mains cables - i want to believe!

Hi,
I am thinking of upgrading my standard (out of box) mains cables. I know everybody raves about these expensive wires and how it makes everythig 'sound better', but forgive me for being a little scepticle, they are mains power leads!!

I am not in the position to audition, and would likely force myself to believe they helped the sound, but i would like to hear other opinions.

Please post your experiences - my basic question i guess is - is it worth it?

I will be running my quad stuff (cdp-2 - pre and power)

Let me know what you think, thanks alot

matt

 

Lights blue touch paper and runs for the hills!

 

dont get it...

 

i have recently had the pleasure of hearing my friends system with three different mains cables

system is classe cdp 10, M>F Nu Vista M3 , Chario Millenium Academy 1's, with townshend isolda cables.

stock leads

harmonix leads

basis audio leads

each hike up the price range did actually bring a discernable improvement, with the greatest being brought by the basis mains leads, but they are soooooooo incredibly blinkin expensive for bits of copper wire, but they worked and he kept em.

 

Personally I have heard an improvement with any of the Russ Andrews mains cables that I have tried. The yello cables are cheap place to start and if they do nothing for you RA will take 'em back.

Good luck.

 

My opinion - Don't bother, its voodoo.

 

My opinion is, if any real gains are made by mains cabling then the manufacturers would sell their equipment with them as standard and advertise the fact. If the differences are very apparent then equipment would sell better if equipped with quality mains cabling.

 

Personally I use the Musicworks stuff, for me it makes a difference. Go to any show and you'll see Steve do his demo. It seems to work at home. I perfectly accept it may not do it for everyone however.

 

my advice is simply to approach it with an open mind.

don't be afraid to say you like the benefit of a cable, nor that you think it does nothing whatsoever.

ignore the magazine reviews, the salesman's patter, and make your own mind up on the topic.

if you decide to spend on cables, I'd advise asking yourself ''is the improvement I'm hearing in proportion to the amount of money I'm intending to spend'' ?

NB
The reason for the gasps, it's a very divisive issue.

 

ebay seller corry25 £129 silver reference mains cable, with silver MK and wattagte.

makes sod all diffedrence on my power amps, go figure, but makes a big difference on my cd player.

it made a huge differnece on my old audiolab S. HUGE. which was why i was dissapointed it didnt weave the same 'unknown science' on my power amps.

 

the power amp may have needed a 20 amp cable, especially if it is a powerful amp.

 

Now there is a voice of reason, except for one small ommission to keep a balance: "ignore the magazine reviews, the salesman's patter, the naysayers and make your own mind up on the topic"

And I wholeheartedly endorse the final line: "if you decide to spend on cables, I'd advise asking yourself ''is the improvement I'm hearing in proportion to the amount of money I'm intending to spend?'

Spot on Bottleneck, that is the most sensible cable thread posting I have seen for a very long time

 

Hi Max, You have PM.
Regards
Tony

 

I'll second that ....

if you feel upto diy look here

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/ttse.html

this should be better than the stock cables......

you could look at the other recipes too....

You need to make your own mind up either way ...don't be swayed by the "thread bullies" who say its magic or placebo. Yes there entitled to there opinion ...and thats all it is ....as this is.

 

My experience: as with mains power conditioners, some mains cables work to advantage on my system and some don't. And what works on my system is often of no consequence on that of a friend.

There is no correlation with the cost as to whether or not a beneficial difference can be discerned. Try to try before you buy.

 

baud: could be, the standard supplied cables were identical on all units though. and the silver stuff is 2mm thick solid core x3.

 

Cabling is system dependant to a large extent, some amps I've had didn't mind which cable I put on them and others sounded better (not "Wow" better but more focussed / bit more 'thwack' is the best I can come up with) with RA or other cables - I've tried a few and can't hear the subtle differences some can but do hear a difference over standard cables.

 

Mains cables are definately worth trying , and as already mentioned
it doesn't have to be expensive if you diy , if you can wire a plug you can make a mains cable .

One of the best upgrades I did was to replace my hifi plug fuses
with copper blanks , this gave the music much more impact and was definately proof that mains electricity does have an impact on sound quality .

 

mains cables

Try Frank Marshall at Krystal Kables. Good service, moderate prices, no quibbles return policy and I think they work on my system. But I must admit that I'm not one for loads of A/B or blind tests on any sort of interconnect, mains lead or distribution block - if they sound better subjectively than what they replaced... they stay.
________
B-series (international)

 

Ah! The power of positive thinking!