solid core vs stranded

[O'Shag]

Its hard to know conclusively about these things. A lot of professionals think we are fooling ourselves, and many of these people are serious kinda folks that know what their talking about. But I have done a right job on myself, because I can hear differences between different interconnects and speaker cables I've tried.

By the way EStat, I've listened extensively to the Valhallas, the Transparent Opus, and MITs top Oracle models. The Valhallas are superb, but the Opus is better - I find it has everything the Valhalla has and more. Images are more solid and defined - thats what I hear anyway.

[emaidel]

I can only speak from my own personal (and, limited) experience here, but if I were to compare the performance between the solid core Audioquest "Crystal" speaker cables I once owned, and the Monster Z-Series stranded cables I now use, I'd have to state categorically that the Monster cables are inifinitely superior in every way.

I was never pleased with the sound of the Audioquest Crystal cables, as they made the sound of my system quite harsh, with little detail, but seemingly, more volume (i.e. - they made my system play louder). The harshness lessened over time as the cables burned in, but never sounded good enough to justify their price ($800 for two 12' lengths).

I replaced those cables with the Monster Z-Series stranded cables, with screw-on, gold-plated banana plugs (on both ends) and enjoyed an immense improvement immediately: much sweeter, more pleasant sound, with greater detail and deeper bass.

This is only my own experience with two cables, so it certainly isn't to be used as a standard, but I posted this as a point of reference. I also found the Audioquest cables impossbily stiff, and very hard to work with, whereas the Monster ones are a good deal more flexible, and easier to place on the floor behind my speakers.

As always, there are often two sides to a story.

[StevenSurprenant]

I was never pleased with the sound of the Audioquest Crystal cables, as they made the sound of my system quite harsh, with little detail, but seemingly, more volume (i.e. - they made my system play louder).

Audioquest Crystal cables were the very first higher end cables I heard. Before that it was always zip cord. I have to agree with your assesment of them. I hated them in my system, but they did prove that wire makes a difference. It's funny, I was in this store and heard some B&W speakers playing music and I commented to my friend that it sounded like that were using Audioquest Crystal cables. I looked and yep, they were.

The sound of these cables are very distinctive.

They hurt my ears!

[O'Shag]

I can only speak from my own personal (and, limited) experience here, but if I were to compare the performance between the solid core Audioquest "Crystal" speaker cables I once owned, and the Monster Z-Series stranded cables I now use, I'd have to state categorically that the Monster cables are inifinitely superior in every way.

I was never pleased with the sound of the Audioquest Crystal cables, as they made the sound of my system quite harsh, with little detail, but seemingly, more volume (i.e. - they made my system play louder). The harshness lessened over time as the cables burned in, but never sounded good enough to justify their price ($800 for two 12' lengths).

I replaced those cables with the Monster Z-Series stranded cables, with screw-on, gold-plated banana plugs (on both ends) and enjoyed an immense improvement immediately: much sweeter, more pleasant sound, with greater detail and deeper bass.

This is only my own experience with two cables, so it certainly isn't to be used as a standard, but I posted this as a point of reference. I also found the Audioquest cables impossbily stiff, and very hard to work with, whereas the Monster ones are a good deal more flexible, and easier to place on the floor behind my speakers.

As always, there are often two sides to a story.

A perfect example of system dependency. Also your scenario demonstrates that even with any perceived improvement in detail, flash, or loudness, ultimately any cable will be undesirable if it makes the system sound harsh or overly bright. Some tweeters are more susceptible to this than others. I always look to the midrange primarily as a bell-weather of my systems performance. I like presence i.e. not too much a fan of very recessed center images. I rather the midrange be a tad on the warm and lush side than overly cool, analytical and bright whcih can be somewhat uninvolving. I want to feel the music, not analyze it - if that makes any sense. I guess Transparents are stranded, but I'm not sure. RW do you know? I also find the QED Genesis Silver Spiral speaker cable to be excellent, with that balance of detail, aliveness, control and body without becoming etched or harsh. they are stranded I believe. I love the Valhallas and the Transparent References, but there is no way I'll pay that much for cables - at least not for now.

HP must be a lot of fun to hang out with RW. I like his style.
Cheers
Adam

[E-Stat]

I guess Transparents are stranded, but I'm not sure. RW do you know?

Sorry, I don't. It took Bugs Bunny to bring me back to this thread.

HP must be a lot of fun to hang out with RW. I like his style.
Cheers
Adam

He is and is more animated in person. His written persona doesn't capture his sense of humor. It is also fun to hear all the toys he gets access to - that which is completely outside the experience of guys like mtry (our former resident ditch digger). I remember hearing the system back in '01 or so when he got the big Nolas. That experience completely recalibrated my sense of the level of realism an audio system could deliver. I brought several very familiar CDs with me and was floored at how much detail I had missed from my old favorites.

rw

[musicoverall]

That experience completely recalibrated my sense of the level of realism an audio system could deliver. I brought several very familiar CDs with me and was floored at how much detail I had missed from my old favorites.

rw

I think we all should strive for this recalibration from time to time when possible. The same thing happened to me about 15 years ago. I was happy with what I had until I heard an acquaintance's system using SOTA (at the time) gear. I was so amazed at the differences in detail that for the first time in my life I spent hours listening to the system instead of the music. It completely revamped my thinking regarding what level of music reproduction was possible in the home.

BTW, Mr Peabody has a question about the Gamut CDP in Digital. Don't you own one of those?

[E-Stat]

By the way EStat, I've listened extensively to the Valhallas, the Transparent Opus, and MITs top Oracle models. The Valhallas are superb, but the Opus is better - I find it has everything the Valhalla has and more. Images are more solid and defined - thats what I hear anyway.

There are a number of competitive cables available. HP is currently using the newest Nordost flavor, the Odin and reports they are likewise better than the Valhalla.

rw