Have your say & ask the experts

Yes, lots of rambling sorry.  I did post earlier that I found some on Ebay - can't remember the details off hand, but might be worth checking it out.  The prices still seem very reasonable though.

[quote user="bloney"]you say I could not have heard a difference and if I did I imagined it, or fooled myself into believing there's a difference[/quote] If there really was a difference wouldn't the only satisfactory way to tell which was best be to try them both at home on your own system? Given the variation in equipment the result on the dealer's system could be entirely different, even the opposite, to yours.

Taking the cables home would also eliminate any possibilty of dealer jiggerypokery.

Get someone to secretly swap or not swap them randomly and see how often you get it right. It should average out to about 50% of the time. :O)

If bloney did that and got an 80% success rate, somehow I'm absolutely certain you would come up with another explanation of how he managed to beat the odds. 

[quote user="hifikrazy"]

If bloney did that and got an 80% success rate, somehow I'm absolutely certain you would come up with another explanation of how he managed to beat the odds. 

[/quote] 80% could easily be attributed to chance. :O)

If the difference is as marked as he says wouldn't 100% be easy?

cgrpr mate I've already recommended them, but here's another reminder to look at Mark Grant's offerings

EDITED TO REMOVE LINK 

He is selling a bundle of 6 single phono cables, hand made for £65 including delivery. They're really good and I can't see why you wouldn't take a look at them. You'll save a bundle and the quality is truly fantastic.

[quote user="Will Harris"]a bundle of 6 single phono cables, hand made for £65 including delivery. They're really good and I can't see why you wouldn't take a look at them[/quote] Hi Will. I see his website is currently closed until 28th Sept. . Strange. You can't even look at the cables.

[quote user="Will Harris"]cgrpr mate I've already recommended them, but here's another reminder to look at Mark Grant's offering

[/quote]

Will, I did already reply and mentioned that I had looked them up, and I am considering them but like I said before, at £24 a shot they're a bit more than I was hoping to spend.  I take it by single phono cables you mean with one plug at each end, so I need two to make the stereo connection.

I do already have a QED Qunex1 cable, supplied with my turntable, which I am perfectly happy with, and when I can get them for £15 online, I don't see the point in spending £10 more on a cable, no matter how good it might be.  In fact, I actually have no objection to the sound I get from my OE cables, but I just want to replace them because they're poorly made from low quality materials and they won't last as long as a well made set.  Can you understand why I don't want to spend vast amounts on cables now?

I also noticed that Mark Grant's website was closed, where did you find out about that deal? 

Also how can anyone tell that Mr. Grant's offerings sound any better than the far cheaper solid looking ones on Ebay?

http://igoto.co.uk/m5p

http://igoto.co.uk/m5q

They could quite easily sound worse.

Thought you didn't believe in all this stuff Oldphrt.

I must have misread your posts I thought you were after more than a stereo pair. If that's all you want, then yes they may be more than £10 for each line.

The £65 for 6 lines is a special offer Mark is doing over in AVForums. The thread address I posted is for that. Not his official website. Sounds like it's down for maintainance and as he's only human, it looks like he's off on holiday. This is allowed :-)

I've suggested you read the thread for which I've posted a link as there are litterally hundreds of replies. It's actually an interesting read. You can gauge what people have thought of his products simply by reading the feedback they gave themselves. The response is hugely positive.

I have a set myself and if you'd seen the Chord Doctors suggestions to me on cables, I'd have spent over £200 on something that ended up costing me a fraction and for reputidly a better product. They really do allow the sound from my pre-amp to reach my power amp quite unfettered. I can't recommend them more highly.

But you'd have to log onto AVForums I suppose to be able to read about it. Let me know if you do.

[quote user="oldphrt"][quote user="bloney"]you say I could not have heard a difference and if I did I imagined it, or fooled myself into believing there's a difference[/quote] If there really was a difference wouldn't the only satisfactory way to tell which was best be to try them both at home on your own system? Given the variation in equipment the result on the dealer's system could be entirely different, even the opposite, to yours.

Taking the cables home would also eliminate any possibilty of dealer jiggerypokery.

Get someone to secretly swap or not swap them randomly and see how often you get it right. It should average out to about 50% of the time. :O)[/quote]

Sorry to hijack the thread like this, but this'll be my last ot response!

Oldphrt - the dealer offered without me asking for me to try any cables I wanted at home, so that wasn't a problem - but you're quite right to point out they should be tried at home.

 The random change or not would certainly be interesting, but I've no doubt with these particular cables I wouldn't get it every time, it was that obvious.  Unless there was jiggery pokery on the dealers part!

We should start another thread or shuddup if we carry on this discussion, so as not to hijack the thread anymore!

[quote user="Will Harris"]Sounds like it's down for maintainance and as he's only human, it looks like he's off on holiday. This is allowed :-)[/quote] Gone to China to organise fresh supplies maybe?

Oh....been away for few days and you boys are at it again!!! 
Gotham still the answer to the original question if anyone still remember what the question was?  £10 = bargain and more less the same technology of the cables that cost a lot more.

[quote user="Thaiman"]Gotham still the answer to the original question if anyone still remember what the question was?  £10 = bargain and more less the same technology of the cables that cost a lot more.

[/quote] Hi Thaiman, you obviously missed my original reply to the Gotham issue, so here it is again. I tried searching for Gotham and I found a Swiss company (gotham.ch) making cables, so I assume that's who you were referring to, though I don't understand where you're getting the £10 price from? According to the website an 'unbalanced analogue audio (single ended)' cable of 1 metre would cost 39.55CHF (£16.70) by my reckoning. I e-mailed Gotham to ask for a quote and they have said 32CHF (£13.52) per cable. I need 5 stereo interconnects so that's 10 single cables at 320CHF (£135.29), plus shipping of 85CHF (£35.93!) and a 3% paypal fee and it all comes to 417.15CHF (£176.36!). That calculates out to around £35 per stereo pair, which is a lot more than a tenner, and about £20 above my budget! Now if you're referring to purchasing the cable and connectors separately and building them myself, then you might be somewhere closer to the mark I think, with connectors costing 4.6CHF (plus swiss VAT at 7.6%?) and their GAC-1 at 2CHF a metre. Can you help me out on this one?

Ebay item number 220151454246 any use?

[quote user="bloney"]

Ebay item number 220151454246 any use?

[/quote]

link is here

Neutrik plugs are very good (better than wbt imo), I have 2 pairs myself and in a blind test, 2 of my mates prefer the gotham to my Cardas so that might tell you something!
As for burning in, I still don't know what to believe!  All I know is any cables seem to sound a lot better after 20ish hours used - it's may be because my ears are get use to the new sound!