Early on in this hobby, I came across a glowing review of DNM solid core interconnects and became curious. I tracked down a mail-order for two lengths of 1 meter, sent a check, and waited a few weeks. When the cables arrived, I was surprised by their appearance - plastic ribbon attached to rather unpretentious RCA's. I ended up using these cables with a variety of tube gear over the next several years. I never tried other cables concurrently, so I have nothing valuable to add here, sorry. A newer version of these cables is still available directly from DNM, and they seem to have a strong following. Anyway, I somehow lost the DNM's during a move, and though it's shameful to admit, I replaced them with some cheap cables made by General Electric.
So I've never been fussy about my cabling. Certainly I DO hear a difference, but unless the cable sounds veiled, I tend to just set and forget. Earlier this year, I tried replacing the GE's with the Spirit interconnect from Triode Wire Labs. I tried, really tried, to like these cables. After all, they were a gift from my wife. However, for whatever reason I preferred the cheap GE cables and re-placed them.
Recently, I came across this Japanese YouTube video (please be warned it has the potential to cause insanity):
I listened to this video multiple times through my bluetooth speakers and my headphones (and yes, I realize the sound was filtered through whatever recording device the guy used and then uploaded to YouTube). I then had my wife listen to the video twice... and we compared notes... What the...?! Turns out we both disliked the Belden 8412 (#5) and Western Electric 20/24GA (#9/#8) - both quite popular - and preferred the same two cables:
Canare L-4E6S (#4)
Neumann BV2461 (#7)
I ended up buying some bulk Canare cable "off the roll", but instead of L-4E6S I went with L-2T2S given its relatively lower capacitance (22 pF/foot vs 45 pF/foot). I also decided to finally make some AC cords from old Western Electric 12GA cable laying around.
The Canare L2T2S interconnects are terminated with Canare F-09 RCA's. They are directional with the shield on one end grounded and going towards the source end. The WE AC cords have old Marinco's (don't remember the model numbers). I braided these according to the wonderful instructions provided by Chris Venhaus for "Flavor #1" of his DIY power cord (minus the Techflex and heat shrink). Essentially, the signal and ground wires are twisted in opposite directions (clockwise/counter-clockwise). Unfortunately, Chris states that this wiring scheme is optimal for digital components (which I don't have), but I was too cheap to buy the suggested high pressure air hose for "Flavor #2".
OK, time for some critical listening. (No, not really, I'll most likely just set and forget!)
So I've never been fussy about my cabling. Certainly I DO hear a difference, but unless the cable sounds veiled, I tend to just set and forget. Earlier this year, I tried replacing the GE's with the Spirit interconnect from Triode Wire Labs. I tried, really tried, to like these cables. After all, they were a gift from my wife. However, for whatever reason I preferred the cheap GE cables and re-placed them.
Recently, I came across this Japanese YouTube video (please be warned it has the potential to cause insanity):
I listened to this video multiple times through my bluetooth speakers and my headphones (and yes, I realize the sound was filtered through whatever recording device the guy used and then uploaded to YouTube). I then had my wife listen to the video twice... and we compared notes... What the...?! Turns out we both disliked the Belden 8412 (#5) and Western Electric 20/24GA (#9/#8) - both quite popular - and preferred the same two cables:
Canare L-4E6S (#4)
Neumann BV2461 (#7)
I ended up buying some bulk Canare cable "off the roll", but instead of L-4E6S I went with L-2T2S given its relatively lower capacitance (22 pF/foot vs 45 pF/foot). I also decided to finally make some AC cords from old Western Electric 12GA cable laying around.
The Canare L2T2S interconnects are terminated with Canare F-09 RCA's. They are directional with the shield on one end grounded and going towards the source end. The WE AC cords have old Marinco's (don't remember the model numbers). I braided these according to the wonderful instructions provided by Chris Venhaus for "Flavor #1" of his DIY power cord (minus the Techflex and heat shrink). Essentially, the signal and ground wires are twisted in opposite directions (clockwise/counter-clockwise). Unfortunately, Chris states that this wiring scheme is optimal for digital components (which I don't have), but I was too cheap to buy the suggested high pressure air hose for "Flavor #2".
OK, time for some critical listening. (No, not really, I'll most likely just set and forget!)
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