Well I Never?

Question is, would 7ft of Exposure cable sound different than 35 ft of cable.
Theory would certainly say yes (with 5x less resistance).
Reality will probably be no - and much more likely no if the listener was unaware of the length difference.
 
"Theory would certainly say yes (with 5x less resistance).
Reality will probably be no - and much more likely no if the listener was unaware of the length difference"

Well, that sounds like good news. Because if 35ft of Qed XT40i sounds like 7ft. I might be be looking at an upgrade
 
Just to muddy the waters a bit...

Just checked the price of the Naim Nac5 speaker cable I use

Exposure recommended with their amplifiers.

I read that some (older?) Naim amplifiers lack a Zobel network in their output stage and as a result, need to be used with speaker cable that has significant inductance otherwise the amps can become unstable. If that is the case, then I would expect Naim's own speaker cable to have that inductance. Is it possible that Exposure amps also need to be used with high-inductance speaker cable? If this is so, then in this instance a high-inductance speaker cable could sound different to a low-inductance speaker cable (which may trigger instability?). Even then, any changes in system sound quality would be due to the amp rather than the cable, I guess?.
 
At the moment though I'm using a Denon PMA 1600 amp, not the Exposure XM5.
If I get time over the weekend I might try the Qed XT 40 with the Exposure.
 
Since the OP started with a brand new speaker, comparing its virgin performance against its performance after it had been playing some time (while he installed everything else), I don't see how this can count as a "cable comparison" test. No attempt was made to exclude the much more likely cause of a break-in effect.

I am using 2.5mm OFC cable; the speakers themselves cost me twice the figure from post 4.
 
I've been using the Kefs for week with the Exposure cable, it was only while I was moving my equipment around I decided to try the Qed cable. So it was Exposure, Qed, Exposure.

Anyway I going to order some XT40i from Peter Tyson, if it doesn't meet my expectations I can send it back.
I have never experienced speaker break in effect, Kef make no mention of it in their user manual, and if it does exist, it would extremely subtle and most likely inaudible.
 
Opening up myself for abuse here! But I replaced my QED Silver Anniversary XT with QED XT400 (also KEF R5 like you have). This was down to a curiosity because I was wondering if the SA XT was a bit of a narrow gauge (1.5mm2) when most advice suggests at least 2.5mm2. Although as my runs are fairly short I wasn’t expecting an issue really.
I’m sure it’s opened them up slightly, I don‘t know if its the cable gauge (4mm2 now), or due to higher quality and properly terminated airloc banana plugs (Not to mention of course no oxidisation which the 20yr old SA XT cable may have had - though I did recently cut the ends off and re-attach the plugs for that very reason).
But I went back and forth a number of times trying and I was convinced enough there was a difference (Top end openness).

I’m not someone easily swayed either (we all say that I know!). But I’ll be totally open in that I heard zero difference changing my cheap as chips Van Damme XLR’s to QED Ref 40 XLR’s. I heard zero difference changing my cheap as chips Van Damme RCA’s to QED Ref 40 RCA’s too! And I have never heard an ounce of difference going between coax and optical!! - Digital cable snake oil being the worst offender in Hifi I believe. I also as I recall some 20ish years ago, never heard a single bit of difference going from the copper cable talk speaker wire over to the SA XT either…. And my ’hifi’ power cables, yeah no difference there either - really I just get them as kits from MCRU so I can terminate them to a better length (and they look nicer being braided!).
- That’s a very round about way to say the SA XT to XT400 is the only time I have ever felt I’ve fond a difference in any cable testing. YYMV :D
 
I only tried the two metre lengths I had because it was free..
I think if two lenghts of speaker cable measure the same it is unlikely you can hear any difference.
However, 7ft of Qed XT40i will not measure the same as 35ft of Nain Naca5.
I haven't measured it though, so I could be wrong.
 
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Not too sure if the sonic benefits can be heard the more expensive your system is. What i mean by expensive - better components and a complete balanced and in sync system. But we are possibly talking silly money here.
 
Well, for those of you that are sitting on the edge your seat waiting for the definitive conclusion to the Naim Nac 5 vs Qed XT40. Lol. The Qed arrives tomorrow, Both are 12AWG 4mm2. Both are 35 ft long.
I know many of you will be bitterly disappointed with the delay, but you will only have to wait a few more days and all will be revealed
Your patience and understanding is much appreciated.
 
Oh, one other thing, I will not be posting a knee jerk assessment, high quality cables like these, WILL NEED TIME TO BURN IN. My existing cables have been burning in for more that 20 years. I think they may even have burnt out.
 
Ok, the cable arrived today, tried it for about two hours. No diffrence, if there is it's very, very subtle. If I don’t hear a difference, good or bad when I first plug something in, I don't spend days or weeks waiting for it to happen. It goes back, if there is a difference, good or bad, I will spend time to see if it's good enough to spend money on.
My dad once said to me, money is the hardest thing to get hold of and the easiest thing to get rid of. This certainly applies to hifi upgrades.
The cables going back.
Having said that, 7ft of Qed sounded better to me than 35ft of Naim NacA5
I suspect 7ft of the Naim will sound better the 35ft. I don't know because I don't have 7ft of Naim cable to try.
Sorry if the ending disappoints. That's life.
No deaths threats please. I'm 68, not got much longer left anyway lol.
 
No deaths threats please. I'm 68, not got much longer left anyway lol.
Don't say that, you'll get begging letters for your kit. I've already got a waiting list on my Oppo headphones. :)
 
Well, the speaker cable is being collected tomorrow, but my six year old Pioneer NP 01 Streamer is playing up. It sounds like a car with a misfire. If I turn it off and back on again, it's fine for a while.So I've ordered a Bluesound Node. I really just wanted streamer without a Dac, but the ones I've seen look like a pain to set up. From what I've read the Node is easy.. Seems like a lot of money when I don't think I will be using the built in Dac though.
 
The Node is a good buy even if you don‘t use it’s DAC I think, decent software, stable, and just a nice product overall.
When ever I‘ve looked I’ve never found many DAC-less streamers besides going the RPi route, which doesn’t have the simplicity and polish of the Node. And then of those that are remaining they are usually very expensive, like the Auralic or Lumin!

The most decent looking alternative I’ve seen is the SMSL SD-9, but that said, I’ve read/watched some reviews and the software side didn’t seem at all as polished as BluOS, not even close. And given the price is best part of £400 anyway… and thus as I say I think the Node even not using it’s DAC is still a good buy.
 
Well, the speaker cable is being collected tomorrow, but my six year old Pioneer NP 01 Streamer is playing up. It sounds like a car with a misfire. If I turn it off and back on again, it's fine for a while.So I've ordered a Bluesound Node. I really just wanted streamer without a Dac, but the ones I've seen look like a pain to set up. From what I've read the Node is easy.. Seems like a lot of money when I don't think I will be using the built in Dac though.

Did you look at the Primare NP5, mk2 version about or just released. Looks like a good unit and gets good reviews.
 
I did take a look at the Primare, it wasn't sure if it did Tidal or not?
I was perfectly happy with my old Pioneer, used as a transport and using it's internal Dac.
Not had much experience with Dacs but the ones I've listened to sound a bit different, but all very good. I could quite happily listen to the old Pioneer Dac and it's six years old. Still sounds good to me. If the new Bluesound is as good as the old NP01, I'll be happy with it.
And it's the ease of use what really attracted me to it.
Everybody says it a doddle to set up. We'll see.
 
I did take a look at the Primare, it wasn't sure if it did Tidal or not?
I was perfectly happy with my old Pioneer, used as a transport and using it's internal Dac.
Not had much experience with Dacs but the ones I've listened to sound a bit different, but all very good. I could quite happily listen to the old Pioneer Dac and it's six years old. Still sounds good to me. If the new Bluesound is as good as the old NP01, I'll be happy with it.
And it's the ease of use what really attracted me to it.
Everybody says it a doddle to set up. We'll see.
The nice thing about the new Node, is it will support USB out to an external DAC. Stuff like the NP5 that only does SPIDF out, means you're usually* using the source as the clock for timing - and the NP5 certainly isn't shouting about any oven controlled femto clocks or whatever is high end now!
USB on the other hand, will use the external DAC clock for timing, and generally speaking when you're buying an external DAC that's a single purpose device, it's going to have by nature a likely better clock than a fairly cheap jack of all streamer.

Clocks are responsible for jitter, it's debatable how much difference this truly makes, and the reality is (in my opinion) a digital transport is a digital transport. But it would be remiss to not at least understand difference in connections.

The most important thing to a streamer/transport to me is the software and integration with any services you require. I can't complain about BluOS (though I can about the fact my 2i refuses to work on Airplay and so I need to keep both an Apple Music sub going for ease of use on my HomePods, and an Amazon sub going literally just for the 2i :( - their support is god awful too!)

(*and I'm aware some DACs can implement PLL or whatnot to reclock SPIDF, that doesn't change the point!)
 
Do I need to download the Bluesound app to use the Bluesound streamer?
I'm asking because, I'm having problems downloading the app.
When I go to the app site there is no option to download.
 
Yeah you need it to set it up and stream with it. The only time you would not need it for streaming would be Airplay (hopefully it works for you!) or Bluetooth. - But you still need the app in the first instance to get it setup.

There’s a PC/MAC desktop app as well as mobile devices.

For mobile though just go in to the App Store and search BluOS Controller, should do the trick.
 
Thanks, I couldn't remember my password to App Store.
All sorted now, the Node arrives today.
 

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