Brimar longplates or better interconnects?

I have reported previously about my misadventures with my M125's. This occur due to zero prior experience with kits so I make a few mistakes. But with much help from forum members these are corrected and M125s are now rock solid. So attention can finally shift to upgrades. Which is better upgrade? Better driver tubes as in subject line, or higher quality interconnects? Both are similar cost, around $300.

If the the M125s are "rock-solid' as you claim, why do you need to do anything?!

If you wish to enter the wild and wacky world of wire, you might try John's Wire Shop; terminate them with USA-made Switchcraft 3502A plugs. 20 or 22 gauge twisted pair works well. Color choices are up to you, as is shielding.

I use a Brimar CV4034 as the initial voltage amplifier tube in my Latino VTA-70. I also have a pile of Raytheon/Baldwin 12au7a yellow-label blackplates, which are nice neutral sounding and dirt cheap.

Tubes always give me more variation in sound than interconnects. Given that the interconnects are fairly good quality from the start and are compatible.

arledgsc wrote:Tubes always give me more variation in sound than interconnects.  Given that the interconnects are fairly good quality from the start and are compatible.    

Same here. Drivers, especially in the voltage-amplification holes, really do flavour the sound. I wouldn't go overboard on cabling/interconnects. There's a lot of reptilian squeezin's in the latter.
I cannot recommend highly enough this series of articles about interconnects, speaker cabling and (gasp!) digital runs:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/index.htm

........ Sitting on my fingers again.....

Peter W. wrote:........ Sitting on my fingers again.....

Do tell . . .

deepee99 wrote:

Peter W. wrote:........ Sitting on my fingers again.....

Do tell . . .

It starts when I am told, very seriously, that I need little catenary supports for my speaker cables.

https://www.ebay.com/i/181728186076?chn=ps&dispItem=1

And degenerates from there.

https://www.audiodestination.co.uk/system-conditioning/ground-boxes/entreq/entreq-poseiden-ground-box-3-grounding-points

Peter W. wrote:

deepee99 wrote:

Peter W. wrote:........ Sitting on my fingers again.....

Do tell . . .

It starts when I am told, very seriously, that I need little catenary supports for my speaker cables.

https://www.ebay.com/i/181728186076?chn=ps&dispItem=1  

And degenerates from there.

https://www.audiodestination.co.uk/system-conditioning/ground-boxes/entreq/entreq-poseiden-ground-box-3-grounding-points  

Good Heavens, Peter W., you can find them in the Muffler Bearings aisle of any respectable hardware store for half the price! They're right near the cup-hooks (be sure to get the chrome-moly versions, though.

Thanks for the link DP ref bluejeanscables. I like the design of the RCA connectors with the tiny leaf springs. I would prefer a snugger fit to the RCA's on my M125's.

Given the pricing I'm seeing for brands like Cardas, Siltech etc. these look very reasonable! How are they performance wise, esp in respect to shielding?

LeGrace wrote:Thanks for the link DP ref bluejeanscables. I like the design of the RCA connectors with the tiny leaf springs. I would prefer a snugger fit to the RCA's on my M125's.

Given the pricing I'm seeing for brands like Cardas, Siltech etc. these look very reasonable! How are they performance wise, esp in respect to shielding?

They are very good and made a noticeable drop in noise compared to my unshielded cables.

LeGrace wrote:Thanks for the link DP ref bluejeanscables. I like the design of the RCA connectors with the tiny leaf springs. I would prefer a snugger fit to the RCA's on my M125's.

Given the pricing I'm seeing for brands like Cardas, Siltech etc. these look very reasonable! How are they performance wise, esp in respect to shielding?

LeGrace, Blue Jeans Cables is an honest, straight-forward direct seller and maker of interconnects based in Seattle, WA. It was actually Bob Latino who turned me on to them. A small shop that answers even the dumbest questions via email on Saturdays. No show-room, no distribution network, no horse-shit sales pitch. Tell 'em what you want and they'll either have it on hand or make it for you. Turnaround time in either case from order to delivery here in the U.S. is 2-3 days. I dunno what to factor in regarding wait-time when dealing with Canada Post
Walk into a "high-end audiophile" shop and ask about BJC and you'll get a great big Huh? or in your case Eh? Why? Because the arse-holes can't mark them up from the production cost Blue Jeans sells them for on the web.
Very sturdy terminations, superb shielding, and they have a cold-welding machine for their speaker cable ends you can't pull apart with a pair of bull-dozers.
I cannot speak to their returns policy as I've never had to send one of their cables back.
Most of what you read and hear about cable specifications from the $100,00/foot crowd might be relevant if you're running thousand-meter-long wires and notice a capacitance drop. For our purposes, this is tripe.

Being the odd man out that I usually am, after trying the Blue Jeans LC1's for TT interconnects, and phono stage to preamp, they did not sound good to me at all, especially the midrange. And yes I allowed "break in" time. (Technically trying to break in a TT interconnect using the small signal from a turntable would take until 2032 AD)

Someone mentioned the Switchcraft 3502A plugs, BTPA has Belden 8402 cable, makes for a nice sounding interconnect at a decent price.

I once had a few expensive speaker cables/interconnects, they actually caused more issues than just being expensive.

Anyways to the OP's question, they both matter, it's possible rolling tubes the sound will not change much.

jfine wrote:Being the odd man out that I usually am, after trying the Blue Jeans LC1's for TT interconnects, and phono stage to preamp, they did not sound good to me at all, especially the midrange. And yes I allowed "break in" time. (Technically trying to break in a TT interconnect using the small signal from a turntable would take until 2032 AD)

Someone mentioned the Switchcraft 3502A plugs, BTPA has Belden 8402 cable, makes for a nice sounding interconnect at a decent price.

I once had a few expensive speaker cables/interconnects, they actually caused more issues than just being expensive.

jfine, I would concur there's better cabling out there for XLR as well as TT than BJC supply. But they're a good reference starting point for a guy on a budget. I get most of my stuff from Paul Lauditi at Clear Day nowadays. All I'm proposing is that if you don't want to spend a gob of money BJC is a good place to begin.

Yep the Blue Jeans is 35 bucks for a pair of 3 foot interconnects, BTPA is 35 for a single 3 footer, so the LC1 is a better deal.

I just went thru a Solid State/JBL phase, so the LC1 just didn't fit.

My current interconnects are local hardware store specials so I imagine copper shielded ones like they sell at BTPA (IcLyricHG's) will be a noticeable improvement!

LeGrace wrote:My current interconnects are local hardware store specials so I imagine copper shielded ones like they sell at BTPA (IcLyricHG's) will be a noticeable improvement!  

Under 99-44/100ths of conditions, probably not.

For those 36/100ths - the change will be remarkable.

Assumption: Your present interconnects were competently made from good materials of a gauge and size that is sufficient for the need.

Put another way, and using a deliberately extreme example: Coat-hanger wire, assuming good connectors, will be fine for most speaker applications and runs of less than 10 feet (3 meters in the new currency). Try it - blind of course. Do not take my word for it.

Legrace, what is the rest of your system? You may have opportunities some place else. Dale

Thanks Peter. I'm actually OK with my speaker cables, they are by Klipsch. But I recently add a more decent phono pre to my system and wonder about connection between it and preamp, and then preamp to my M125 amps. All are low quality. I am thinking can possibly qualify as 36/100ths situation.

In MHO, cabling issues are down there in the noise. There's a real opportunity to over-spend and you won't get shite for results.
The Phase Linear 700, a Carver concoction, used lamp-cord for AC and you could plug it in next to your lava lamp. We also wired our Mac speaks with lamp-cord.
Nobody thought the better of it.

Dale Stevens wrote:Legrace,  what is the rest of your system?  You may have opportunities some place else.  Dale

Here is photo. New phono preamp is Sutherland Phd.

Attempt #2

To see entire image right click and select view image