Speaker cable selection

 

New member
Username: Gulsentinel

Dubai, N/a United Arab ...

Post Number: 1
Registered: Nov-08
Hi guys,
Im new to the forum.
I have the following set up which I use for both music and home theater.
- Onkyo TX SR503E
- Bose 101 speakers
- Sony DVP NS67P
- XPHP Monster speaker cables

I have no problems with home theater, but when listening to music CDs I feel that the sound is a little too bright. Bass & treble are set to flat position.
I listen to mainly vocals, pop and country. I live in a small apartment, so space is a bit of a premium.
Appreciate if someone could suggest an alternative brand of speaker cable for a warmer sound without compromising too much on clarity and detail.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 13119
Registered: May-04
.

You do not want to use cables as tone conrols. You should be seeking a relatively neutral system and not one that imposes a "sound" on the music. You should determine where the problem resides, in which components are you hearing this "brightnes", and proceed to rectify the issue at the source rather than placing a large BandAid on the entire system.

You should know just what "bright" means to begin with, not everyone interprets adjectives describing sound in the same manner.* It's possible what you are hearing is not excessive "brightness" but the room interacting with the speakers and producing a tilted response in a restriced region of the response. That may sound like gobbledygook, the-same-thing, to you but it is not. Room treatments and speaker placement are two of the most important parts of a proper set up. Proper set up gets you toward proper sound without BandAids.

That doesn't mean you don't have issues with your components being incorrectly balanced in their personality, inexpensive products such as the Onkyo, Sony and Bose tend to have a harsh, "bright" top end that is designed first to catch your attention in the showroom - "Oh, that one has more detail and is has more clarity than the other" - and second the result of the parts quality of the components inside. Niether Sony nor Bose are known for their adherence to reality in the house sound of their components, Onkyo is capable of decent sound but plays along with the competition at their respective price ranges.

However, you have what you have and you have the budget you have so you must work with what is possible now. But buying BandAids to cover up your budget oriented component issues is the wrong way to solve the problem. You could just trim the highs with the tone controls on the receiver if that's all you want to accomplish. You could toss a thin handkerchief or a Kleenex over the top of the tweeters and this would give you the same effect as cables that roll off the high frequencies. Neither approach is a well thought out solution though tone controls are something you can always change, cables you are stuck with.

If you have not done a proper speaker set up, put "loudspeaker placement" into a search engine and read some information that will get you the most from your present system. Toe-in is a great help when the system has problems in the top end, read about it. Then place "acoustic room treatments" into a search engine and read some more. The RealTraps site has some good information that can get you started on proper room set up at a minimal cost.

All of these items will cost less than a new pair of audio grade cables and you can take them to the next location, plus you'll learn something about audio in the process rather than just buying something to stick in your system.

Finally, if you just must spend money without any real idea of what you are buying, go to Home Depot and buy one of their 16 AWG extension cords with the orange jacket. Cut the ends off the cable and use this for speaker cabling. It's bare wire connections which are better sonically than spade lugs but you must prepare the cable properly and not have any stray wires running between connectors on the receiver or speakers. If you do not know how to prepare the cable ends, ask someone for help. }But don't expect these cables to actually solve the problem. Everything else I've mentioned is part of a good system and should be addressed before you start spending money on new cables or components. The idea is to give your system the correct environment and set up to operate at its best. Otherwise, sticking new products into a set up with the same problems will still result in the same problems.

Do the other things first, just to say you did learn something in this whole process.


*(bright, brilliant The most often misused terms in audio, these describe the degree to which reproduced sound has a hard, crisp edge to it. Brightness relates to the energy content in the 4kHz-8kHz band. It is not related to output in the extreme-high-frequency range. All live sound has brightness; it is a problem only when it is excessive.
http://www.stereophile.com/reference/50/index.html)


.
 

Platinum Member
Username: Nuck

Post Number: 11146
Registered: Dec-04
And back to the old statement from here and other sources of information.
Speaker placement and room treatment just ain't sexy enough.
You don't open the package and install these.
The processes can be labour intensive, yet most rewarding.
 

Gold Member
Username: Mike3

Wylie, Tx USA

Post Number: 1570
Registered: May-06
After doing what JV recommends have you thought about a sub-woofer?
« Previous Thread Next Thread »



Main Forums

Today's Posts

Forum Help

Follow Us