What cables match well with Revel Speakers? (1 Viewer)

[PaulXH]

I am looking to upgrape my speaker cable. I have a pair of Revel F30's. Does anyone know of a speaker cable that matches well with them???

Paul

 

[Mark Austin]

What is your budget, and what are your associated components?

 

[PaulXH]

I am trying to keep it below 1K for my front 3 speakers. I am looking at some of the Nordost cable. My Pre/Pro is a Lexicon MC-1 and my Amp is a Conrad-Johnson MF5600.

Paul

 

[Mark Austin]

Just my opinion, but I would stay away from the Nordost, as they tend to accentuate the top end, and Revel already has a lively top end. If you can audition them that would be the best. Since your budget is rather generous, what lengths are we covering for the front, and the center?

 

[PaulXH]

14ft for the fronts, and 8ft for the center.

Paul

 

[Mark Austin]

OUCH! Those runs are rather long. I would take a look at some Acoustic Zen Satori, or perhaps some Zucable Wax. You can usually get a 30 day trial. www.acousticzen.com www.zucable.com
If you have the opportunity in the future I would consider dramatically shortening the distance necessary between your amp and speakers. At those lengths you are dramatically losing buying power, and the age old premise of keeping your speaker cables as short as possible.

 

[LanceJ]

Go to Radio Shack and buy their 12 gauge cable--it will sound great. $0.99 a foot: http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...Fid=278%2D1268
I'm not trolling--I just believe "audiophile" wire & interconnects are the biggest marketing scam (and most misunderstood human perception concept) in audio. And my signature reflects this.
Here is a test by Gordon Gow, a designer of McIntosh hi-end audio equipment that really stirs up the cable believers: http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm#gordongow
So don't waste your money on overpriced pseudo-science.
LJ

 

[Guy Usher]

IMO Lance is absolutly right. I use 14/4 SO cord or 4 conductor extension cord it is covered by a nice black jacket and is very flexable lays where you put it, I combine the 4 wires and make them into two wires use good terminators and you are in buisness for less than 50 cents a foot.
Or as Lance suggest use regular speaker wire (12-14 ga) the runs you are talking about are not long for that size wire, the only thing that makes a 14 foot run long with the high dollar wire is your pocket book, thats why a lot of people who use the high priced stuff often put their amps on stands next to the speaker then use long runs of interconnect cables. I have 100 ft runs, it is no problem if you size the wire correctly.
If a 14ft run is long. . What about your surrounds? ? ?

 

[Mark Austin]

With all due respect Lance, that link that you provided has to be one of the worst in proving your beliefs, as it doesn't prove anything. As far as trolling? I think you are. Paul didn't ask for opinions on whether cables make a difference.

 

[RobertSchaez]

Mark,
While you are correct that Paul didn't ask whether expensive cables make a difference, he did ask what cable matches well with his Revel speakers. All Lance did was suggest that Radio Shack wire would work fine and at a fraction of the price of Gucci Wire. The article provided research that, to me, supported his idea. What part of the blind test doesn't make sense?
I don't think Lance was trolling, just trying to save Paul some $$ by dispelling the expensive cable is better theory.

 

[PaulXH]

Guys, thanks for your opinions. The fact is I am into "Gucci" cable. I have started with Best Buy cables and have upgraded to name brand cable hearing the difference along the way. If a person is willing to invest almost 5k is their front three speakers, then spending alittle more than .50 a feet I feel is in order.

Mark, As for the Zu cable, I need buy a pair of their Gauge speaker cable off of ebay for $100. I do plan to try them. If I like them I will trade them in for the Julian or Wax cables.

Paul

 

[Mark Austin]

Paul,
I would also try www.audiogon.com Adam at Zu always has an auction running there for the Julians or Wax, and they usually go for about 50% off retail, but with their trade-in policy they will give you 50% toward another pair, no matter what you paid for them. I won an auction for some Julians a time back, and they ended up giving me a credit from more than I paid for them in the auction.

 

[Mark Austin]

Right now he has a couple of Wax in auction http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc....35470&auc&3&4&
If you win the auction, even though they may only be 10 ft. cables you can pay a little extra and get the longer lengths and still save a ton.

 

[PaulXH]

Mark,

How would you describe the sound of ZU cables. Can you tell me the differences from the Julian to the Wax? Thanks

Paul

 

[Andrew Pratt]

You should also take a look at Link Removed new cattails speaker cables. I haven't tried the speaker cable yet but I really like thier interconnects (Silvercats and coppercats)

 

[LanceJ]

Trolling is when someone posts a message for the express purpose of causing controversy.
I have better uses for my time.
I very much enjoy this hobby, and worry that these unsubstantiated & extraordinary wire claims are contributing to its slow deterioration (when many think a 96kbps MP3 "sounds like a CD", a $200 plastic mini-system sounds awesome simply because it has the word "DIGITAL" plastered all over it, or that one needs $500 interconnects for good sound, you bet I'll worry).
Hearing an opposing viewpoint, with solid material backing it up, is a requirement for sound decision making. The only place I know where this can be fully discussed is here: http://forums14.consumerreview.com/c...85.UoNaaZpzfEZ^[email protected] (you'll have to cut/paste this address--for some reason it won't paste fully on any other forum. If that doesn't work, it's home page is audioreview.com--look under "discussions"). On Audioasylum's cable forum scientific discussion is forbidden, opening the door to all kinds of audio voodoo nonsense.
I came across this quote that I think applies here (in another member's signature, Andy Olivera):
"As a society, we tend to believe that every opinion is valid, that there are often no wrong answers, and that self esteem is more important than knowledge. So we grow more confident and more ignorant." -Stephen W. Stanton
And on that note, this is the end of my participation in this message thread.
LJ

 

[Mark Austin]

Paul,
I'll email you later with my impressions.
Lance,

Posts that are made for the sole purpose of offering an opinion that was not asked for will be deleted!

If it applies there, it should apply here.

 

[Darrel McBane]

Paul,

I also have the Revel F-30 speakers.

I'm using DH-Lab bi-wired cables running from my Rotel 1090 amp. I was using Cardas Crosslink single wire cables for a short time. But, noticed that the upper-end frequencies tended to roll off a bit to my ears. I'm also using DH-Lab silver interconnects from my Act-3 Pre/Pro (hoping soon to be replaced with the Aragon Stage One).

IMO, I wouldn't use 12ga wire with speakers of this caliber. I leave those wires for my rear speakers.

I've only had Nordost interconnects in my system at one time. But, I had some very old Klipsch speakers. So, I can't speak of how they would work with Revel speakers. They were the Blue Heaven interconnects I believe. Certainly tamed the mid and tweeter horns. But, I ended up going with Cardas Cross interconnects and speaker cables. They had more of a punch in the mid and bass.

But, I wanted to open up the upper end of the F-30s a bit more and the DH-Lab do a fine job for that. I've since replaced a pair of interconnect from my Sony 333ES player (which were the Cardas Cross I used before for my amp) with Harmonic Technology interconnects. Again, I noticed an improvement in the upper end. And much more detail from the Revels.

Not sure if any of this helps any?

Good luck.