odyssey many years ago and it was lovely. The signature series is just too pricey and hence not tried.
Recently i heard Straight wire and its a very different sounding cable. Super mid range presentation , good bass but was not too sure if i could live with the treble.
QED and Nordorst i have never heard in my set up.
In fact am awaiting some new ICS from transparent and speaker cables from Audio note (stunning speaker cables these copper heads)which should come from the US anytime now.

As for power cords i had bought the connectors from the UK many years ago and had made some good power cords but the one that i had liked was a PS audio.

Buy tons of music and enjoy, thats most important. Have too many friends who are so into systems etc they have almost forgotten to enjoy what the goal of all this activity is.
This constant experimenting has definately given me a lighter wallet and a bad back and i would love to hear opinions.
Regards

 

[silentsound]

Hi,

That's quite a few combinations you have tried. Sure you would have bad back dinyaar!!!

I used to have Monster 12 awg speaker cables ($60) and it sounded good. I recently changed to QED Silver Anniversary XT cables and ICS and its relatively better. Its more clearer and I hear little more instruments than before. But keep in mind that the sound is as good as the source, amp and the speakers.

Personally I think you shouldn't spend too much on the speaker cables and interconnects. If you could go for a next level amp or spkr for that extra 10k or so then you should spend on the equipment rather than on the cables. This is just my opinion.

SilentSound.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi silentsound,
I totally agree that u can get by using any decent cables and should not be spending obscene money on cables rather upgrade the electronics.

I am done upgrading electronics for now. I have not owned all the cables i listed above. some yes and some i have borrowed for demos from the distributors. Also all the kimbers and transparents i bought from NY and the prices are different.

But my question is if u DO hear a difference with various cables and u like the difference in some cases then what do u do? Also now with so much awareness it is pretty easy to sell off ur gear/cables at least in bombay.

Regards

 

[silentsound]

Hi,

Buying accessories outside our country, particularly from US, makes lot more sense if you visit (Shipping costs a lot if you tried online purchase). Even better if the source of your income is from there. Its just like getting an ordinary cable here.

I guess whenever you are upgrading your gear, upgrading your cables & interconnects makes sense if the difference in quality justifies the cost of the cables. My assumptions is, this happens only when you are dealing with high-end systems.

SilentSound.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi silent,
Well i dont like to really bother about what category the system fits in. I guess my cyrus/bryston/b&W would be MID FI.
I have never bought anything on the internet but on visits there. Now i am begining to feel and experience that a good copper IC and speaker cable works best. Silver coating or tin coating or whatever just adds a certain flavour but certainly is drifting away from the basic principle that the cable should be an invisible medium of signal transfer. But i guess the cable cos have to sell stuff so we see more of these exotic constructions/materials used in cables.
Would love to hear from u and others on their cable experiences.
Regards

 

[awedeophile]

I have tried a lot of cables and done plenty of comparisons. I personally believe that the Transparent Audio line of cables represent the best value for money (I have not seen or heard the Opus range so can't comment on those) and the differences that they make are immediately recognisable.

Too bad that they do not have a distributor in India.

 

[suniil]

Except HDMI cables, a quality cable makes the whole pq & sq will be better. I personally use van den hul / QED cables across my setup. Also there are some other small scale companies do have excellent cables (eg. markgrantcables.co.uk/Hi-Fi and Video Cables and Interconnects) for less value for money. MG is highly recommended in top tier AV enthusiasts

 

[dinyaar]

Dear Awedeophile,
Transparent Music link, music wave ,music wave plus can be got here at reasonable prices. Opus range i doubt. The guy currently distributing Vandenhul was doing transparent a few years ago but dropped the brand for whatever reason.
I totally second ur point on transparent. Better than most in the price range.
Regards

 

[awedeophile]

Hi Dinyaar,

Can you give me contact information for the Transparent dealer? Thanks.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi,
His name is Marbin Colah.Nos are 022-66325010 and 98192 57839.
Regards

 

[neo]

Has any tried the nordost cables?? esp the blue heaven & the red dawn??

 

[SNV]

Chord i feel is good for ICS. The chameleon/chorus being good but i really could not be a 100% certain about their qualities and the cobra i didnt care too much for. The much rated carnival silver seems an average performing speaker cable though i had i think an odyssey many years ago and it was lovely. The signature series is just too pricey and hence not tried.

Regards

Dear Dinyaar,

With the Cyrus/bryston/805 combo I suggest you try the Anthem or the Signature interconnect with the Epic Super Twin speaker cable.
Once you have had heard this, let me know your opinion.

Regards
SNV

 

[dinyaar]

Thanks SNV,
I have the Audio note basic copper IC now and am loving the full bodied sound.(cant remember the model) and the speaker cable is my old 8 TC . Am going all copper for now.

Actually the time i borrowed ur chord cables was for my Rotel Integrated/B&W 601 bedroom set up which is no longer with me.
Thanks again.

 

[SNV]

Thanks SNV,
I have the Audio note basic copper IC now and am loving the full bodied sound.(cant remember the model) and the speaker cable is my old 8 TC . Am going all copper for now.

Dear Dinyaar,

If and when you get the itch to try the Chords, let me know.
I know for certain the Super Epics are far better than the 8TC.

Regards
SNV

 

[dinyaar]

Hi,
This is for all those who believe in cables making an audible difference!!!!!!
The transparent range of ICS/speaker cables have been upgraded a while ago to the MM2 technology. The older generation MUSIC LINK,MUSIC LINK PLUS and the MUSIC LINK SUPER are available at BOOMERANG for 8K,15K,30K respectively. Also has the MUSIC WAVE speaker cables in various configurations.
Have had the M link+ as my IC between the PRE/POWER and i find it good.
Regards

 

[SaurabhK]

Hi guys,

I am looking for good speaker cables for my set as below:

Dynaudio Focus 140
Krell 400xi
Arcam FMJ CD 37 ( coming soon..hopefully )

I have been recommended the Kimber 8VS and the QED X tube . Which would be more suitable. I mostly hear female vocals ( Diana Krall,Patricia barber,EvaCassidy etc). Both are in similar budget of abt 8-9k for 10x2 ft lengths.

I have used Nordost frey ( as a demo which were exceptional )...I know I cant hope for the same in my budget..but soem thing close would be nice

Regards,
Saurabh.

Regards,
Saurabh Kedia

 

[dinyaar]

Hi guys,

I am looking for good speaker cables for my set as below:

Dynaudio Focus 140
Krell 400xi
Arcam FMJ CD 37 ( coming soon..hopefully )

I have been recommended the Kimber 8VS and the QED X tube . Which would be more suitable. I mostly hear female vocals ( Diana Krall,Patricia barber,EvaCassidy etc). Both are in similar budget of abt 8-9k for 10x2 ft lengths.

I have used Nordost frey ( as a demo which were exceptional )...I know I cant hope for the same in my budget..but soem thing close would be nice

Regards,
Saurabh.

Regards,
Saurabh Kedia

Hi Saurabh,
Please avoid 8VS from Kimber. Since u have a stand mount why not try the 4TC instead. Try some supra s too as they are well built and sound good too. The VDH to try is the CS 122. copper/silver/carbon and 12AWG.
I guess the transparent music wave 100 would be more than 10K and i doubt these guys will send to Delhi for a demo.
Actually its damn difficult to recommend a cable as it has to have the desired effect in UR set up. ONLY way is to borrow from ur local retailers and take a call.
Regards

 

[SaurabhK]

H Dinyaar,

Thanks for your reply. Well why do you say that I avoid the 8VS? Any oarticlar reason why I shoudl avoid it ?
I am currently using a 4 PR borrowed from a friend. Although it is only doing what a 4 PR can do.is quite lean and lacks soem detail..However, I am told that a 8 VS is much more punchier and musical. However, also got good feedback from a QED user.
Who deals in transparent wave?
VDH i dunno.. I had demoed a piece in my set up. Lacks musicality ( even though it was a low end entry level model ).

decisions decisions..

 

[reignofchaos]

Using a pair of AudioQuest Jaguar CV4. Pretty damn good cable. Transparent Audio is supposed to be excellent as well. You might want to check that.