Hi Guys,

Would really appreciate it if you peeps could give recommendations for a "warm" sounding pair of interconnects, as currently my whole system is slightly "edgy and bright" and basically very fatiguing to listen to. I would particularly fancy a cable which gives a wide soundstage, less forward treble and mids, and tight bass.

My system is as follows : Benchmark DAC-1 (source)-> canare starquad interconnects -> nad c320bee integrated amp -> qed silver anni xt bi-wire -> monitor audio bronze br2 standmounts.

My budget would be max 40 quid, and I have shortlisted the candidates to the ecosse composer, van den hul the name and van den hul d102 hybrid.

can anyone who has heard any of the 3 above, chime in and please tell me the inherent audio characteristics of the cable?

Many thanks and cheers,
Nick

Nick,
I use Van Den Hul D102Mk2 Hybrid interconnects and have been very pleased. Also in the system are Profigold Oxypure which have given me more body and a natural sound. The Profigold's are available for about £30 and the Van Den Hul if new closer to £100.
Incidentally I used QED Silver Anniversary speaker cable and eventually sold it as I found it over-bright. I now use Puresonic 301 Strand Copper cable which suits me, it is open but warm sounding. I think that silver cable is ideal for those wanting a bright, clean sound.

D102 Mk 111 was the first cable that I used that made a dramatic difference. Second hand price is around £35.

I do however agree with Nigel's comment that your brightness problems may be with your speaker cable. It comes up over and over again in threads as a problematic component which takes away bass and leads to over brightness. 2x 2.5 metres of DNM reson speaker cable would be in your budget (if you buy it unterminated) and would get you to a better place in terms of your overall balance.

Thank you all for the insightful advice. I have placed an order for the dnm reson speaker cable from hificables.co.uk. Hopefully warmth would be restored in my system!

Just one really stupid question : Where can i buy baked-sand for my speaker stands?

VDH d102 is quiet a boring cable and will make your sound alittle warmer.
Qed SA (silver Anniversary is just a name there is no silver in the cable)
Dealers only make a small amount on qed sa and would very much like you to think it is a bit bright this fable as been passed down to customers and now half the world belive they hear it. Qed SA still remains one of if not the best cable you can buy at its price level.
Thats not to say that DNM Reson is not a good cable it is but I dont think it will sound any warmer then Qed.
Move your speakers about abit ie: closer to the wall or tilted a little or angled in a bit.
These things will have more effect on sound then changing cables.
(sand in your stands is also a good move)
After all that then maybe look at changing your interconnect then your speaker cable.

I don't know the interconnect you are using but the QED Silver Anniversary is definitely a 'bright' cable. I am sure the answer would be to switch to Chord either Odyssey or if your budget can stretch (and you will never need to upgrade) try the Chord Epic. I use this with a £12000 set up and it is glorious.

John, there actually is silver in QED SA. It's silver plated copper.

Alan, have you tried comparing Epic with Signature? Sig is terrific (especially in imaging) but I want something just a fraction warmer. I haven't seen any really good reviews of the Epic in comparison with anything else that I know. Have you got the 'Twin' version?

Nicholas, If you're still reading this thread, how did you get on and was our advice correct?

I have tried against the Signature which i think makes things 'larger than large'. I am using two runs of single Epic rather than the Biwire as the MF Nu Vista has 2 speaker inputs. The Signature and Epic are as warm as you'll get in my opinion. Too warm for some ears. Keep away from silver in speaker cable and interconnect if you want to warm the signal. Is your i/c silver?

It's also Signature. I've just changed the lead to the mains block to a Krystal Stratos which has taken that system just a touch too bright but has given me terrific resolution.

I was thinking of either Kondo SPC or Acoustic Zen copper speaker wires just to make a small correction.

I've tried Cat5e braid. It just wasn't quite up to standard but the neutrality was about right.

Hi Chris Have you tried moving your amplifier power plug to the furthest point awat from the lead in to your power block? This smooths things down for me. Another smoother is replacing your power point to an MK. They are reputed to be the best and for me they are. All my plugs are also MK.
You can email me for further chat.

The power amps are actually plugged in that way already (not deliberately) and I already have MK plugs on a power circuit that is dedicated to the lounge only.

I think it's going to need a fundamental change. I'm having some very good experiences with the Acoustic Zen stuff which seems richer than what I've already got on the interconnects. If I see a second hand set of the speaker cables, I'll probably go for it.

I'm running two systems at the moment; one very high resolution one (Tag Mclaren, Nuforce 9.02 and LS3/5a V2) which is the one that I'm talking about) and a richer sounding system based on Cambridge 840A/840C with Spendor SP1. At the moment, for enjoyent, I keep drifting towards the cheaper but more beautiful sounding Cambridge/Spendor.