I'm not sure if any of your are into home hi-fi, but if you are you've probably heard of the magazine The Absolute Sound.
But anyhow, they did a review of speaker cables a while back and I found something really interesting.
I was reading all of the reviews of the cables that are $500-1000 for a 2 meter pair (mostly gold and silver).
And then I get half-way through and find this:
Full Article: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/news...e_survey2.html
Apparently a lot of hi-fi guru's have been using extension cords for speaker cable for a while now and have always claimed that they've been excellent. Perhaps it's because of the generous shielding or the very thick gauge wire (less resistance). But I think this is the first time that a reputible magazine has actually reviewed an A/C extension cord against other speaker cabling.
A friend of mine who is really into home hi-fi actually went out and bought one from Home Depot and soldered some gold/silver banana plugs on the ends of them and wrapped the whole thing in vinyl braiding. It looked really nice when he was done with it and he said that it sounded a hell of a lot better than the monster cable that is $1+ per foot that he has.
So it looks like I'll be heading to the Home Depot next time I rewire my car.
But anyhow, they did a review of speaker cables a while back and I found something really interesting.
I was reading all of the reviews of the cables that are $500-1000 for a 2 meter pair (mostly gold and silver).
And then I get half-way through and find this:
Home Depot HD-14G
est. $30 per 50-foot pair with terminations
Okay, the model designation is my own invention, standing for H (Home) D (Depot) 14G(auge) outdoor extension cord. Otherwise, this entry is no joke. Like several other cables, it comes in a decorative jacket, here of striking orange and black, evocative of Halloween; unlike the others, you must snip off its AC connectors and attach terminations of choice (I used Pomona bananas). The HD-14G rendered Murray Perahia’s piano in a big bold manner, lacking just a little in finesse and ultimate transparency. It threw an image on Jacintha’s “Something’s Gotta Give” with the best—one note reads, “some of the best depth of any cable”—with tuneful bass, notably good height, and a quite lifelike projection. On the Rachmaninoff, it didn’t sound as “fast,” transparent, controlled, or defined in the bass as the better cables, but it wasn’t far behind them either, and it was always highly listenable and involving, with a big-boned, robust presentation that flattered the Appalachian Spring sonics. As for detail, well, it allowed me to hear every piano chord that bleeds through Jacintha’s headphones at the beginning of “Danny Boy” (Autumn Leaves); more detail than that you don’t need.
I’ll leave the last observation to the most technically knowledgeable, musically literate, and experienced of my listening group: “You know what’s really good about this cable? It sounds totally unscrewed around with.” If its half-inch thickness isn’t macho enough, Home Depot also sells a 12-gauge for half again that sum, and a 10-gauge for about twice the price, both in less attractive yellow-and-black jackets. If you still think I’m kidding, know that Tony Faulkner—engineer of about a third of the best-sounding orchestral recordings of the last twenty years—used the Black-and-Decker equivalent to hook up his Quad 989s at the recent Heathrow Show in England—“They are made from good, thick copper wire, look nice and sound good to me”—and that the designer of what is by provable standards one of the half dozen or so most accurate loudspeakers ever made uses and recommends it all the time.
est. $30 per 50-foot pair with terminations
Okay, the model designation is my own invention, standing for H (Home) D (Depot) 14G(auge) outdoor extension cord. Otherwise, this entry is no joke. Like several other cables, it comes in a decorative jacket, here of striking orange and black, evocative of Halloween; unlike the others, you must snip off its AC connectors and attach terminations of choice (I used Pomona bananas). The HD-14G rendered Murray Perahia’s piano in a big bold manner, lacking just a little in finesse and ultimate transparency. It threw an image on Jacintha’s “Something’s Gotta Give” with the best—one note reads, “some of the best depth of any cable”—with tuneful bass, notably good height, and a quite lifelike projection. On the Rachmaninoff, it didn’t sound as “fast,” transparent, controlled, or defined in the bass as the better cables, but it wasn’t far behind them either, and it was always highly listenable and involving, with a big-boned, robust presentation that flattered the Appalachian Spring sonics. As for detail, well, it allowed me to hear every piano chord that bleeds through Jacintha’s headphones at the beginning of “Danny Boy” (Autumn Leaves); more detail than that you don’t need.
I’ll leave the last observation to the most technically knowledgeable, musically literate, and experienced of my listening group: “You know what’s really good about this cable? It sounds totally unscrewed around with.” If its half-inch thickness isn’t macho enough, Home Depot also sells a 12-gauge for half again that sum, and a 10-gauge for about twice the price, both in less attractive yellow-and-black jackets. If you still think I’m kidding, know that Tony Faulkner—engineer of about a third of the best-sounding orchestral recordings of the last twenty years—used the Black-and-Decker equivalent to hook up his Quad 989s at the recent Heathrow Show in England—“They are made from good, thick copper wire, look nice and sound good to me”—and that the designer of what is by provable standards one of the half dozen or so most accurate loudspeakers ever made uses and recommends it all the time.
The obvious top honors for value go to Home Depot’s outdoor extension cords: They won’t give you any bragging rights among certain audiophiles, but they’ll sure save you a bundle at very little sacrifice in performance.
Apparently a lot of hi-fi guru's have been using extension cords for speaker cable for a while now and have always claimed that they've been excellent. Perhaps it's because of the generous shielding or the very thick gauge wire (less resistance). But I think this is the first time that a reputible magazine has actually reviewed an A/C extension cord against other speaker cabling.
A friend of mine who is really into home hi-fi actually went out and bought one from Home Depot and soldered some gold/silver banana plugs on the ends of them and wrapped the whole thing in vinyl braiding. It looked really nice when he was done with it and he said that it sounded a hell of a lot better than the monster cable that is $1+ per foot that he has.
So it looks like I'll be heading to the Home Depot next time I rewire my car.
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