Kimber, Audioquest, Monster: Can anyone relate?

[RFP]

I've been having a lot of trouble finding speaker cable and am wondering if anyone has any advice. I recently upgraded some of my components and thought it would be a good idea to upgrade the speaker cable as well. I'd been using Monster XP cable, the most basic. It has very good imaging, soundstaging, dynamic range and detail, but it also has a slight boominess in the bass which detracts from the otherwise good clarity. I thought I could solve this problem easily by trading up to most any $50-80 pair of name brand cables. I was way wrong.

First I tried Kimber 4TC. They were terrible. They had excellent clarity but were extremely bright and had almost no bass end. They had the effect of shifting higher the entire center of gravity of the music.

Next I tried Audioquest Type 4. That solved the bass problem, and clarity was also excellent. However they brought the high end very far forward and caused a serious drop off in the midrange. Soundstaging was quite bad, as was the dynamic range, but the most serious problem was the lack of detail. These cables decreased the air around the instruments, allowing for no instrument separation. Overall, just a very dull listen.

Then I decided I should get back to the Monster line, so I got some mid-level M series. These had very similar characteristics to my original XPs. Detail was great. Soundstaging, imaging and instrument placement actually showed a remarkable improvement. Also the boominess, which was my original problem with XPs, was gone. Unfortunately it was replaced by a much bigger problem. The cables seem to be high in distortion, evidenced by a loss of tonality. A big loss of tonality. The music seemed colored from one end to the other.

Has anyone had similar experiences? I never thought that speaker cable could have such a measurable impact on the sound. I don't know where to go from here. I don't want to tread deeper into ever-more expensive cables. After all, the most luck I've had so far has been with my original bottom-of-the-line XPs. Can anyone recommend some good cables?

Thanks

 

[Leprkon]

try some 10 gage OFC wire from partsexpress.com,

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-156

some 12 gage from axiomaudio.com,

http://www.axiomaudio.com/bulkcable.html

or, if you want professional look in addition to quality cable, try the fully assembled but still affordable versions at impactacoustics.com.

http://www.impactacoustics.com/product.asp?cat_id=3102&sku=29178

the premium cable to be had anywhere is the GLOB cable, which is only available through Audiohaulics website.

http://www.audioholics.com/ces/CESmisc/globibscable.php

 

[jaxvon]

It also sounds like you have some serious acoustical problems in your room. Instead of dropping more coin on fancy wire, why not address the frequency response of your room?

 

[mtrycrafts]

I've been having a lot of trouble finding speaker cable and am wondering if anyone has any advice. I recently upgraded some of my components and thought it would be a good idea to upgrade the speaker cable as well. I'd been using Monster XP cable, the most basic. It has very good imaging, soundstaging, dynamic range and detail, but it also has a slight boominess in the bass which detracts from the otherwise good clarity. I thought I could solve this problem easily by trading up to most any $50-80 pair of name brand cables. I was way wrong.

First I tried Kimber 4TC. They were terrible. They had excellent clarity but were extremely bright and had almost no bass end. They had the effect of shifting higher the entire center of gravity of the music.

Next I tried Audioquest Type 4. That solved the bass problem, and clarity was also excellent. However they brought the high end very far forward and caused a serious drop off in the midrange. Soundstaging was quite bad, as was the dynamic range, but the most serious problem was the lack of detail. These cables decreased the air around the instruments, allowing for no instrument separation. Overall, just a very dull listen.

Then I decided I should get back to the Monster line, so I got some mid-level M series. These had very similar characteristics to my original XPs. Detail was great. Soundstaging, imaging and instrument placement actually showed a remarkable improvement. Also the boominess, which was my original problem with XPs, was gone. Unfortunately it was replaced by a much bigger problem. The cables seem to be high in distortion, evidenced by a loss of tonality. A big loss of tonality. The music seemed colored from one end to the other.

Has anyone had similar experiences? I never thought that speaker cable could have such a measurable impact on the sound. I don't know where to go from here. I don't want to tread deeper into ever-more expensive cables. After all, the most luck I've had so far has been with my original bottom-of-the-line XPs. Can anyone recommend some good cables?

Thanks

Actually, you are assigning miraculous qualities to wire that is just not happening. But, ones perception can be unreliable when comparing wire sound without bias controls implemented.

So, instead of upgrading wires, use what you have, period. And, spend time in learning about room acoustics and speakers response in your acoustic space. That is where its at, not in wires.

 

[Audioholics]

One experiment you can do is to shift your listening position 1-3 feet in any direction. It's a cool experiment and should demonstrate how quickly the sound changes in the room simply based on your relative distance to the loudspeakers and your interaction within the acoustics of the room. Moving the speakers towards and/or away from the walls will have an equally amazing effect on the sound.