This month, Matt from Audio T Cardiff takes a deeper look into speaker cables and interconnects, and how different qualities make a difference to the sound of our wonderful Hi-Fi systems, and the big question of price.

On my long personal journey through the wonderful world of Hi-Fi, building up my own Hi-Fi system, one of the things I’ve found intriguing throughout is cables. I’ve always felt it’s important to have good quality cable. Going back to my pro audio days, depending on which instrument cable I used this would show up in my sound. Especially using clean tones on my guitar amplifier, which is all valve so this would show up a bad cable, and in some cases it would feel like my guitar is being strangled, eg. overly compressed and not enjoyable to the ear, whereas a good instrument cable would fix this.

Some people say it’s very much smoke and mirrors with cable and they doubt if all the marketing information is true. I believe any good manufacturer will do their research, test their products and bring their ideas to the table, then offer a range of cables which they feel has certain sonic benefits to our Hi-Fi systems’ sound. There are lots of variations in the way cables are manufactured, high purity copper, solid core or multi stranded, silver plating, how the cable is shielded and the material used to cover the cable, the type of plugs; all these things can affect how a cable performs.

Every company has their own idea of what sounds right, but what’s most important in all of this is to use our own ears, we all have our own taste when it comes down to our system set up, as I keep saying there’s no wrong answers.

Before I dive into cable companies, let’s look at the different ways you can connect your system and types of plugs used and maybe a little history. One of the most common interconnect plugs used, the phono plug (which is short for Phonograph) is associated with the connection of turntable tone arms. The phono plug is also more commonly known as an RCA plug. As we know, RCA is an acronym of the Radio Corporation of America, which became their standard connection in the US.

The other connection used quite often in a balanced set up is the XLR plug/socket which stands for X Latching Resilient connector. The XLR plug was originally invented by the Cannon electrical company.

And finally, the banana plug, which as we know is used on our speaker cables. There are few types out there solid core like Chords Ohmic plugs, and one of the most common designs, the simple but very useful Z plug. The main focus of this article is on RCA interconnects and Banana plugs on speaker cables.

CHORD COMPANY

First up is Chord Company.

Chord has been a well known brand in the industry for a rather long time. The Chord cable company started way back in 1984, with a conversation over dinner with the guys from Naim. The founders of Chord went away and came back with their first prototype cable, the Chrysalis RCA. The rest, as they say, is history.

Chord co. factory terminated epic speaker cable with chord ohmic speaker plugs

Chord Company has been building groundbreaking and award winning cables ever since with some of our favourite product lines such as Clearway, Shawline and Epic.

So how do Chord cables perform?

Throughout Chord’s lineup they seem to have the same lineage in sound in a good way. From the C series, such as their C screen speaker cable and RCA interconnects, right through the rest of their ranges - Clearway, Shawline and especially Epic.

Personally, I have always found Chord Cables to be a great brand to rely on as they seem to get it right pretty much every time. The main cables in their lineup that particularly shine for me are Shawline and Epic. Both have great sonic benefits. The Shawline RCA interconnects with their Array technology and silver plated conductors, fitted with their Chor-Alloy plugs, are a constant for me in any set up and they seem to bring great detail, accuracy, and control over bass to the sound. Whether it’s a turntable setup, CD or streaming I feel these are a great choice.

On the EpicX lineup, the speaker cable is where it’s at for me, again Chord’s great combination of copper and silver plating and high-frequency shield translucent PVC jacket for an improved performance, combined with Chords Ohmic banana plugs makes this a truly great speaker cable. For me, the sonic performance of this speaker cable offers detail, well controlled bass, and I even feel it improves timing between instruments.

BLACK RHODIUM

Black Rhodium’s origins date all the way back to 1975, when Graham Nalty began in the hi-fi industry, selling loudspeakers that he would demonstrate in customers’ homes. Later he put his vast knowledge into designing and building groundbreaking audio cable.

The Introductory level is the gateway to their wide range of products, I believe these cables perform way above their price point. The RCA interconnects Copper core construction, good shielding and gold plated RCA plugs make a great interconnect. Sonically I regard these as a very honest sounding cable, while being clean and precise, they don't colour the sound.

Their Intro speaker cables have twin copper conductors and a large Ferrite core. The cable is sheathed with an expandable braid which reduces mechanical vibrations within the cable. These cables come fitted with gold plated Z plugs.

How do Black Rhodium cables perform?

Again, I feel that these speaker cables perform way above their price point, they have been our go-to cable for lower to mid priced systems for some time now. They have a clean and precise, well balanced sound, and good overall control.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I SPEND ON CABLES?

This really depends on the type of Hi-Fi system you have. A smaller system like a Rega Brio amp, Rega turntable and a pair of Dali Oberon 1 speakers is perfectly happy with something like Black Rhodium Intro, whereas if you put the same cable on the Naim NSC 222 with NAP 250 combination, the system will not perform at its best. So a better cable from Chord or Naim would be in order. It’s all about finding the right cable for the job, but do aim for the best cable you can afford within your budget.

We strongly recommend trying out different cables, listening to the differences they make to your system. To assist you with this take advantage of our home loan scheme, and see what you think and what difference cables can make to your sound.

Thanks for reading

Matt, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

If you’ve enjoyed this, why not go ahead and read some more of our other blogs, and be sure to follow us on our social media channels below…