A subwoofer tweak you may not have considered

[tonepub]

I must be honest, I've never given a lot of consideration to driving my subwoofer with a super duper set of interconnects, but at the suggestion of our local ML rep, Harvey Gilbert, I tried a set of Audioquest Sub 3 cables.

These are a silver coated copper, with Audioquest's battery dialectric. I've never been a huge fan of silver or silver coated wire, but I have to say that it did give me a bit more slam and definition with the Descent i.

A 20 foot pair of these is about 800 bucks, so it's not cheap but not stupidly priced either. If you only need a shorter run, it will be a lot less..

You can buy it from Music Direct with the 15 day return, so if you hate it, save the packing and send it back. However, this has been a nice upgrade to the sound of my system.

Let me know if any of you have tried this or already use it.....

 

[Reverb2009]

Audioquest's Sub-3 cable is one of the few AQ cables I have yet to try, but I do plan on buying one soon.

Silver coated interconnects are not recommended by a lot of company's because they can create a harsh sound, but sub cables are a different animal because they handle lower frequency's they don't show the harshness that can be found with silver coated copper.

 

[C.A.P]

If money wasn't a issue I may consider it. However; I cant see spending $800 on sliver cables to play 35HZ and below with a Switching amp or a class D amp. I can find many areas that would benefit much better with a extra $800. I'm not disputing you one bit. It makes sense as to why it may work. Silver is inherently bright and the effects could appear to tighten up loose or muddy bass. I just think my Straight Wires are fine for now. If I was Fabio and had the dough I would buy GOLD cabling just to have it !

 

[Munster]

I always thought a "tweak" was a relatively low cost

way to try and improve something,maybe i'm wrong.

 

[Reverb2009]

Hay guys,

The AQ Sub-3 cable is a single RCA or XLR subwoofer cable, if you need a pair for right & left inputs you will need either a "Y" cable or purchase a 2nd Sub-3. Prices on the Sub-3 start at $220.00 for a 2M cable. Tonepub said he needed two 20ft cables so the price would go up quick. I am using the LFE XLR input on my Descent so one 3M Sub-3 cable is all I need for $250.00

 

[Bernard]

I always thought a "tweak" was a relatively low cost

way to try and improve something,maybe i'm wrong.

Agreed, but then then you have to define "low cost"; means different things to different people.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Audioquest's Sub-3 cable is one of the few AQ cables I have yet to try, but I do plan on buying one soon.

Silver coated interconnects are not recommended by a lot of company's because they can create a harsh sound, but sub cables are a different animal because they handle lower frequency's they don't show the harshness that can be found with silver coated copper.

Regarding Jeff and Joe's comments about silver coated interconnects, I recently changed my IC's to DH Labs (all silver) and found no additional harshness. In fact, I found greater extension / palpability at the top, a more refined mid range, and a definite bump in quickness / definition at the mid bass / low bass end of the spectrum. Imaging / sound stage dimensionality also improved.

My previous IC's (copper based) stood up well in comparison but the DH Labs brought me ever so closer to the music.

Perhaps those companies who recommend against silver have other synergy issues with their electronics.

IMHO and as most of us know, wire is such a personal taste / system dependant component and generalizations about harshness don't seem appropriate and / or justifiable.

GG

 

[tonepub]

to that same end, the DH stuff would probably make a great sub cable, but I do think they are more $$ per foot than the AQ for this application.

I use the Silver Sonic interconnects whenever I need a bit more zip somewhere, they make nice stuff.