The cable topic neverending arguements.....hehehehehe

Well just my 2cents here....

Good cables are not neccessarily expensive (my definition of expensive are those above few K cables)
but cheap...doesnt mean chap ayam lar.....for me at least some brands like Belden, Canare and similar type of cables manufactured by reputable companies

In hifi or ht world....marketing has been very effective in leading people to buy their products...not that its wrong....but a little further research would do no harm

For instance....is there a difference between a basic hdmi 1.4 vs a branded hdmi 1.4.....in terms of price...yes

In terms of quality....maybe not...most technical measures showed relatively close results between the two (provided the unbranded is really compliant to the standards).
Hdmi u might face problem in long run where a good quality remains better
Having your projector or tv calibrated to ISF standards yields better result than buying a 2000 hdmi

For interconnects....single ended or balanced....
Generally good copper cables will do the job.....and an important part of it is shielding and how d cables cores are braided to be resistant against EMI

Speaker cables and power cord are the same as well

Investing in 5000 interconnect on a 10000 system will not make it fly or sound heaven and earth
Its a matter of having the right balance
You might be better off with a 13k system n 2k cabling

There r a alot more things you can do to improve sound apart from investing in cables

For 1.....making your power clean
2....room acoustics

Generally what changes the sound character (note that i dont equate to sound quality) are the other types of metal they include in the cable core....such as silver, gold, carbon and etc.

Personally i am using canare interconnects, Gotham for my xlr....these are not any expensive cables but they get the job done effectively.
I used to use hisago from japan which is hard to find now.

In a lot of blind test....most people can't tell the difference

In high end hifi...where the equipment is tuned and calibrated to reference standards and in a good acoustic room with clean power...one can tell the difference in terms of sound character.....at that point...its more of a preference

I am learning to make my own cables as an enthusiast and currently still using high quality upocc copper core 7N using Litz braiding technique...
I use multi gauges and different type of cores for testing
I am still a fan of pure copper...
Have not started any shielding discovery at this point but will be my next stage of discovery

At the end of the day...apart from lab tests...your ears are the most important to tell d difference...

If you can't hear the difference....don't buy it...

I am not against any branded or unbranded....i have used diy cables, branded cables....high end cables for testing.....personally i hv mixtures in my system now...and gradually its becoming diy for fun....may not be any better than what u hv in the market

N in most instances..
Cheap does not mean good..
In this context, l guess somewhere in between la..

We lose to jp.... Audio Electricity pole

Eye open today!

Will ur house purified too?

Guys...am planning to move my surround spkr cables into d ceiling (plaster ceiling) together 1 shot with my atmos ceiling speakers

Is it ok to put d cable into plastic conduit??? Those electrical conduit....1 conduit may pull up to 4 speaker cable......

Dont u think for that price salksound offers much better choice?

How much are the Salk Soundscapes and the Sierra Towers? Who are the dealers in KL?

Ok.

You ordered the Sierra Towers "natural" finish at USD 2098... or you chose a different finish? Did you finally decide to add in the Custom RAAL 70-20xr with AM Core Transformer for USB 700? I wonder how much it will cost to ship by UPS for this 24.95 KG speakers.

It is usually based on dimensional weight and not the actual weight of the item especially by air. Dimensional weight reflects package density, which is the amount of the space a package occupies in relation to its actual weight. The bigger the box, the dimensional weight will be higher.

7 years ago, Emotiva charged USD290 for shipping fee of the XPA-5 power amp that I bought. I am guessing that this should be about USD750. Import duty around USD427 if based on the courier fee. GST will be USD196.51. All in at USD3,471.50.
The Soundscapes 8 is at about USD9k per pair. About 100kg+ per pair. No dealer in Malaysia. Shipping fee will be hefty.

Thanks for the info. Appreciated it.

So, roughly the estimated total cost should be $2800 + $800 + $427 (import duty) = USD 4027

Based on exchange rate of average RM 4.03 per USD 1, that will be RM 16228.81 (excluding GST). I assume the 6% GST will be based on RM 14508 (USD 2800+800) so the net total will be around RM 17099.

Mmm... I don't know whether GST exclude the shipping fee of $800.

Edited : Added import duty.

Anybody know where to find Klipsch RP-150M in Malaysia? Can't seem to find them listed anywhere even on htkaki's product page.

There are so so many brands and models of loudspeakers to choose from, which range from the low budget ones to the extremely extremely insane priced ones! Many of them I have never heard of, may never have the opportunity to listen to and many have names that sound so exotic or elite.

For sure, I have not heard of Salk Soundscapes until you mentioned them here. Interesting reading from Salk Sounds website and the Soundscape 8 floorstands really do project grandeur and excellence. You said that you have auditioned the Salk Soundscapes and loved it. Great to know that it suits your ears and taste.

Have you listened to the Ascend Sierra Towers w/RAAL tweeters? I hope you don't mind so may I ask... are you basing your purchase solely on the rave reviews and probably from various people who had auditioned it ? So you trust that your ears will like its audio character and believed your decision to purchase will be the right one. Please don't misunderstand, the Sierra Towers are NOT bad, far from it, as it should be top-notched excellent speakers which has pretty amazing sound.

For me... after going through all the process of price considerations, build quality, independent reviews, etc etc, if possible, I usually will try to audition it and let my ears decide before opening my wallet. Yes, I do agree that auditioning at the seller's showroom (with different HiFi/AV gear) cannot be relied upon, given the fact that it can never be the same as the purchaser's actual room BUT at least I can get a "general" rough idea of the speakers sonic character by bringing my own discs for the audition.

Anyway, to each one is their own way, choice and preference and absolutely nothing wrong in it.

Congrats on getting the Sierra Towers w/RAAL tweeters and that you will be eagerly waiting for it to arrive at your doorstep. I am sure you will enjoy its excellence!

Addition...
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/...room-bad-3.html

On point 2) with different length cables, wouldn't the signal arrive at the speakers at different time hence generating the sound later and causes the mic to pick it up later. Wouldn't that translate into longer distance? But in my case the effect is probably irrelevant. Just asking since it seems logical.

I was actually trying to see if there is any difference in performance between the cables by doing the extreme by using the 4m @ 3 ohms original cable vs 0.6m wireman cables. The test results is consistent from day 1 and I test at midnight when everyone is asleep. After cutting to length, the difference is only -0.5dB mostly, sometimes 0dB. Doubt I could hear the difference.

I'll try to get a SPL if I can, I think somewhere in my office have it.

The time it takes for electromagnetic signal to travel from the amp to the speaker driver is negligible compared to the time sound travel through air from speaker to your ears. Calibration software can not pick up the difference.

, for stereo, the difference in speaker cable lengths can give rise to significant phase difference between the left and right channels, and adversely affects the stereo imaging.

guys...wonder how many hertz frequency u guys set for center speaker

yup...80hz is THX standard but my speaker arent THX certified 
i see...currently mine is set @ 120hz

coz i also not sure what is the spec sheet of this old klipsch speaker
er....too technical. lol tak faham

Wonder at what volume is max for avr bcos some disc even set at -18 also very soft n some at -25 is already loud enough. as i know we must not go beyond 2'clock but how to read digital.tq

Sound is vibrations that travels through the air and as the vibration continue to travel, its energy drops (roll off) until all energy is lost and the sound "disappears". By understanding such roll off characteristics of each different frequency, we can determine how much the speaker should push out (vibrate) to get the required SPL (db) to reach the listener at different distance away from the speaker. THAT... even if I have such data, its still impossible for me to calculate what Amp settings to use.

Yes, different frequencies roll off at different rates... the higher frequencies cannot travel further than the lower frequencies so the gradual "roll of" will also be different between these different frequencies.

When the speaker specifications states the frequency range of 45Hz to 22000Hz, roll off information for sound at a fixed SPL is not shown for all the various different frequencies so its the job of the sound engineer to do research and put such data into the calibration software. I can never use "low frequency roll off" in my decision on what setting to use because I don't have such information. When the speaker specs states 45Hz, it means that the speaker cannot produce sound below 45Hz, it does not show how far 45Hz can travel at a fixed SPL sound output to roll off to no sound.

In my opinion, I cannot use frequency roll off to decide on my Amp crossover settings because I don't have such data AND even IF I have, its just too complicated for me to use my calculator to include this to get the correct setting loh.

Sound frequency roll off characteristics is about the behaviour of sound itself, not about what the speaker can do. Example, when a speaker can produce 45Hz sound frequency, all it needs is for the calibration software to use its built in data for the 45Hz sound roll off characteristics and then it will adjust this frequency EQ in the Amp to get the proper "loudness" (dB) to reach the listener's sitting position.

I think its very complicated to think about such "roll off" which is the sound from the speaker to the listener because that is the job of the calibration software. All it needs to be done is decide on how we want bass to be managed and redirected to where and then set the amp crossover so that it can control the audio "electrical" signal to the speakers according to our wishes. Each person can follow the "standard" crossover settings or use one that the person "think" is much better... its up to each person.

To make it simple, forget about sound frequency roll off and just let the calibration software do its magic with such data already built in.

Well, I may not be right, you know. So do feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

It means relative to reference 0dB. Theater A 0dB is the same as Theater B 0dB. That is the purpose of calibration, so that there is a standard volume.

XO Hz is not 75dB. It's typically -3dB point.
Audyssey does not set the XO frequency or speaker size. It can't properly splice a main speaker with subwoofer because it doesn't measure the combine response sweep. Even Dirac can't. Maybe Dirac Unison can, but we have no news of it.
Are you sure there are people who set master volume to 75dB (as shown on the front panel/GUI display) ? That is impossible. What you see is 75 / 80 / 85 / 90 , definitely not in dB unit. That is in "absolute" display, which varies by manufacturer.
A quote from D&M manual:
Reference level is a standard provided the system is calibrated correctly. That's the way a content is presented. Production 0dB = Theater A 0dB = Theater B 0dB
http://www.thx.com/consumer/thx-technology...eference-level/

To Ben all his theory is correct. Definitely he is not in the same camp as you. Please don't waste your energy