Hello fellow music heads.
I’d be very interested in hearing about experiences with affordable xlr interconnects that partner well with bright systems or for systems using speakers with very extended treble.
Thanks in advance for any sharing of wisdom.
A cable is not an equalizer… If you have treble problems see another solution. Mogami makes excellent affordable cables, I use 2534 xlr.
Cables that have higher inductance (without greatly increased capacitance) generally are going to lean warmer. But every system is different.
The cause of a bright sound isn’t always what you think it is. When I ran Thiel speakers, which had an impedance dip at 5k, I struggled with it a bit and blamed the speakers along with a hard first reflection point. I did get some relief from much experimentation with their placement but what solved it was replacing my steel and NDF rack (Target or more likely a copy) with Fraim Lite and dressing the cables, particularly the power lines, so they didn’t touch it.
If you use internet over mains you’re asking for trouble so don’t, wireless and hardwired are better and for the latter I liked Designer cable’s Catsnake cat5e the best for the last link, though it made the sound a bit bass heavy for the first week.
It depends on what you consider as “affordable”…
But you can have a look at Cardas.
This old thread may be a source of info for you.
kind regards
It seems as if you are saying you feel your system has excessive treble, have you tried measuring the response in your room to see what it actually is like e.g. with REW software (free other than needing a measuring microphone, which can be had secondhand for well under £100 or new for not a lot over)?
Not sure how the speakers are positioned but avoid pointing them to your ears will normally calm things down.
Naca5 speaker cables is also a good start for you IMO (don’t know what you use).
Cables have been very helpful to me for fine tuning (rather than expecting transformative effects) sound quality which I already like. You ask about XLR interconnects and these will have an effect too but I would first start with the speaker cables and make sure they are right. They are easily the most critical and significant pair of system cables in my experience - examples of some that contribute to a smoother sound and may be rolling off some of the HF edge would be Audience, Tellurium Q Black (or U Black), Atlas but you should not buy without the option for a home demo, return or resell easily.
Thanks for all the responses!
My speaker cable is NAC A5. I’ve compared it with Kudos KS1 and Chord Epic. NAC A5 is the one with the most treble roll off, possibly due to the pure copper conductors. So I think I should stick with that unless there are alternatives?
My speakers are neat elite classics, which are known to be highly explicit speakers. The tweeter is an air motion transformer, hence the treble extension is quite ‘extended’.
Going back to my original question - which interconnects are known to create a little treble roll off?
Thanks, I’ll look into Cardas.
This seems to be a common misconception, if a tweeter has good extension or if its tipped up in the upper frequency ranges, it’s the cause of a bright sounding speaker. Look at the typical age range of audiophiles & most can’t/don’t hear properly in the upper frequency ranges, say 15Khz+. So bumps in these sorts of areas are typically not the issue. The more common cause of bright sounding speakers would be in the say 2-5Khz range. Knowing nothing about your room or not having heard your specific speaker, as some have mentioned it’s probably more likely a room issue. With that being said, yes Cardeas are on the warmer side (older designs even more so, as you move up the current range they become more neutral/transparent). Not sure if their popular in the UK but Transparent cables are often on the warmer side as well.
I’m not sure that extended treble and brightness are the same thing.
My BBC design LS5/9 is “limited” to 16 kHz, previous speakers included a Coles 4001g supertweeter, an upper limit of 35 kHz, so extended treble.
At one time, a pair of Kef coaxials were such a mismatch in the room/system that I had headaches. They were bright, forward, in your face, excoriating.
As regards cables, in previous discussions, there have been comments that silver plating on copper causes brightness, so searching for plain copper interconnects might help?
As you are in the UK, speak to a Chord dealer, Chord have library cables, so you may be able to try before you buy.
Yes, should be a fairly safe bet although a few report brightness or harshness with them?
I have heard the Elite Classics. I thought the treble was too dominant. Great with som3le tracks, bit generally a bit too much for my tastes. I felt i was listening to the teeeter at times, not the speakers as a whole.
Bruce
Naca5
Lavender is also warm in most systems.
If you like it a bit darker - Morgana can do.
And if you use streaming you can do a lot with Ethernet cables
That’s interesting I find Lavender colder than Hiline. Maybe it’s warm and the Hiline is warmer. However I find the Neotech 1220 warmer still which kind of makes me think the Lavender isn’t warm. I haven’t done extensive testing though. Speaking of. I think I’m going to test my Lavender on the NDS😅
Furutech and Neotech would generally be “warm” sounding
Though I am not really sure interconnects would be enough to mitigate the issue the OP has?
Have not tested hi-line. The one that came with my nd555 is broken. With Olive lavender sounds warm
That is really interesting and just goes to show that we all get different results in different rooms and different electronics. It might also be that we describe sound with different words.
When I say warm I think I mean with more energy in the lower mid perhaps. I’m not sure though. Generally speaking I think warm equals full or not thin meaning more body in the sound and I think that usually comes from the lower midrange. I find the Lavender in that respect being quite cool with not so much energy in the lower mid. I might just be rambling now😅