Newbie needs the cable guy help!

[jazzzione]

Well after spending most of my evenings reading posts on this site I finally made the plunge.
RSX 1055
RMB 1075
Fronts- Nautilus 803s
Rears - Nautilus 805s
I have not used all of my budget yet, so I am looking at getting a Nautilus center channel and not sure yet on the sub. I only have about 2k left for my budget. I could squeeze more but hell my wife's pockets have some limits.

Now for the newbie issue. The most perplexing thing for me now is the cable connecting amp/receiver. My dealer let me borrow some for two weeks. I have something called "transparent." I am just not sure what is the best product to use to interconnect the amp/receiver to power my front speakers. Using the amp for the 803s and the receiver for the 805s surrounds. My dealer is suggesting some $300 USD cables which seem kind of high.

As for the surround I was going to use 14 gauge cable from home depot as many suggested here. My dealer will charge 4.00 a foot for the same, attaching banana fittings. I have no clue of what cable to use for my 803s. Nonetheless, should look elsewhere for these cables.

This is my first post to club rotel and I must say thanks to all. Just reading the posts were enough to get me in the right direction.

cheers dale :LOL: P.S. Damn I love this system!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jazzzione]

This was suppose to be a reply for a different thread for Lex, I must of hit the wrong button. Well I am a rookie so!

[will1066]

That's a heck of a system there. B&W's HTM 1 center channel, at $2k, is a no-brainer for you. But since that's your remaining budget, perhaps you could get by with the HTM 2 and save $1k for a sub. You can get very some very good subs at the $1k price point.

As for interconnects, remember the phrase involving a certain human anatomy? Cable opinions are like _____. Everybody's got one.

[Danbry39]

As for interconnects, remember the phrase involving a certain human anatomy? Cable opinions are like _____. Everybody's got one.

Honestly, Will, that is so incorrect. At my age, parts start disappearing. Maybe, I have one or maybe I don't. Hell, I don't remember.

jazzzione,

Nice system. Will's right. Everyone has an opinion about cables. Wonder if Transparent are under the same distributor as Rotel and B&W. I frequently see the three of them together in shops. Anyway, back onto the cable topic. Transparents enjoy a good reputation. My opinion is that they can be quite pricey though.

You are right to talk to Lex and I'd recommend you email him. Perhaps, you can still jump in on his discount for Club Rotel. The build quality of his wires is outstanding. He also has them across a price range where there should be something for anyone. With that wonderful gear there, you don't want to shortchange your system. I have my doubts as to whether the cost effectiveness of boutique brands of cables is worth it, yet I want better construction, materials, and build quality than many of the mass market brands. So, I always buy my cables from independent makers like Lex or companies like Blue Jeans, Rhino, etc, which is where I find the sweet spot in the industry to be. All of these companies offer good products for a more than fair price. I like my Quantum cables because of the detail to their build and the fact that Lex really is interested in your system, including your listening environment, and will offer well reasoned suggestions based on that.




Keith

[jazzzione]

Thanks,
I find this area to be very confusing. In fact most of this stuff I am learning is confusing. It took a while to come up with this system from auditioning and reading. Now putting it together with good quality cables is what I am looking for. I would love to have the best but I think something in the nature of very good quality and long lasting is what I am looking for. Hopefully Lex will see this email and get back to me.

[jazzzione]

Will,
I was thinking more in the HTM1 range due to space limitations. Living in Coronado, CA has limitations on the size of house, if you know what I mean. I would love the HTM2 but my wife does have here limitations. I am just grateful she let me go this far. The sub will be the challenge.

thanks

[Danbry39]

Just go to the top thread in Club Rotel, the one involving the special offer on Catcable and Quantum Cable and post there. Lex should read that. I'm not sure if he'll find it here.




Keith

[jazzzione]

Kieth,
Thanks, I was just getting ready to do that very same thing.

[Andrew Pratt]

Jazzione what I'd recomend is that you go to home depot and buy your speaker cables from there. They sell a nice in wall approved 12 guage cable for a very reasonable cost if you need to run your surrounds though the walls/ceilings etc. For the fronts what seems to work very well is to buy a cable that has four cables inside it. You can then twist them into two pairs and attach these to some nice banana plugs. There's a write up on these speaker cables in the DIY area I believe. Again this cable should be at Home Depot and will likely be very affordable...much more so then $4 a foot.

For interconnects the suggestion to talk to Lex is very solid. I have several of his offerings and the build quality is out standing. Now obviously if budget allowed I'd love to have my whole system wired up with silvercats but in the real world we have to make comprimises so what I have done is for my mains and the run between my CD player and pre amp I'm using the nicer silver cats. For the less critical runs (surrounds etc) I dropped down a line and choose some from the copper cat line. The build quality is still there but being a copper cable it doesn't offer the stunning detail the silver cables do..but for surrounds who cares its not nearly as important. For devices like the VCR again you aren't going to notice the difference between something as high end as silvercats so again going for a lower line makes sense here as well....I mean who critically listens to their VCR

For the subwoofer your best bet is to look at one of the online vendors such as SVS, Adrie or HSU. There's also several people selling "kits" that come in various forms of completion if you wanted to give that a try. I've built ever sub I've ever owned and don't see myself ever buying a comercial unit again but I can understand why you wouldn't want to build one yourself. There's a few places online that will build one for you though for a good price as another alternative.

Assuming you spend $1K on the centre that leaves us about $1K for the cables and sub. Given that budget I'd recomend the Adire Rava or the Adire Dharma or Adire Sadhara or one of the SVS subs like this one or this one. All of those would walk all over most commercial units in a similar price point...or likely ones priced well above them as well.

[jazzzione]

Andrew,
Thanks. I was looking at the silver cats, and may go for the copper for my dvd. So if I understand what you are saying:

silver cats for amp to reciever for my fronts.

copper for dvd.

I am using my reciever to power my surrounds so I should not need any cables for those correct?

I will head to Home Depot and check out the cables there.

Again thanks for the help. I will contact Lex about the cables etc.

[Andrew Pratt]

Yes that looks about right.

[rlin]

I know I may get flamed but I am not a believer of "magical" cables. My advice for speaker cable is buy the thickest cable (12 or 14 gauge) for the lowest price you can buy. Copper wires are copper wires - as long as they are pure enough and don't oxidize, they conduct electrons. The longer your cable runs, the more likely the resistence of the cable may affect sound and therefore you should choose 12 or 14 gauge cable.

As far as interconnects, the same logic applies. Most of the interconnect cables are less than 6 feet and the resistence of the copper is even less of a factor. What matters is DURABILITY and SHIELDING. You want an interconnect cable that can withstand abuses and multiple plugging / unplugging. Most of the cheap cables are NOT shielded and are susceptable to RF interferences. I have cheap cables (freebies that came with the CD player or VCR) that develop bad contacts after a while. I even had a not-so-cheap video cable, seemingly well constructed, that broke on me. Recently I found some double-shielded cable made by AR at BestBuy - they seem to be well constructed enough and well shielded and cost about half of those made by Monster Cables. The AR cables range from $12-$39 depending on the type and length of the cable.

Some people believe in "Balanced" vs. "Unbalanced" cables - I am not going into the details but in theory balanced cable connections are less susceptble to interferences; therefore, may "potentially" sound better. However, your gears MUST support balanced connections otherwise it's a waste of money.

Obviously silver is better but I don't think most people can afford silver cables (just check out how much an ounce of silver cost in a commodity market.)

Rob

[jazzzione]

Rob,
Thanks for the input but I have settled on CAT cables. Sounds like the way to go for me.