Canare 4S11 Review - my perspective

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alphamajor

Audioholic Intern
I received the 4S11 and locking banana plugs from BJC yesterday afternoon. Everything is quite nice. The locking banana plugs are especially pretty and very functional. The 4S11 is very well constructed and is surprisingly flexible for a cable that is 7/16" diameter. The outer jacket has a nice soft feel to it, which I like for some reason. I used an exacto knife to strip off the outer jacket as I wanted to be able to control how deep I was cutting. The 4S11 is relatively easy to strip and prep, but does take a little bit of time to make it nice. I spent about 10 minutes on each end.

I finished building the cables last night, but finished a little late so I haven't gotten to do any real testing/listening yet, but I did plug them in a do a few quick comparisons to the Audioquest Type 1 that I've been using.

There is a noticeable difference. :eek: No joking, I'm not making this up. I'm not going to try and guess at what the differences are because I haven't listesnined enough to determine exactly what is going on. I'm hoping to do some serious comparisons this weekend and really find out what I'm hearing.

I'm honestly quite surprised. I was expecting there to be little, if no difference in sound at all. This has definitely tossed the whole speaker cable sound issue up in the air for me. :confused:

More to come...
 
Tom Andry

Tom Andry

Speaker of the House
alphamajor said:
The outer jacket has a nice soft feel to it, which I like for some reason.
I agree. It is a lot softer than it looks. Now, I'm leaving before the "stop stroking your cables" comments start. :D
 
captain_tinker

captain_tinker

Audioholic
I'd be interested to hear your conclusions after doing an A/B test and seeing what the differences are. Please let us know what you find out.

-capT
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I'm considering this wire and the locking plugs as well, so I'd like to hear your comparison also.
 
A

alphamajor

Audioholic Intern
Okay, while I haven't done hours upon hours of listening, I think I've figured out what I'm hearing.

Last night I thought I heard a difference in loudness/volume between the two cables, which I can now say was just my imagination. If there is a difference then it is too small for me to detect with my ears.

With the Canare 4S11 cables, for some reason, the best way I can describe it is it sounds like the higher frequencies, those which would only come through the tweeter, are ever slightly more present. High frequency instruments like electronic ticks, cymbals, the tap on a bongo/conga drum just sound a little bit clearer, as do vocals, particularly female vocals. This, in turn, would explain the second thing I think I'm hearing which is better imaging (human hearing can localize higher frequencies better). I almost feel like I can pinpoint locations on the sound stage just a bit better, or than instruments sound ever so slightly more focused.

With all that being said, let me advise that these changes, if they are real and not due to my imagination, are small enough to be almost imperceptible. Even if there is a very minute difference and what I described above is indeed happening, I still consider it insignificant enough to say that there is essentially no difference in sound between the Canare 4S11 and the Audioquest Type 1.

Personally, I think I'm going to go ahead and rewire my system with the 4S11 covered in techflex so it looks all purty. Physically, the Canare 4S11 is very, very nice stuff, as I stated before. It is certainly MUCH easier to deal with than the stiff Audioquest Type 1, plus I can get a much more secure connection with the locking banana than trying to clamp the screw terminal down on both a wire and a jumper (on the bi-wired speakers).

For me, my main goal was to find something that wouldn't change the sound I have already and be much nicer handling and looking than the AQ wire, so I consider this venture a success. Depending on what you desire and are looking for, YMMV.

Will these cables make chocolate ooze from your drivers? No. Will they change the sound of your system if you already have a good cable? I wouldn't be willing to bet on it. However, if you want a nicely constructed wire and like having a large gauge or need it for whatever reason, in this case 11 AWG overall, then I would recommend you check the 4S11 out. Do like I did. Purchase just eoungh to do a test with (I got 14', for 7' runs to my mains) and evaluate them. If you don't like them, then you're only out the cost of DVD (or two if you get the banana plugs like I did).

I will continue listening this weekend and see if my ears detect anything substantial.
 
A

alphamajor

Audioholic Intern
Some pictures I just took for reference.

Here is the Audioquest Type 1 speaker cable that I have had for just over 2 years. You can tell by all the crinkles that it's pretty stiff. It's also not too pleasant looking.



And here is one of the Canare 4S11 cables with the locking banana plugs from BJC. Much nicer looking. They will really look slick with some Techflex and heatshrink as other people on this forum have done.



Here is a shot of the cable plugging into the back of one of my mains:



And finally, just for grins, my system as it currently looks:



Not much, I know, but I'm in a new apartment and just started a new job a few months ago, so things are slowly coming together. I have a full 5 point surround (no subwoofer, apartment). The center is just sitting on the floor for now and the surrounds are behind me on either side of the sofa. I will soon have a proper TV/audio stand instead of using my coffee table. Shortly thereafter I hope to be getting a new flat panel LCD. :D
 
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