Just a few wires…
To some people all electricity is “just electricity”, and an electrical connection is just that – a connection. Bell wire, or old kettle flex will make an electrical connection. If you look into the cost of high-end cables it can be frightening. Add a soupcon of fear someone is making money out of you for nothing, and you have a recipe for impoverished listening.
Supporting and connecting your HiFi equipment to reveal the sound it is capable of requires more than the inexpensive plugs and cables that the profit-minded manufacturer popped in the box. At one extreme there are some crazily expensive products out there – solid silver cable at over £1,000 a metre. If you have deep pockets, there is always someone who will help you empty them. If you are a pauper with your nose pressed to the showroom window, there are many other things in your life you need to sort out first before you get to hifi.
Between the two is a sensible pathway that will enormously enrich your listening experience, but be warned, it is not for the faint-hearted. It takes a measure of faith to invest in hifi improvement. It will pay back in spades but it can be a bumpy old journey along the way.
Lets start by looking at what the end game looks like. Once you have got over the shock, you can start thinking about where you are, and what might work for you, depending on where you are starting from.
It just needs a bit of wire or two.
All of this “enabling “ infrastructure to my actual hifi equipment made a collosal difference – the sound is unrecognisable compared to the bare original equipment my dealer installed. That is a journey worth taking. The manufacturer of my HiFi Linn now have new models they say are much better than the previous ones. I’m streets ahead of that.
All my Interconnects, speaker and power cables are from Signal Cable. There are two pivots in which will effects the total sound of a system. Your stylus and your speakers.
Have you tried monkeying with the actual power supply? If you accept what comes out of the wall socket as “a given”, you are right in that different bits of the system can be made to sound better. I found that working on the power supply itself made an amazing difference to everything else. Electricity is what makes the world go round. Dont know signal cable, but see if they make any kind of power conditioner or balanced mains. You have good times ahead if you tackle these.
Yes, I have a power conditioner made by Monster hts 2600. It does make a difference. It was the first thing I bought but my sustem has completely changed. I’m all about DIY Tube gear so i probably need to upgrade.
Fasinating, and a great montage of your wires.
Surely, though, wires are just wires. it’s the equipment which makes the difference.
Guy
If the wires enable you to hear how good the equipment is, is the credit down to the equipment or the wire – the chicken or the egg? On my experience I think the balance is 2:1. Spend 65% of your budget on the equipment and 35% on the infrastructure, and you maximise the potential of both.