What speaker cable to upgrade too?

[robertone]

Hi all,
I have a pair of Calipers that Ive had since new. They haven't been used much for over 2 yrs. They were covered up and stored during that time. I had back surgery a while back,and that meant that I was home for a few months. In that time I forgot how much I loved my Apogee's,they got a good workout during my rehad. I updated my CD player to an OPPO-95 and I can't belive the differnece in what I was hearing. Things that I haven't heard before from certain tracks,were now loud and clear. That got me to thinking what other parts could benfit from being upgraded. Current setup,
Pre amp Classe DR-4
Amps Classe DR-9 X 2
Source OPPO-95
Speaker cables SYMO
interlink cable KIMBER

Can anyone suggest any new speaker cables I might try first,or is Symo still OK.
George

[Zardoz]

I had Symo for quite a while with my Calipers but eventually switched to Transparent Ultra. Their new MM2 technology is supposed to be much better, so the Super, or even the Plus would probably give you similar results. I found them more open, more extended both low and high, bigger soundstage, and more clarity, than the Symo. I now have Diva's and am still using the Transparent to great results with them. I had also used some Kimber KCAG for a while, but they always sounded a little etched in the highs at times.

Hope this is some help,
Z

[robertone]

thanks Z,
looks like a brand that dealers wouldn't carry in Australia.
What ever happened to the old days where dealers would let you take stuff home and audtion with out
even taking your ID.

[Zardoz]

Yeah, those were the days. Too many people more interested in ripping someone off than actually making a purchase, the internet, and tighter margins have led to a less amiable market place.

Good luck with your search, and good listening,
Z

[gilles13]

I have one classe DR9 (i am searching for a second one) and calliper signature . Two years ago I changed a DR5 pre for a doge 8. It's really night and day and quite cheap for that level of sound. You have reviews on stereomojo, Salvatore high end audio ...

[dasign]

I have a pair of DS that used to be driven by a DR9 and went trough a series of loudspeaker cables (MIT MH750 single and bi-wire mode, Audioquest CV8). My latest and final addition is a pair of used Acoustic Zen Double-barrel (bi-wired cable) which I paid about $950 on the Audiogon. These were so good that I also purchased their Absolute XLR interconnect. The Acoustic Zen cables are truly revealing, greater extension in bass and treble and a rendition of micro details unheard of. They are a true audiophile bargain and these are keepers for life.

Bi-wiring the DS really improves the sound, not sure about the Calipers...but my guess is that you should benefit from it.

[kucharsk]

I biwired my Caliper Signatures with very good results with cable from Synergistic Research (not their hyper-expensive cables, either.)

[christoph]

hello together

i found out, that foil cables, i.e. goertz sound excellent with my several apogees
if you are handy, you could build your own supercables out of (copper-)foil for the fraction of the price of the usual suspects


cheers, christoph

[robertone]

Thanks all,
more googling to do now about various suggestions.
On another note, I need to upgrade the pre-amp (Classe DR-4) starting to have issues with one of the balanced outputs. Anyone tried the Emotiva XSP-1? ,I need balanced input and balanced out as well.

p.s Gilles using 2 DR-9 in mono is night and day compared to one. I also auditioned one and thought that it sounded great on the Apogee's,but when I ran the speakers with 2 amps,the second amp didn't go back to the store. But this again was back in the days when you could take stuff home to audition.

[christoph]

Hi goerge

I would rather bi-amp (especially with apogees) than use them bridged to mono.
When bridged to mono the amp "sees" only half the impedance of the speaker load. That means your amps need to play into 1.5 ohm (the calipers are 3 ohms) per amp/speaker, which is a very tough act.

If you bi-amp your calipers, your amps play into 3 ohms which is a walk in the parc, compared to 1.5 ohms

when you bi-amp, the bass doesn't affect the mids and the highs because each way has it's own amp.

After you have the amps anyways, you should try bi-amping you calipers instead of driving them bridged to mono.

I would be surprised if it didn't sound better bi-amped


cheers, christoph