Cable Options for Polk LSi15

[Paul.Cox]

Think this subject may have been covered a number of times. Am looking to invest in LSi15 for listen just to stereo. Would like to hear what people have found to be a good match for this type of speaker wrt to speaker cable. Down under the range of cables will not be as easy to access as in the States. Brands like Audio Quest, QED, MOnster Cable are easy to get. I have used AQ for the home theather and found this to work well to bi amp the fronts and drive the center. The shop offering the speakers has recommeded AQ slate as the cable. Would appricate the views on a good match. It seems to me to be more art than science to get this right.

[mantis]

Over the years I have found that certain wire makes some systems sound fantastic and some to sound not so fantastic.

Audioquest makes fantastic products. The more I Install it, the more I think it works well with most systems. I for one switched to Audioquest from Transparent and Kimber Kable. Both of those companies make really good cable.I see no reason not to go with Audioquest. I use the cv8's and I love em. They sound very open and clear.

The Idea behind cable in general is to get high quality to match the system your building. Don't let the cables be the weakest link.

Good luck

Dan

[Zero]

What other electronics are you using ?

[Paul.Cox]

Will be driving the speakers with a Denon PMA 1500 amp so will looking to biwire. The current CD player will be the weak link - will have to wait till nxt yr to upgrade that part

[wingnut4772]

I found Cobalt Cable to be a pretty good match with my old LSI 15s.

[Zero]

Paul,

Experiment around. One of the best cost-effective means of wiring up the LSi's that I've come across is using Magnet wire. You can buy this stuff in bulk off ebay (recommend 12, 14, and 16 gauge wire). Or if you are feeling too lazy to do any work yourself, Paul Speltz at anti-cable's will do this for you at a reasonable cost.

[LuSh]

I'd really urge you to hold back and wait. Let me explain;

I was using a SimAudio intergrated amp with my Polk Audio LSI 9 speakers for a long time and was using Kimber 8TC speaker wire. The sound was pleasant but I found switching to Audience Maestro speaker cables brought out more dynamics and detail. Drum's would sound more rounded as if I was really "there".

I then switched from SimAudio to a Krell intergrated. Today, after weeks of complaining to myself, I put back in my Kimber 8TC and found the sound much more pleasent. The Audience cables with the Krell made things overly analytical and broke music down into sounds. It was hard for me to get into the music. The Kimber is much more laid back, and it is a compromise at this point. I'm losing fullness in the bass and the symbols don't have the same "snap" but the focals and midrange have a much more "there" feeling to it.

I will probably be looking to upgrade the Kimber's to either Kimber Select 3033 or Harmonic Pro 11's (likely the harmonic's due to cost). I guess my point is it really depends on the electronic's of everything. I've switched out $700 speaker cable for modest $300, which I'm ok with had I not owned BOTH cables. Now I have to get rid of the Audience cables to find the Harmonic's, not that the Audience are a bad cable but they just don't work well in MY setup. And at the end of the day its about YOUR setup.

I can go on the record as saying if you're system needs a blanket then look at Carda's, Harmonic Tech, Kimber...if you're system is already warm then you'd best look at Audience, Blue Circle or even Nordost.

[anonymouse]

I found Cobalt Cable to be a pretty good match with my old LSI 15s.

And I bought her cobalt cables and am using them between a Rotel 991 and LSi9's. They sound fantastic. Much better than Monster garbage which they replaced.

[Zero]

As a counter.. my experiences are the exact opposite of Lush's. As a whole, Kimber wire seemed to have always given off a more aggressive tone.. quick, speedy, and detailed... anything but warm and subdued. Audience on the other hand seemed to sacrifice a bit here and there in order to maintain consistant performance (some call prat/musicality/whatever).

Its just another fine example of this hobby and how different experiences can be in similar situations.

I recommend something inexpensive like the magnet wire simply because you have very, very little to lose if you dont like it. If your budget for wire is around 200 bucks, I would honestly look at selling your Denon.. taking the sum of money and upgrading the amp first....

[dorokusai]

As a counter to both Lush and Zero....just read what recommendations have been mentioned and find out for yourself. Noone can say what will be best in your system. This whole process is what makes audio fun and always interesting.

[Zero]

to quote the mythbusters;

"I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

:p

[dorokusai]

Don't get me wrong fellow Polkies, I think the recommendations are very cool. He should take it for face value, make a decision and run with it....listen....learn....move on.

[schwarcw]

Whatever you buy, buy it used. It will save you a bundle. I like PS Audio gear. Great sound, quality build and they can be picked up used for a very reasonable price.

[haimoc]

I have two pairs of Straightwire Rhapsody Rhapsody speaker cables (for my friend) for sale on the Audiogon. These are the best deals of these models. If you want them, please let me know. Thanks.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?accstwek&1160872905

[Toka78]

Buy a cable that gets the basic requirements right...don't worry about which audiophlake-approved wire to get...wires are soooo far down the list of 'things to worry about' it isn't worth all the hubbub. Really. Room treatments/speaker positioning are something people never worry about, yet they should. Wires can't 'fix' problems, the only thing they need to do is 'nothing'. Transport the signal without messing it up. Some of the higher priced cables misapply basic engineering principles (or make some up) to a laughable degree. I don't want to get into 'this brand vs. this brand' as it isn't at all productive. But here is some good, fact-based, informative reading (Polk Audio is mentioned/quoted in the 3rd link):

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/top10cablesnakeoil.php

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/truthcablesinterconnects.php

[Zero]

haha... well, I guess one was going to pop out the wood-work eventually.

[dorokusai]

The links have cobwebs on them.

[Toka78]

The last two links are barely 2 years old.

Facts and actual measurements are boring, eh? What in those articles is not correct? If you have something factual/proven to show that the big money cables are worth it, then I will happily review it. Otherwise, I will live in the real world, thank you.

[LuSh]

Toka78....

Nevermind, CD players are just CD players...an amp's an amp and cables make no difference. I'd love to hear about the direct comparison's YOU'VE personally made...any yahoo can do some reading...

btw, it's funny you used Roger Russell's as a link...McIntosh has been accused of being outdated for years, on paper at least I could prove how simple tranistor deign's are inferior to MosFet's...but I've heard McIntosh and have enjoyed it in the past.

I don't doubt there is trickery in marketing with cables but then again the same can be applied to everything from redbook source playback to amplification. My ear's usually tell, or did in the case of cables after MANY listening tests, the fact that a digital designer I know has shown me why in theory cables can make a difference only reaffirmed my attitude.

[dorokusai]

Don't bother Lush, it's a waste of time to debate the issue.

Toka78 - I hope you continue to believe everything you read in life, good luck. Happy listening!

[Zero]

Unless of course you are in the real world; ala, the land of wind and ghosts.

[zombie boy 2000]

On the Simpsons...

didn't Mr. Sparkle banish dirt to the Land of Wind and Spirits?:p

[Toka78]

I never said CD players were all the same, and never will. Too many variables. Same with amps (to a lesser degree, but the same). Not at all relevent to the discussion.

Have I done comparisons? You betcha. Double-blind tests, of course, as anything else is completely invalid. I'm sure everyone does that, right?

And to further avoid a change of topic direction, I won't discuss whether or not 'they' are right about McIntosh...don't care. But nothing in that article has anything to do with McIntosh, or MosFET's, or anything else.

And again, I'm all for factual, reality-based discussion, but for whatever reason whenever it comes to cabling, the 'esoteric side' never has anything to offer. Nothing other than hyperbole or vain attempts to change the subject. What theories did your digital designer friend show you? Care to share them? The links I provided are full of repeatable, verifiable facts. People can dismiss them for whatever silly reasons they like, yet they don't bother to try to refute what they are saying. I wonder why?

I'll play devil's advocate for a moment, and pretend that cables CAN 'improve' the sound quality. Even if that were the case, it still wouldn't be as important as room treatments and speaker positioning, so if people are swapping cables without addressing those issues, regardless of whether or not cables really matter, they are spinning their wheels. This, of course, ignores the fact that many cable sellers simply rebadge Belden or Canare products and mark up the price 300% (and well beyond).

In closing, if someone were to come up with a way to transmit electrons better, and could prove it, I'd be first in line to get it. But that hasn't happened yet, so I'll stick with the industry standard (Belden) that just about any recording studio on the planet tends to use. If there were a better option, they'd use it.

[Toka78]

Don't bother Lush, it's a waste of time to debate the issue.

Toka78 - I hope you continue to believe everything you read in life, good luck. Happy listening!


It is a waste of time, you are right about that. Simply because nobody ever wants to actually have a fact-based debate. And I don't believe everything I read (otherwise I'd be a loyal reader of Stereophile or Hi-Fi+). But, if whatever you buy makes you happy, then in the end that is what matters. :)

[LuSh]

The use of different materials, silver, gold and copper mixed together can produce very different results, some manufactures use hard wall filters while others let more things pass through. On paper this might not test so well, hence why they'd never publish the findings. I know of one cable designer who has insisted to me that for digital pcm he'd never use a 75ohm cable ever again. This wouldn't look very good on paper would it? The science behind the cable would indicate that he'd be better of with a 75ohm cable, his research and findings proved otherwise and my ears can tell me he's right. I can understand why he wouldn't want to run out and advertise to his small dealer network.

On paper an $18,000 Zanden dAC would never sell because it doesn't use many of the designing mistakes that engineers have created over the years. Filters were all the rage 20years ago, I don't think anybody here would dispute that CD players sound horrid in comparison to today's.

Using a recording studio as a reference might not be the best idea, the end users needs are quite different from near field playback where accuracy is key to home use where "sinking" into the music is what most conumers are after.

[W WALDECKER]

It is a waste of time, you are right about that. Simply because nobody ever wants to actually have a fact-based debate. And I don't believe everything I read (otherwise I'd be a loyal reader of Stereophile or Hi-Fi+). But, if whatever you buy makes you happy, then in the end that is what matters. :)Hey slick, cables can make as much difference in a high resolution audio system as any other component in the audio chain. if your gear is not up to snuff then dont bother with the more expensive cables. on the other hand if the gear is up to the task cheap cables can have a negative effect on the overall sound quality.happy listening. thanks....WCW III:)

[Toka78]

Heh...I was waiting for this typical response. Predictable as a sunrise.

Its obvious no further good will come of this 'discussion', so lets all just enjoy our systems, eh? The new Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood sounds great through just about anything. ;)

[LuSh]

I thought i did a decent job. I never bashed your system.

[Toka78]

I thought i did a decent job. I never bashed your system.

Wasn't directed at you my good man, no worries. :cool:

[SCompRacer]

....don't worry about which audiophlake-approved wire to get...


You sound more like an insulting troll spouting absolutes than someone who wants to debate.

[dorokusai]

Predictable as a sunrise.

Scomp - Yep, and in his own words.

[ND13]

All I know is that my ears are a much better judge, than ANY meter, scope, etc., etc, of what sounds RIGHT. I was one of the disbelievers for years and thought people were insane to spend hundreds or thousands on wire/cable. Once I got into a higher resolution system, the differences were much more apparent, sometime subtle, sometimes dramatic. I still think spending thousands is insane, but it's not my money. I'll buy my cables used, from someone I trust to have not abused them(thanks Rich). If I'm not mistaken, the PS speaker cables I'm using had a MSRP of over $1200 and I got them used for a fraction of that and they came complete with EVERYTHING they were packaged with, which in itself was pretty impressive(the packaging).

This is a non-winnable debate, period. Everyone's ears are different and for the most part, so are their systems and rooms, therefore subjective.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

[Toka78]

This is a non-winnable debate, period. Everyone's ears are different and for the most part, so are their systems and rooms, therefore subjective.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.


Agreed, not worth discussing further. Getting something expensive for less is always a good deal, so good going there!

Silly me for thinking a good debate could happen on the topic (for once)...much easier to falsely label someone a troll rather than address the topic at hand. :rolleyes: So sad.

[dorokusai]

The search function is your friend and there is a wealth of information on this subject, for and against, available at your fingertips.

[SCompRacer]

much easier to falsely label someone a troll rather than address the topic at hand. :rolleyes: So sad.

In communication, what you say and how you say it is subject to interpretation. Your style of delivery and attitude about the subject made it appear to me like you were just looking to provoke a reaction, which you accomplished. That is why I said “It sounds like….”

In regards to cables making a difference, Noel summed it up pretty good. It is all subjective to the listener. You did bring up some good points about room problems and positioning. More folks are aware of and addressing room problems now. There are more manufacturers offering attractive acoustic treatment products and measuring software at reasonable prices to accomplish that.