Speaker Cable and IC Recommendations

[jpneat]

I've always felt that the speaker cables in my main system were not quite correct. I have Kimber 8TC. The system is my new to me Linn LP-12, Lingo4, Ekos se/1(just ordered the arm and it's on the way) into a Slipsik 8 (also en-route to me) into a Sugden A21 Se Signature into Neat Motive SX2 speakers. What speaker cables would be a good match? I see the threads on Thomas OK's L400 variant- would that be a good match? How much do those cost, and where do I buy? Last summer I briefly had a Naim Supernait 3 while my Sugden was in the shop for repair and went with Kudos KS-1 into the Neats. I really loved that set up, and I also liked that i could those cables in white and they were easy to dress. Stupidly, I sold the KS-1 when I sold the Naim and never tried them with the Sugden. I think I just didn't want to take the Naim plugs off the amp side. Should I just buy some more Kudos?

One side question on interconnects, I'm planning to use my Auditorium 23 interconnects from the Slipsik to the Sugden as those interconnects sounded great with my previous phono pre. Or should, I just use the recommended Linn Silver? I also have some Rega Couple 3 on hand, maybe those would be somewhat along the lines of the Linn Silver.

I'd like to add, that I'm not planning to spend a fortune on super fancy cables right now, although I'm all ears if that's the direction recommended. However, from reading this forum, it seems like most people are like minded and find excellent quality in reasonably quality cables.

Thanks for reading and your input!

[springwood64]

I'm not sure how helpful my experience is because I've used so few cables. I currently use Linn Silver interconnects and a single pair for each speaker of Linn K400.

These replaced QED cables many years ago and were a big improvement.

There may well be better sounding or better value cables, but I've never had the concern that these cables hold back the performance of the system.

[jpneat]

Thanks, yeah I'm guessing maybe the split K400 is the way to go, although I still wonder if the Kudos would perform similarly,

[ThomasOK]

I don't have direct experience of Kudos KS-1 speaker cables but I note that they are silver plated copper. Even though I have heard some pure silver and silver plated copper cables that were musically somewhat acceptable they are not in the same league as Linn Silvers (which are actually 100% copper) or split Linn K400, even though they were much more expensive (or much, much, much more expensive depending on the cable). My experience with silver plated copper cables anywhere in the signal chain, even inside a power strip or an MC cartridge, is that they are consistently less musical than pure copper.

[jpneat]

I don't have direct experience of Kudos KS-1 speaker cables but I note that they are silver plated copper. Even though I have heard some pure silver and silver plated copper cables that were musically somewhat acceptable they are not in the same league as Linn Silvers (which are actually 100% copper) or split Linn K400, even though they were much more expensive (or much, much, much more expensive depending on the cable). My experience with silver plated copper cables anywhere in the signal chain, even inside a power strip or an MC cartridge, is that they are consistently less musical than pure copper.

I just bought some K400 off of Ebay and split it in half. (man my 1/2 cut isn't real pretty, I wonder what the trick is for that!) I haven't cut it to the ideal 2.48 meters yet and re-terminated but I will. I've been reading the Lejonklou guide to soldering. But even without doing that, it sounds notably more musical. My partner was just listening to Spotify on a WIIM Pro Plus from the other room and then I swapped the cables and she was like, "what did you do to make it sound better all of the sudden?"

One day, I'll probably buy the fancy premade K400 from you @ThomasOK just so it looks nice and is soldered all perfect, I just wanted to try it first to see how it sounds!

[Naimless]

The best bang for buck upgrade I have done in 55 years of HiFi buying was replacing my speaker cables with K400. I have had the chance to change them with various alternatives over the years, but nothing I tried came close. After about 25 years of owning K400, I will soon be changing them to K60 (I will be tri-amping soon) and I am nervous about replacing them.

Incidentally, the best way to split K400 is with a bandsaw. If you don’t have a steady hand, it’s easy to create a guide with some bits of wood.

[lejonklou]

K60, what is that?

Evaluate with razor sharp skepticism. If it ain’t more fun listening to music, it’s not better.

[matthias]

K60, what is that?

It is a Linn 6-core speaker cable for tri-wiring.

[lejonklou]

Ah, the tri-wire version of K40, with three different gauges for bass, mid and treble.

What a great idea.

[Rutger]

Ah, the tri-wire version of K40, with three different gauges for bass, mid and treble.

What a great idea.

Hmm… single core for treble, the rest multistranded. If one believes in solid core ( I dont, because I have testet it ) it should also be an improvement using very stiff 4 mm solidcore installation cable used by electricians, for the midrange and bass also.

I found using solid core, in any register, or even inside a loudspeaker makes music sound more stacatto, less relaxing and less involving than a Linn k20 .

Maybe Linn has come up with something good though, the insulation material and the way the cables are twisted makes a difference for sure.

It will be interesting to hear what naimless think about the new k60.

[lejonklou]

My comment was ironic. I agree with your findings, Rutger. Single core exaggerates the leading edge of each note and creates a false impression of more detail. The character is the same in speaker cables, interconnects and even power cords.

I have tested K40 and it was obvious that its different wires for bass and treble made the drive units pull in different directions and as a result the speakers sound less integrated.

I guess if one doesn’t care about the music but rather wants the system to sound more ”interesting”, the effect might be considered positive.

[matthias]

IMO, both K40 and K60 are strange design decisions by Linn.

[Naimless]

It will be interesting to hear what naimless think about the new k60.

Will report back once it has been installed and run-in. I am a bit nervous as I have lived with K400 for a long time. Incidentally, I need two 5.5mtr runs, for my system.

[ThomasOK]

I was not impressed by K40 and I have serious doubt that the K60 will be anywhere close to K400. Despite the size I would look for some used K600, the tri-wire version of K400. It will give you the quality of sound you are used to.

[tokenbrit]

.. look for some used K600, the tri-wire version of K400....

Maybe an extra length of K400, split in two, to add an extra channel on each side :?

[matthias]

Playing the "bad guy", isn't multi-amping like multi-wiring musically inferior?
I mean multi-amping outside of an active system.

[Rushboy]

Are stranded cables or solid core cables favoured as speaker cables?

[matthias]

Are stranded cables or solid core cables favoured as speaker cables?

See here:
https://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtop ... 890#p75890
and here:
https://www.lejonklou.com/forum/viewtop ... 889#p75889

[Hermann]

Years ago, I tried many variations of solid cables and rejected them all. Single, insulated, and twisted wires also offered no advantage. At the time, I also used antenna cables or their shielding to determine the effect different materials had on the sound.

Cables like Naim's A4/5 or Linn's K400/600, on the other hand, were and are very musical in my systems.

[matthias]

In my set-up I like the Exposure DMF two speaker cable, single-wired to 3677s.
ICs are Linn Silver with Neutrik RCA and XLR.

[Spannko]

Playing the "bad guy", isn't multi-amping like multi-wiring musically inferior?
I mean multi-amping outside of an active system.

It would appear to be. None of us has heard every amplifier and loudspeaker combination, but I think it’s fair to say that of all the combinations tried by the forum members, multi-amping has never produced a musical improvement.

[Rushboy]

In my set-up I like the Exposure DMF two speaker cable, single-wired to 3677s.
ICs are Linn Silver with Neutrik RCA and XLR.

The Van den Hul CS122 seems to be similar in construction to the Exposure DMF or Naim Naca 4/5.

[matthias]

The Van den Hul CS122 seems to be similar in construction to the Exposure DMF or Naim Naca 4/5.

No, it is quite different:
https://www.vandenhul.com/product/cs-12 ... ogen-free/

[lejonklou]

Playing the "bad guy", isn't multi-amping like multi-wiring musically inferior?
I mean multi-amping outside of an active system.

Yes!

It took me many years to discover this. Julian Vereker had already said it, but I didn’t know. I sold Linn and we multi-wired, multi-amped and finally aktivated people’s systems. It was a clever upgrade ladder that everyone could climb in their own pace. It never occurred to me to question whether each step made sense, I simply thought of it as a continual improvement.

I always had passive speakers at home, often multi-wired. One day I decided to take the step to passive multi-amped and felt confused by the result. My wife was not happy, she said it sounded worse and that I should remove whatever change I had done. I thought maybe the power amps didn’t sound alike enough, so I tried several others. That didn’t help, something was always off. Multi-amped sounded bigger and more impressive, but also less coherent and musical.

After this I challenged single versus multi-wiring and arrived at the same conclusion. Smaller effect, but the differences were similar. Single wire put more focus on the music, multi-wiring gave a bigger sound. The only two options that made sense were passive single wire and fully aktiv (multi-amped with active instead of passive filters). And then I read that Julian had said exactly this many years earlier.

[matthias]

Thanks Fredrik, very interesting.
I was "bad guy" on another audio forum when I claimed this.