mantis
04-02-2008, 05:01 PM
Whats up everyone???
It's been awhile since I posted one of these and actually I have had 4 different front speaker wires connected to my sysem to test them out.
1) Audioquest cv8's are my reference wires and everything I test has to be compared to them.
2) DH labs Silver sonic 14-2.
3)Audioquest Bulk 14-2 cl3 rated Custom speaker wire.
4)Analysis Plus Theater 2 14-2 cl3 rated inwall speaker wire.
For the shoot out I used Dynaudio Audience 82's , Dynaudio 42w's and for the sheer hell of it a Polk audio cd400i center channel by itself. Preamp and amp are Rotel rsp1068 and a RMB1095. The IC's are Audioquest Jaguars. It would have been nice to test DH labs and Analysis Plus Ic's with there cables but I also have Audioquest Ita 1.1 custom built(by me) 1m Ic's so I also but them in . Pioneer Elite dv47a and a Ps3 was used for sources.
As usual I listened to my cv8's for awhile to get everything in order. Also warmed up the gear with them and dropped in some music. Detail and warmth is what these cable bright or not take away from my system. It's a perfect balance in my opnion from source to speaker. Audioquest has proven to me that I need not even look into wire anymore. The line has been set in stone and it's going to take Merlin or Kng Aurthor himself to prove other wise. Happy? Yes I am. I have been for year with Audioquest.
Dh Labs silver sonics where up next. I ran these cables for weeks. I burned them in and then some. They where brand new when I got them. They added brightness to my system. I didn't care for that. I had to put in the cv8's to make sure I wasn't hearing something that I made up. Sure enough my sound smoothed out and the extreme brightness went away. I also lost some bass. It was there but I noticed it enough that I decided to remove the sub from the mix as it was mid range I lost. Sure enough it was. In my system these cables made is sound bright and thin. Not night and day but enough to notice. On the cs400i , I ran 5 channel stereo , turned off the rears and disconnected main speakers. It to showed the brightness between the 2 cables. I connected my 42w's as fronts and it was there as well. So for my system these do not work. Nicely built cables and are made from silver/copper mix. If your system is to strong in mid bass and need some help on the top, these cables are for you. It will take some of the deadness out and wake it up.
Audioquest 14-2 cl3 bulk custom cable. I just cut 2 8 foot lengths and went to town. This cable is like 200 bucks for 250 feet or something like that. Incedible value. It sounds almost as good as my 700.00 cv8's. Crazy but very true. It has the ability to be smooth , detailed and clear. I love it. It's ugly plain ass off white color so in the looks department they suck ass. But who really cares about things like that except idiots like me. But after listening to them for a week on my 82's , they have proven there value in my system. I use this cable in my system on my center channel(Dynaudio Audience 122c) and it keeps right up with the cv8's. I was going to order a center channel cv8 which I still may but I feel the amount of money I paid for an entire roll of this wire which by the way is in my walls for my rears(Dynaudio Audience 42w) and I can't be any happier with this wire. It's been 4 years and I still have not built my theater in the basement. So many things have changed and cost me thousands of dollars that I had to put it on the back burner. I plan on getting it going soon but with 2 kids and a wife, they always find ways to spend my money... o well I will enjoy my system in my familyroom untill then.
Ok so just yesterday I received my new wires in Analysis Plus Theater 2's. I had to build them myself which was fun. I do it everyday and I'm still cool with building wires. For this they are brand new and I used Spades at the speakers and bananas at the amp end. The silver sonics I used Bananas from Viennna Acoustics and the Audioquest 14-2 I used bare wire. So After I they where built , I installed them in. I didn't listen to them yesterday but heard it go. I didn't notice anything different but I was not really listening. I watched some tv and played some games. They ran all day and night. I felt the need to make my thead now as I have made a discovery in them. They are nice. They sound clear and warm like the 14-2 . They cost alot more but actually not in the sound I liked , it's the softness of the cable. It's nice to work with non solid core wire. Again this has NOTHING to do with the sound but in the ability to run and manage wire. I find this Important as I hate nothing more then difficult wire to work with. It's the only thing I don't care for with Audioquest. They are a solid core company and sometimes it sucks to work with. I'm sure non of you care about that but being a custom Installer , it matters alot to me.
So back to the Analysis Plus theater 2's sound. I find them to be a equal to the 14-2 cl2 audioquest cables. I have not found anything I like about them better here. Detail , bass response , are almost exact. I switched back and forth and had a difficult time hearing a difference. Both cables are copper. Both claim what they do, Analysis Plus claims there oval design is superior in tranferring highs but I don't hear an improvement or a worse tone compared. So for the sheer hell of it I figured the cv8's should be placed back in and see whats the deal. Well the cv8's are more detailed. They bring a steadyness to the sound. It's like adding space inbetween everything. What you want to hear meaning the voice of Norah Jones when she is singing The Prettiest thing You can hear her take a breath. You can hear the hi hats on the drum kit in the back shimmering. The kick drum is clear and how it would sound if it was in the room. The snare drum you can hear the after ring of the Snare after he hits it beat for beat. Beauty like her voice these cables are. I don't know if they are just a correct match or a superior cable. Unfair as they cost more then all the other combine but it proves to me I made the right choice when I purchased them.
This is the part I love and hate with this hobby. As I sit here having a good time, enjoying my thoughts and mood , I find myself now wanting to go even higher end with Audioquest. Ic's with HDMI lurking in the wind as my system is getting a new preamp as soon as I find one that does exactly what I want it to do , they will not be as needed. Balanced probably will go in and by design is a superior cable anyway . So Jag's will probably be replaced with Balanced Jag's. Who know I'll cross that bridge when I get there . But speaker wire for my front 2 are important to me in the fact that I love to sometimes sit and get into a cd/sacd or what have you. Relax and put my feet up after a hard long day.
Could I be happy with what I own?? Yes. I could sell my cv8's which is going to happen soon and Install 14-2 cl3 Audioquest?? Yes I would but on those 2 channel days I would like to have better. During movies , I don't find any reason to spend the insane amount of money on my wires. Like I said the 14-2 cl3 Audioquest I find to be perfect. Detail and sonic's are all there. Maybe it's a hang up, maybe just knowing that I can squeeze just that tad bit more out when I listen to music that I'm willing to spend more money there. Maybe I should build a 2 channel system and stop trying to do 2 channel and theater in the same system. All may be the case but this isn't about all that. It's about all these cool cables I tested.
To wrap it up , I feel the Analysis Plus theater 2 wire to be the best to work with, it holds it's own in sound quality but I feel it's pricey for little or no gain in sound quality. The Audioquest cl3 14-2 is the overall best cable as it's price to performance is out of this world. The DH labs silver sonic stunk up my system for music and for theater use I didn't notice as it was only wired on the mains. I didn't find watching movies with it to hurt my sound. The cv8's are the best sounding speaker wires I own and won this battle hands down but for movies I find no benefits to owning them. Only in 2 channel do I really notice. Maybe if I wired my entire system in cv8 that I would yield some Improvement but the cost would not equal the performance. I would rather buy a better amp or preamp. Wire has it's limitations on if it can help anything. Once you have the proper guage for the length your going and account for the size of the speaker, 14 guage gets it done for just about everything. Like I said the Audioquest 14-2 really is the winner here.
Dan
It's been awhile since I posted one of these and actually I have had 4 different front speaker wires connected to my sysem to test them out.
1) Audioquest cv8's are my reference wires and everything I test has to be compared to them.
2) DH labs Silver sonic 14-2.
3)Audioquest Bulk 14-2 cl3 rated Custom speaker wire.
4)Analysis Plus Theater 2 14-2 cl3 rated inwall speaker wire.
For the shoot out I used Dynaudio Audience 82's , Dynaudio 42w's and for the sheer hell of it a Polk audio cd400i center channel by itself. Preamp and amp are Rotel rsp1068 and a RMB1095. The IC's are Audioquest Jaguars. It would have been nice to test DH labs and Analysis Plus Ic's with there cables but I also have Audioquest Ita 1.1 custom built(by me) 1m Ic's so I also but them in . Pioneer Elite dv47a and a Ps3 was used for sources.
As usual I listened to my cv8's for awhile to get everything in order. Also warmed up the gear with them and dropped in some music. Detail and warmth is what these cable bright or not take away from my system. It's a perfect balance in my opnion from source to speaker. Audioquest has proven to me that I need not even look into wire anymore. The line has been set in stone and it's going to take Merlin or Kng Aurthor himself to prove other wise. Happy? Yes I am. I have been for year with Audioquest.
Dh Labs silver sonics where up next. I ran these cables for weeks. I burned them in and then some. They where brand new when I got them. They added brightness to my system. I didn't care for that. I had to put in the cv8's to make sure I wasn't hearing something that I made up. Sure enough my sound smoothed out and the extreme brightness went away. I also lost some bass. It was there but I noticed it enough that I decided to remove the sub from the mix as it was mid range I lost. Sure enough it was. In my system these cables made is sound bright and thin. Not night and day but enough to notice. On the cs400i , I ran 5 channel stereo , turned off the rears and disconnected main speakers. It to showed the brightness between the 2 cables. I connected my 42w's as fronts and it was there as well. So for my system these do not work. Nicely built cables and are made from silver/copper mix. If your system is to strong in mid bass and need some help on the top, these cables are for you. It will take some of the deadness out and wake it up.
Audioquest 14-2 cl3 bulk custom cable. I just cut 2 8 foot lengths and went to town. This cable is like 200 bucks for 250 feet or something like that. Incedible value. It sounds almost as good as my 700.00 cv8's. Crazy but very true. It has the ability to be smooth , detailed and clear. I love it. It's ugly plain ass off white color so in the looks department they suck ass. But who really cares about things like that except idiots like me. But after listening to them for a week on my 82's , they have proven there value in my system. I use this cable in my system on my center channel(Dynaudio Audience 122c) and it keeps right up with the cv8's. I was going to order a center channel cv8 which I still may but I feel the amount of money I paid for an entire roll of this wire which by the way is in my walls for my rears(Dynaudio Audience 42w) and I can't be any happier with this wire. It's been 4 years and I still have not built my theater in the basement. So many things have changed and cost me thousands of dollars that I had to put it on the back burner. I plan on getting it going soon but with 2 kids and a wife, they always find ways to spend my money... o well I will enjoy my system in my familyroom untill then.
Ok so just yesterday I received my new wires in Analysis Plus Theater 2's. I had to build them myself which was fun. I do it everyday and I'm still cool with building wires. For this they are brand new and I used Spades at the speakers and bananas at the amp end. The silver sonics I used Bananas from Viennna Acoustics and the Audioquest 14-2 I used bare wire. So After I they where built , I installed them in. I didn't listen to them yesterday but heard it go. I didn't notice anything different but I was not really listening. I watched some tv and played some games. They ran all day and night. I felt the need to make my thead now as I have made a discovery in them. They are nice. They sound clear and warm like the 14-2 . They cost alot more but actually not in the sound I liked , it's the softness of the cable. It's nice to work with non solid core wire. Again this has NOTHING to do with the sound but in the ability to run and manage wire. I find this Important as I hate nothing more then difficult wire to work with. It's the only thing I don't care for with Audioquest. They are a solid core company and sometimes it sucks to work with. I'm sure non of you care about that but being a custom Installer , it matters alot to me.
So back to the Analysis Plus theater 2's sound. I find them to be a equal to the 14-2 cl2 audioquest cables. I have not found anything I like about them better here. Detail , bass response , are almost exact. I switched back and forth and had a difficult time hearing a difference. Both cables are copper. Both claim what they do, Analysis Plus claims there oval design is superior in tranferring highs but I don't hear an improvement or a worse tone compared. So for the sheer hell of it I figured the cv8's should be placed back in and see whats the deal. Well the cv8's are more detailed. They bring a steadyness to the sound. It's like adding space inbetween everything. What you want to hear meaning the voice of Norah Jones when she is singing The Prettiest thing You can hear her take a breath. You can hear the hi hats on the drum kit in the back shimmering. The kick drum is clear and how it would sound if it was in the room. The snare drum you can hear the after ring of the Snare after he hits it beat for beat. Beauty like her voice these cables are. I don't know if they are just a correct match or a superior cable. Unfair as they cost more then all the other combine but it proves to me I made the right choice when I purchased them.
This is the part I love and hate with this hobby. As I sit here having a good time, enjoying my thoughts and mood , I find myself now wanting to go even higher end with Audioquest. Ic's with HDMI lurking in the wind as my system is getting a new preamp as soon as I find one that does exactly what I want it to do , they will not be as needed. Balanced probably will go in and by design is a superior cable anyway . So Jag's will probably be replaced with Balanced Jag's. Who know I'll cross that bridge when I get there . But speaker wire for my front 2 are important to me in the fact that I love to sometimes sit and get into a cd/sacd or what have you. Relax and put my feet up after a hard long day.
Could I be happy with what I own?? Yes. I could sell my cv8's which is going to happen soon and Install 14-2 cl3 Audioquest?? Yes I would but on those 2 channel days I would like to have better. During movies , I don't find any reason to spend the insane amount of money on my wires. Like I said the 14-2 cl3 Audioquest I find to be perfect. Detail and sonic's are all there. Maybe it's a hang up, maybe just knowing that I can squeeze just that tad bit more out when I listen to music that I'm willing to spend more money there. Maybe I should build a 2 channel system and stop trying to do 2 channel and theater in the same system. All may be the case but this isn't about all that. It's about all these cool cables I tested.
To wrap it up , I feel the Analysis Plus theater 2 wire to be the best to work with, it holds it's own in sound quality but I feel it's pricey for little or no gain in sound quality. The Audioquest cl3 14-2 is the overall best cable as it's price to performance is out of this world. The DH labs silver sonic stunk up my system for music and for theater use I didn't notice as it was only wired on the mains. I didn't find watching movies with it to hurt my sound. The cv8's are the best sounding speaker wires I own and won this battle hands down but for movies I find no benefits to owning them. Only in 2 channel do I really notice. Maybe if I wired my entire system in cv8 that I would yield some Improvement but the cost would not equal the performance. I would rather buy a better amp or preamp. Wire has it's limitations on if it can help anything. Once you have the proper guage for the length your going and account for the size of the speaker, 14 guage gets it done for just about everything. Like I said the Audioquest 14-2 really is the winner here.
Dan