Best cable speakers money can buy?

[GuillaumeB]

At the moment I am considering the Chord company Sarum T that appears to be have one of the best price performance ratio (performance up there with the very best at half or 1/3 the price).

Has someone tried them with a Devialet?

Cheers,
Bernard

I had the Chord Sarum for a few years before moving onto to Transparent Ref XL and now Shunyata Sigma.

After a very torturous period of burn in (I would recommend buying second hand if you can) the cables eventually settled but I always had a problem of too much energy in the room. They just gave you more of everything, but the top end could be a bit much. Slightly synthetic 3D effect and quite a bright/shiny/glassy sound. These cables initially impressed in the demos but living with them had its ups and downs.

The Transparent Ref XL was a huge improvement over the Sarums, a lot more refined, quieter and tonally darker sounding in that Transparent kind of way. You could turn the music right up and everything stayed balanced. I also started hearing details in the music that I hadn't noticed before. I was very happy with these.

Obviously with the Shunyata Sigmas I can't be totally objective since I am now the UK distributor. However I consider them another jump over the Transparents, in comparison they don't seem to filter the sound and let everything through however I don't have the issue I had with the Sarums where the room just gets overloaded with high frequency energy. So I would say much better balanced tonally but with all the refinement of the Transparents.

I know Chord has updated the Sarum speaker cable however my understanding is that its basic sound characteristics haven't changed a great deal. I think their ChordMusic cable is much better.

Cheers,

Guillaume

[KIBM]

Like Guillaume I've got the Transparent Ref XL (MM2 version). They are currently Generation 5 I think. Transparent do the 3D imaging thing probably better than most cables I've heard. The have fabulous bass and liquid mids. They are very detailed at the top but not etched which is why some/a lot of people think they are a bit rolled off at the top - they are not but I can understand that viewpoint. I had Synergistic for many years - Absolute Refs, Apex, then CTS and finally the most recent Atmosphere Level 4. The Apex's are the best of the bunch and well worth the money - great bass, mid and treble (all very even) and excellent soundstaging. The CTSs were the most immediately stunning and detailed cables I've had - incredible slam to the bass as if you had new speakers or amp. However after a while they were just too much at the top end - relentless and unbalanced compared to mid and bass. Again this sort of detail may be for you. The Atmosphere's were fantastic at imaging and liquid in the mid, almost the perfect cable until I realised that the bass slam was missing from fav tracks. Also tried Cardas (Burgundy one?) but felt it was a bit lacklustre.
Lots of good bargains on Synergistics on Audiogon.
Bottom line is that you've got to hear them in your system before opening your wallet.

[bernardl]

Thanks for the feedbacks.

Most review I read position the Sarum T as being quite different from the Sarum and very close to the music.

Will try that for now.

Cheers,
Bernard

[cereal killer]

Elsdon Wonfor Audio LS-25 speaker cable.

The designer behind TQ cables. They fell out, Colin Wonfor went his own way and has brought these to market as 'the best cables he's ever designed' so in theory are better than anything TQ cables have to offer, regardless.

[mdconnelly]

I have used JPS SC3 speaker cables for many years and very little has come close for me. But, not too long ago I tried a pair of the Triode Wire Lab speaker cables and I have to say I was extremely impressed (and available at a very appealing price).

[Norty]

Thanks for the feedbacks.

Most review I read position the Sarum T as being quite different from the Sarum and very close to the music.

Will try that for now.

Cheers,
Bernard

I would be interested to know your thoughts on the Sarum T's.  I am in search as well and have a set of the T's ordered in to try and if that does not work then try the Siltech 770L's.  Trying to keep the cost down to under $5K cdn.  I like my Cardas Clear's but feel like I can tweak it a bit more, but hope I don't give up too much of the warmth.  I must have read the same reviews as you that the T's do not seem to add the brightness some of the past models have.

[bernardl]

Very happy about the Sarum T so far.

I would describe the sound as very transparent yet firm and accurate.

My system is clearly better now on well recorded content, I would call it breathtaking in combination with the amazing Wilson Benesch Vector (such incredibly underrated speakers really),but the higher sharpness may be an issue in some poorly recorded albums where it comes accross as a bit harsh sometimes.

Anyway, happy overall since a large majority of the music I listen to is very well recorded.

Cheers,
Bernard

[Music or sound]

I think the best cable are the shortest ones. I see that many user stack their dual experts and I am always perplexed why, a longer digital cable has less problems than any speaker cable. Of course persons with a single expert (like me) need to make the compromise to use longer speaker cables.

[yabaVR]

I think the best cable are the shortest ones. I see that many user stack their dual experts and I am always perplexed why, a longer digital cable has less problems than any speaker cable. Of course persons with a single expert (like me) need to make the compromise to use longer speaker cables.

It's only in 'perfect' theory that longer digital cables produce less problems. In fact a digital signal is made of analogue voltages and can therefor be influenced the same way as a signal in speaker cables and even worse produce lots of jitter. You won't get dropouts up to a critical length but you would get a more 'digital sound' with longer digital cables (or at least it's more possible).
I would ever stay with a 3-5m LS-cable compared to a 3-4m digital cable combined with a 1m LS-cable. And I bet you won't hear a difference between a 2m and a 5m LS-cable of the SAME brand & model if you compare them (same plugs, same age of use). But chances are good you hear a difference between a 1m and 4m digital cable.

gui

[Axel]

Wouldn’t it be nice if, at some time in the future, our Devialets could be linked by Ethernet. It would be a cheap and effective way of positioning each amp close to each speaker and use very short runs of speaker cable.