jps labs speaker cable

[saxophonist56]

is it worth spending 1250 on jps labs superconductor 2 speaker cables? can they be had cheaper? and where? i have an adcom cd player, jolida 202A, meadowlark shearwater hotrods. i'm using monster cable Z1 only because i can't decide which cable to buy.
i find the shearwater hotrods bass is not good with this setup...i know they can sound great tho. do they need to be biamped to get good bass response? will the expensive speaker cords give me what i need?

[F1]

1250 USD?? for cable??
Your monster is fine. Spend your money for room treatment instead. Bass trap, accoustic panel etc will most likely improve the sound of your system rather than spending for cable with uncertain result. Well, some may say the result is certainly the same as what you have now. So....

[markw]

Don't expect any cable to give you the bass you seem to lack. Try repositioning your speakers, floor/wall coverings, etc, but cables? Nahhh...

Two other possibilities..

1) not enough power to drive the speakers correctly.

2) perhaps they don't actually provide the bass you hoped for.

One suggestion... a nice powered subwoofer perhaps?

[F1]

...
One suggestion... a nice powered subwoofer perhaps?

Agree. $1250 is enough to buy very decent subwoofer.

[Beckman]

is it worth spending 1250 on jps labs superconductor 2 speaker cables? can they be had cheaper? and where? i have an adcom cd player, jolida 202A, meadowlark shearwater hotrods. i'm using monster cable Z1 only because i can't decide which cable to buy.
i find the shearwater hotrods bass is not good with this setup...i know they can sound great tho. do they need to be biamped to get good bass response? will the expensive speaker cords give me what i need?

Try moving the speakers closer to the walls. Also aiming them slightly inward toward the listener will increase bass response, while decreasing stereo imaging. If you have $1250 to spend I would go with a new sub.

[E-Stat]

i know they can sound great tho. do they need to be biamped to get good bass response? will the expensive speaker cords give me what i need?
I would work on room treatments first. Jon Risch's quick and dirty bass traps work quite well to minimize bass nodes that are present in most rooms.

BTW, I use JPS Labs cables throughout my system. I find the biggest difference for using the Superconductor+ speaker cables vs. zip cord is in high frequency resolution. Their blacker background results in more resolution coming through.

rw

[mtrycraft]

is it worth spending 1250 on jps labs superconductor 2 speaker cables? i find the shearwater hotrods bass is not good with this setup...i know they can sound great tho. do they need to be biamped to get good bass response? will the expensive speaker cords give me what i need?

Expensive speaker cables are only good for the maker. 12 ga speaker cable is more that sufficient for the job. Price will not make a cable, it only makes it more expensive.
12 ga can be had for $.35/ft. Anything over that is pure profit for the makers and are laughing all the way to the bank, which they have a right, I guess.

Your problem is as stated above, your room, or a lack of a good sub, or both. Or, the recording is lacking.

[junkeroos]

Stereotimes was very impressed with the Ultraconductors. Although what you are looking at (Superconductor) is ridiculously expensive. It looks like the JPS Labs Ultraconductor cables are excellent budget cables and that's what i'll use if I want to go the route of exotic cables. The audible improvement from $200 to $2000 is not 10x, it's probably closer to 1.5x (inaudible) so I'd rather save my money.

http://www.stereotimes.com/cables021801.shtm

A dated (yr. 2000) shootout of interconnects rated the Ultraconductor as the best budget cable followed closely by DH Labs SilverSonic BL-II. I'm not sure how that translates to the quality of their speaker cables. A year after, THe British Hi-Fi Awards gave the highest honors to QED Silver Anniversary for budget speaker wires. You may want to wait for their 2003 awards.

http://www.fsaudioweb.com/reviews/mapleaudiosecrets.html
http://www.british-audio.org.uk/awards_2001.html

I think you're better off going to this site for reviews of people who own JPS Labs cables if that's what you seek:
http://www.audioreview.com/Cables/JPS%20Labs,Ultraconductor/PRD_116460_1584crx.aspx

[woodman]

BTW, I use JPS Labs cables throughout my system. I find the biggest difference for using the Superconductor+ speaker cables vs. zip cord is in high frequency resolution. Their blacker background results in more resolution coming through.
rw

Yikes! You're using JPS cables throughout your system, eh? You have my deepest heartfelt sympathy - I know you didn't ask for it, but you have it just the same. What you obviously lack in electronic education (knowledge) you make up for in sheer gullibility. I went to the JPS Labs website to read what they had to say about their products, and I came away with the clear-cut conviction that if the FTC wasn't so busy with what they consider much more important matters, they'd be prosecuting companies such as JPS for misrepresentation and fraud! Their website is a veritable cornucopia of techno-babble, inferring performance enhancements that are sheer total nonsense! They state as fact what to me are obvious exaggerations ... physical impossiblities to produce! If ol' P.T. Barnum were still around, he's be summarily impressed!

[E-Stat]

Stereotimes was very impressed with the Ultraconductors. Although what you are looking at (Superconductor) is ridiculously expensive.
To split hairs, he is looking at the 9 gauge Superconductor+ or FX in about a ten foot length for that price (unless they were used). I have an eight foot pair myself. The 5 gauge Superconductors begin at $2k for a four foot run.

rw

[bturk667]

is it worth spending 1250 on jps labs superconductor 2 speaker cables? can they be had cheaper? and where? i have an adcom cd player, jolida 202A, meadowlark shearwater hotrods. i'm using monster cable Z1 only because i can't decide which cable to buy.
i find the shearwater hotrods bass is not good with this setup...i know they can sound great tho. do they need to be biamped to get good bass response? will the expensive speaker cords give me what i need?It seems like you may have choosen poorly when you picked the Meadowlarks. I have never found Meadowlark's to have a good bass response. Cables will not give you something that isn't there. There are only three suggestions that I have, other than speaker placement, is to either buy a sub, or buy different speakers. Thirdly, a solid state amp may help, but I would not think too much.

[mtrycraft]

Too bad none of your links had reference to bias controlled listening that shows audible differences between those expensive cables and a pair that Radio Shack sells for next to nothing in comparison, or any other comparable cables, for that matter..
As it is, those reviews are worthless for sonic performance of sonic differences.
They didn't conduct such comparisons because that doesn't sell cables as there will not be any audible doifferences. Very simple.
So, one has to make up glowing praise that has no real meaning in reality.
Such is the audio hobby,

[saxophonist56]

Yikes! You're using JPS cables throughout your system, eh? You have my deepest heartfelt sympathy - I know you didn't ask for it, but you have it just the same. What you obviously lack in electronic education (knowledge) you make up for in sheer gullibility. I went to the JPS Labs website to read what they had to say about their products, and I came away with the clear-cut conviction that if the FTC wasn't so busy with what they consider much more important matters, they'd be prosecuting companies such as JPS for misrepresentation and fraud! Their website is a veritable cornucopia of techno-babble, inferring performance enhancements that are sheer total nonsense! They state as fact what to me are obvious exaggerations ... physical impossiblities to produce! If ol' P.T. Barnum were still around, he's be summarily impressed!


i've heard these speakers sound really good with two arcam amps biamped with an arcam preamp....now if i could just score some amps like that. i guess they are just power hungry.

[E-Stat]

i've heard these speakers sound really good with two arcam amps biamped with an arcam preamp....now if i could just score some amps like that. i guess they are just power hungry.
A couple of months back, Luke Manley of VTL brought a pair of his Siegfried amps to the Atlanta area dealer who also happens to sell JPS Labs and Meadowlark. The Blue Herons sounded very nice!

rw

[junkeroos]

Too bad none of your links had reference to bias controlled listening that shows audible differences between those expensive cables and a pair that Radio Shack sells for next to nothing in comparison, or any other comparable cables, for that matter..
As it is, those reviews are worthless for sonic performance of sonic differences.
They didn't conduct such comparisons because that doesn't sell cables as there will not be any audible doifferences. Very simple.
So, one has to make up glowing praise that has no real meaning in reality.
Such is the audio hobby,

This scientific approach may help:
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/SpeakerCableFaceoff.htm

[mtrycraft]

This scientific approach may help:
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/SpeakerCableFaceoff.htm


Yes, I am well aware of that link. They did a fine job of measuring and plotting. I must have missed the DBT listening. Could you direct me to it?

[saxophonist56]

i've heard these speakers sound really good with two arcam amps biamped with an arcam preamp....now if i could just score some amps like that. i guess they are just power hungry.



i think your opinion about jps labs is the minority. i did notice an improvement with them.
my speakers sound much better biamped....much better.

[happy ears]

Well I tried a pair of Monster Z1R and I will agree with Mtrycraft on this one 12 guage wire would probably have been better. The Z1R's rolled of the highs and the bass seamed to be lacking. Just proves because it costs more does not mean it is better. Many better cables than the Z1R's that I tested.

Although many people tell me it is all the same this has not been my experinece. Test drive before you buy.