What's Your Favorite Speaker Cable for B&W 802D?

[HTSteve]

When I got my 802D's, I had Audioquest. CV8, I believe. They worked well.
I then got to demo some Transparent Supers. They were very good, definitely better than the AQ. I got some Supers.

Later on, I used the Transparent upgrade program to go to my current Ultra MM2 spealer cables. Quieter background. Better air and separation. Improved bass versus the Supers.

[GregM]

I am a big fan of flat cables. I am using the Alpha Core Goertz MI2 biwire. A good match for the 802D.

[Lee3]

Has anyone here tried nordost valhalla with the most recent 802d2/800d2 (or whatever they're called these days) and if so your thoughts? thanks in advance

[Briz Vegaas]

I have 804s and I have tried and use pretty much everything Nordost sells. I have more of a Nordost system than anything else. That could make me a fan boy but no one likes an expensive cable and tweak fan boy :-)

I have used blue heaven then red dawn then heimdal then Frey then tyr, and I have Valhalla ( second hand)) playing as I type. I did the same with the power cords up to Odin.

Power can be super critical if yours is anything like mine and can be the cause of some of the problems mentioned before. Given what it is doing for my 804s I would say Valhalla would be great match for the 802d My dealer does recommend the anti static spray for Nordost cables to address the splashy highs that can occur, particularly at the more modest levels. He sprayed these Valhallas before they left the shop. I think they sound very natural and neutral but I have put alot of effort into the rest of the system also. They only reproduce what you feed them.

This is my first set of shotgun cables and I was unconvinced to start with as biwire has always seemed best. hooking up the positive to the bass mids and negative to the treble, with jumpers obviously, gives the most biwire ( ie best) sound to my ears. This is as per the Nordost manual.

[Lee3]

Thanks Briz, much appreciated. About 2 or 3 weeks ago I sold off a pair of krell 750 mcx monos and replaced them with 600e monos and feel very good about where things are from a power standpoint. As I get older I do more listening at lower volumes as it is and that's one area where I noticed a big improvement (more cohesive/engaging) in the upgrade (decay being the other). I'm a bit confused with respect to your last comment; does Nordost recommend not biwiring valhalla or are you speaking about your specific cables that you purchased second hand? I'm probably going to order a pair this week anyway and will see what they suggest. Thanks again for your thoughts.

[Briz Vegaas]

My comments relate to my personal experiences only and my Valhalla come from a guy that did not need biwire. My dealer says Nordost may not support bi wire in future. The diagonal configuration that I use to hook up is nordosts recommendation, all I can say is it's the best configuration I have without trying reterminating for biwire. My dealer does not impose his views, he tends to say "my customers tell me.......". And leaves it up to you as he knows one mans stradavarios is another mans firewood.

If I was buying new I would go biwire with the U shaped connector( I think that's spades) on the speaker end, that way you could hook up either biwire or shotgun. For shotgun you could put the two spades in the one terminal. Nordost does a jumper that goes spade to banana plug (go the Norse version I'm told, thats what i have) then experiment until you find which hook up option you prefer between shotgun cables top, shotgun cables bottom, shotgun cables diagonal (bass to positive, treble to negative) or biwire.

[Pio]

I bi-wire my 802D2's with Belden 10AWG. I do (think I) hear an improvement over the 12 AWG I was running before, but can't be sure since I didn't A/B. I am extremely happy with my set up.

FWIW: I've been an audiophile longer than I've been in broadcasting (I'm in my 25th year in the industry) and can honestly say that room acoustics play a much more major role in how your system sounds than cables.

Find any thread in any forum that discusses cables and it eventually leads to a flame war.

Find threads on room acoustics and everyone agrees treating a room (properly, i.e. not overdoing it and having equal absorption to deflective surfaces) is a path to amazing sound.

What I look for in a cable is great construction and protection/shielding from noise. My system is wired with Mogami interconnects and Belden speaker cable. Just like many of the production and recording studios I've visited throughout my career around the country.

I look for specifically placed room treatments to balance the sound. I know this might not be popular opinion amongst some audiophiles (and I sincerely respect all opinions) but I truly hope this helps.

[SMC23]

Originally Posted by Pio

I bi-wire my 802D2's with Belden 10AWG. I do (think I) hear an improvement over the 12 AWG I was running before, but can't be sure since I didn't A/B. I am extremely happy with my set up.

FWIW: I've been an audiophile longer than I've been in broadcasting (I'm in my 25th year in the industry) and can honestly say that room acoustics play a much more major role in how your system sounds than cables.

Find any thread in any forum that discusses cables and it eventually leads to a flame war.

Find threads on room acoustics and everyone agrees treating a room (properly, i.e. not overdoing it and having equal absorption to deflective surfaces) is a path to amazing sound.

What I look for in a cable is great construction and protection/shielding from noise. My system is wired with Mogami interconnects and Belden speaker cable. Just like many of the production and recording studios I've visited throughout my career around the country.

I look for specifically placed room treatments to balance the sound. I know this might not be popular opinion amongst some audiophiles (and I sincerely respect all opinions) but I truly hope this helps.

Pio thanks for your feedback. I do agree that Room treatments would net you the highest sound quality return.

[Briz Vegaas]

Agree about room treatments. I have bass traps in all corners, treatment on front wall and curtains side and rear. No point spending on other ancillaries without room treatment. It does have one drawback, the room looks and feels like an acoustic experiment. Sounds good however.

[f1 fan]

Room treatments and dedicated ac gave me the biggest improvement everything else was secondary.

Dave