Hi, All,
I have finally succeeded in putting together a system of components that I'm happy with and hope to live with for a long time.
Over the last ten years I have had an agreement with myself that I would not even THINK of buying any new cables or interconnects until I was pretty satisfied with the system components.
I have been using halfway decent (by early 1990s standards) interconnects (Monster Interlink reference 2) and cables (biwired Monster Powerline 2), but after reading 20 years worth of reviews, discussion and hype I am finally ready to consider wire upgrades.
I can hardly believe the "explosions" over the past few years of not only the number of cable manufacturers and models, but also of the shocking prices!
I am looking for some way to narrow down the available choices, mainly based on the general "sound" of the different brands and models.
I have been a Stereophile subscriber since 1983, and have every issue. I have been reading wire reviews in several other magazines over the years, and now, of course, there's the internet. I could go back and start reading reviews and check out "Recomended Components", surf the net and peruse various catalogs, but with the number of possible choices available, I'm just overwhelmed!
I have no nearby audio dealer who carries more than one or two cable brands, so I really wouldn't be able to compare locally, and I am really hesitant to do mail-order trials.
My question: Is there any recent publication or web site that gives a (well-informed, competent, objective and reasonably comprehensive) description of the sound of the various cables?
What I would like to see is a ranking of cables as to those that are warmer, more neutral, more bright or detailed, etc. (especially if it includes cables that are more reasonably priced...). It would also be nice if some of the older wires, like my Interlink References, were included for comparison.
Stereophile's Recomended Components listing is useful, but is nowhere near comprehensive, and is definitely biased towards cables that are WAY out of any price range that I would even consider!
How about it... any ideas?
Thanks!
Ken
Hi, All,
I have finally succeeded in putting together a system of components that I'm happy with and hope to live with for a long time.
Over the last ten years I have had an agreement with myself that I would not even THINK of buying any new cables or interconnects until I was pretty satisfied with the system components.
I have been using halfway decent (by early 1990s standards) interconnects (Monster Interlink reference 2) and cables (biwired Monster Powerline 2), but after reading 20 years worth of reviews, discussion and hype I am finally ready to consider wire upgrades.
I can hardly believe the "explosions" over the past few years of not only the number of cable manufacturers and models, but also of the shocking prices!
I am looking for some way to narrow down the available choices, mainly based on the general "sound" of the different brands and models.
I have been a Stereophile subscriber since 1983, and have every issue. I have been reading wire reviews in several other magazines over the years, and now, of course, there's the internet. I could go back and start reading reviews and check out "Recomended Components", surf the net and peruse various catalogs, but with the number of possible choices available, I'm just overwhelmed!
I have no nearby audio dealer who carries more than one or two cable brands, so I really wouldn't be able to compare locally, and I am really hesitant to do mail-order trials.
My question: Is there any recent publication or web site that gives a (well-informed, competent, objective and reasonably comprehensive) description of the sound of the various cables?
What I would like to see is a ranking of cables as to those that are warmer, more neutral, more bright or detailed, etc. (especially if it includes cables that are more reasonably priced...). It would also be nice if some of the older wires, like my Interlink References, were included for comparison.
Stereophile's Recomended Components listing is useful, but is nowhere near comprehensive, and is definitely biased towards cables that are WAY out of any price range that I would even consider!
How about it... any ideas?
Thanks!
Ken