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06-03-04: Jax2
Jeez, it's a $30 investment, what've you got to loose?! You don't exactly have to give up your Valhallas in order to take the leap of faith necessary to give it a listen yourself. I think cables are very system dependent...at least that's been my experience. Give it a go and let us know. Why stop there? I bet Kmart has some undiscovered jewels in their hardware department! And don't leave out those Hamilton Beach Bar Blender power cords that are all the rage. Granted, they're a bit more expensive and will leave you with two savagely disfigured blenders, but once you've heard those puppies you ain't never gonna' need anything else. Go ahead, give'em a spin and see if they blend with your tastes!
Marco (OK, yeah, it's me who's responsible for all those bar blenders on eBay without power cords)
Jax2 (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Vvrinc
I can't find the original thread and believe it has been removed.
There was an Audiogon member who had written positively about the HD wire and was about to cryo some for comparison. He was encouraged to provide an update in these forums.
Vvrinc (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Sidssp
Tphalieros,
I am using it to connect my BAT-VK75SE to a pair of Vandy 5s, replacing the Harmonic Tech Pro-9 bi-wire. I really like how it sounded in my system. Some audiophile friends of mine laughed at it until they heard it themselves.
I think how the cable is terminated and what connectors are used affected the sound more than the cable itself, at least that was what I found in my system, maybe it was the characteristic of the amp or the speaker, or both. I have tried bare-wire, soldered bare-wire, Cardas GRS R spades (soldered), and gold plated spades from Radio Shack (crimped, soldered and crimped). The best result I got so far was first crimped the bare wire to Radio Shack gold plated spades and than filled the join with molten Cardas silver solder, apply heat-shrink tube to protect the join, and finally treated the spades with Walker Audio SST. I don't know how it measures up to other cables but it beat out the Pro-9 by about a mile in my system.
The whole experiment cost me less than 100 bucks and it was a lot of fun.
Sidssp (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Myraj
Hmmm.....wonder how may pair of Pro-9's will be available for sale now at fire-sale pricing?!
Myraj (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Jax2
I feel bad for Sidssp now. Look, I'll give you $50 for those Pro-9's to defray the cost of your experiment. That oughta' take some of the sting out of it. Maybe the nightmares, and the echo's of the laughter from your audiophile buddies you keep hearing might go away. It's the least I can do. PayPal OK?
Marco
Jax2 (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Sidssp
Myraj,
I wouldn’t say the HD power cord is better than the Pro-9 in absolute term. The result depends heavily on the amp and speaker in use. The Pro-9 sounded wonderful with the Theta Dreadnaught and the Martin Logan SL3 and I have recommended that to others on this forum before. But with the BAT and Vandy 5, it sounded bass heavy, dull, and lifeless – I was disappointed and surprised by that actually.
The beauty of the HD power cord is that it is cheap and we can experiment with it and compare it with other name brands. So give it a trial. You might or might not like the results but one way or the other, you will have fun.
Sidssp (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Sidssp
Marco,
I still have the Dreadnaught and the Pro-9 sounds great with it. I might take up on your offer one day if I decide to sell it but it is going to cost you more than $50. Of course Paypal is ok and I won't charge you fee.
Sidssp (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Tphalieros
Oh Ye of little faith! Don't make fan of Sidssp, I read the same stunning results from an Absolute sound subscriber and veteran audiophile, he paid $30 for the H.Depot cord and it creamed his $600 AQ Hyperlitz silver, speaker cable. "The difference was stunning" (His words). He says a lot more in that letter.
I have bought a $35, 12 gage Extension cord from LOWE'S, they have different color jackets and mine is a very nice yellow color named "yellow jacket". (All extension cords regardless of store are made in Taiwan.) My problem? I am in the middle of house repairs and do not have the time to try it.
Tphalieros (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Jax2
Don't make the mistake of actually taking me seriously Tphalieros. I completely believe his experience, as well as others who've tried them and had success with results. It does not surprise me in the least. The price of cable is largely determined by R&D, Marketing, Production of what may be an otherwise unusual custom cable of a unique compound that is produced in small batches at large expense, and or a heapin' helpin of good old capitalist bullsh%t to make the likes of the $700 military issue hammer and $400 toilet seat look like bargain basement items.....wait a sec....they do look like bargain basement items! Guess that's a bad example.
Marco
PS I'll pass on the HT's thanks Sidssp!
Jax2 (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: bday0000@aol.com
I have made a set of Tri-Wire HD14's. I am going to install them in my parent's Home Theatre soon. I'll let every know how they sound.
Brad Day
Atlanta, GA
bday0000@aol.com
06-03-04: Gunbei
OK, I gotta try this!
Does it make a difference if you use the black HD or orange HD extension cords? What if you use orange for positive and black for the other?
Should you break these in by hooking a weedwhacker to it for an entire Sunday afternoon?
I'm gonna hit Home Depot this weekend!
Gunbei (System | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Gunbei
Should we be using the 13 Amp Orange SJTW, 15 Amp Yellow, or the 12/3 Contractor Grade Extension Cord?
How about the Square D Wiggy® Circuit Tester?
Gunbei (System | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Cosmic_void
Gunbei,
You should give it a shot against your VD Audition speaker cable. If it works well perhaps I'll then try it against mine.
Cosmic_void (System | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Gunbei
Cosmic_Void,
The Audition are out of my system and I'd been using AZ Hologram II and Audience AU24 for almost a year now. The Hologram were sold earlier this year and AU24 are out for repair because I'm a dumb caveman!
I am however breaking in a pair of Ridge Street Audio Poiema and also just got a run of 47 Labs OTA to try out.
I Plan to do a lot of listened with the Poiema and OTA this weekend. I might as well throw the Home Depot 12/3 Contractor Grade Extension Cord into the mix!
Gunbei (System | Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Dweller
To compensate our audiophile egos, Home Depot has agreed to sell the x-cord to Audiogon members for $2000!
Dweller (Threads | Answers)
06-03-04: Gunbei
Dweller, will they accept PayPal?
Gunbei (System | Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: C123666
If the gauge is adequate for the length of the cable run then it should be fine; ie, the home depot. The real question is how good is its protective covering/insulation? Will it remain flexible as it ages?
Read the Roger Russell article on speaker wire at Roger's McIntosh site; it is very interesting.
C123666 (System | Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: Viggen
I just went to HomeDepot's site to check them cables out. Budget audiophiles cables schmables. I'd only try these out if I have speakers as big, ugly and as obtrusive as those big Wilsons are to match these butt ugly hoses. Maybe you can take the jacket off and put your own sleeves on them.
It's got a third ground cable which you can screw on to the source unit's chassis to further fight off electrical interference or something like that? I just read something about this on Aural Thrill's website. Someone try it and let me know if it works.
Viggen (System | Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: Radman707
What is the Home Depot extension cord discussed in TAS? Guage, color, etc? Thanks!
Radman707 (Answers)
06-04-04: Mattybumpkin
Gunbei,
Talk about the itch, I thought you were all settled in on cabling? I can only imagine how you "broke" your Audience cabling, maybe it has something to do with tying up Christy...
Regards,
Mattybumpkin (System | Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: Dweller
I've got some really great looking "professional grade" jumper cables! These honeys must be 6 or 8 gauge and are Day-Glo orange. Bet they'd sound pretty good.
If I could just find an amp with speaker posts big enough for the monster alligator clips...
Dweller (Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: Jax2
You know folks, it isn't a far stretch to imagine that the authors of that very review are laughing their asses off back at the home office searching the current threads here and on AudioAsylum. They'd be laughing at the buzz they created from a completely fabricated review! Not a far stretch....Perhaps money is exchanging hands in the office betting pool. Then again, that raucous laughter wouldn't be a miniscule fraction of that of that from the general public, a typical employee of home depot, or a typical electrical engineer, who was told not only does a few meters of Valhala cost two to three times the price of their entire stereo system, but that there are people who actually BUY the stuff at that price!!! Either way we're a pretty amusing lot, ain't we?!
Marco
Jax2 (System | Reviews | Threads | Answers)
06-04-04: Tphalieros
Well I am glad that I brought this subject up. If anything It made me realize that audiophiles are good sports with humor to boot, a very needed quality when one has to cope with the vicissitudes of a high end system. Do try to read this review though, it will answer most of your possible questions and that's no joke.
Tphalieros (Threads | Answers)
06-05-04: Gjkphd
"when one has to cope with the vicissitudes of a high end system",geez, I thought I had problems!
Gjkphd (Threads | Answers)
06-05-04: Cosmic_void
Gunbei,
Caveman to caveman, how are the Au24's in your system? I'd be interested to hear of your results from your comparisons.
Marco, in the latest issue of TAS the authors or the review elaborate a little further on what it is that they did with the cables used in the review. There are a large number of responses from people who tried the cables - good and bad. What they did was use one wire to hot the other to neutral and left the ground wire unused in the run. An alternative if some one is going whole hog or biwireing is to you a run of extension for each connection and using all three wires in the cable for a thicker guage. At this price, not a bad idea.
Cosmic_void (System | Threads | Answers)
06-05-04: Tphalieros
OK, Gjkphd, sorry for the poetic analogy, but I have been stuck for 5 months now with my Mapleshade 4" maple plinths. I made a TT from maple. That is, one plinth for the platter another as it's base and repeated this process with another maple plinth and base for the tonearm. Everything was peaches and cream except that the maple boards warped (Mapleshades don't suppose to do that!) and were moving all over the place. It took 5 months to get them back repaired and I only got 3 out of 4, I don't know as yet the fate of the last one. This is only part of the story of my stereo system's adventures, I would need a couple of pages to describe the rest of it's problems.
By the way, does anybody know if the Tube circuit insert for the PS300 power cond. works better than the Multiwave 2?
Tphalieros (Threads | Answers)
06-07-04: Hbarrel
Some things are only as good as the wiring run from the circuit breaker box to the outlet.
I've decided there's an awful lot of hocus pocus going on in the world of audio.
There's a reason why they call it "High End".
Hbarrel (Threads | Answers)
06-14-04: Redwoodgarden
It's called "High End" because that's where the general public thinks our noses are pointing. Maybe the're right? Who cares?
Redwoodgarden (System | Threads | Answers)
06-15-04: Dmitrydr
First for those cables no one guarantees production consistency (which is not required for a regular use of zip cord), so if you're lucky enough you may get something acceptable, but the next guy may get a piece with different characteristics. The problems of the solid core cables are well known, as well as how high inductance affects frequency response, and I don't mention the inconsistence of the copper crystal structure there... Such a cable may happen to sound acceptable, but its main problem is that its electrical characteristics are unpredictable from piece to piece, you'll never know what you buy.
Dmitrydr (System | Threads | Answers)
06-15-04: Killerpiglet
Well, that settles it.
I've heard so many people pound the keys explaining why this should not work, seemingly without having tried it themselves, that I just may try it at some point.
A bit like the PC debate. I read and read (and theoretically agreed) about how they should not matter then I tried one and it did matter.
Anyone have the actual Part Numbers in question?
KP
Killerpiglet (Threads | Answers)
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