Views on QED Silver Anniversary XT Bi Wire Speaker Cable

[mixter_v]

I am looking to change my speaker cable from Mission Cable and have been recommended to use the QED Silver Anniversary BiWire XT cables. My amp can output dual channel, and my speakers have BiWire capability. Basically, I am hoping to calm the bass down a bit.

Does anyone have any views on this cable?

Also, I can also get the cable fitted with the QED Airloc plugs. these can only be fitted by dealers and cost £9 per pair. As I will need 8 pairs (£72 for plugs alone), I want to be sure they really do make a difference, or whether good banana plugs will suffice.

Look forward to your comments.

[Cal Weldon]

If you are having concerns with the low end it might be better to focus your attention on something bigger than the cables.

[slr 5000]

hi mate ive been using the qed biwire on my system for a few months and have to agree with cal about looking elseware to fix the bass problem you mention

its not bad wire but its no better or worse than the other cheaper wire ive used .it seems pretty neutral

its benefet is that you can biwire your speakers and its nice and neat becouse its all in the one cable

[Andy G]

If you have too much bass, bi-wire by all means, that probably won't solve the problem.

but

I you bi-wire, you could consider puting a 1 or 2 dB L-pad on the bass wires.

[Moondog55]

Go to Rod Elliots website and read his comments

http://sound.westhost.com/articles.htm#s3

Cables are not the weak link in most peoples systems, unless like me you've soldered gold plated connections badly, Very badly

[rabbitz]

Rod provides a great service to the community and I've bought plenty of his boards and tried plenty of his designs.

However, his rant and rave topics should be viewed more as entertainment value than fact as there is a lot of :bs: and in there with the facts which makes them hard to be taken seriously. They read more like shots at the industry, those making $$, those spending the $$, venting anger than an article to go in the AES where strong personal opinions and hostility have no place.

Stick with his electronic articles and you will learn a lot but do enjoy the rant and raves for what they are.

[RAW]

I agree with all the others and we use QED Silver An wiring all the time.
Though can be very hard to strip the wire due to the way the wire is made.

Anyway look at why you have bass issues.My guess is you have a room issue.
Go to HD Lowes get 2 fiberglass ceiling tiles cut them into 6" strips for the length of the tile.(cost $2.90 each) place these in the corner of your room cover with a nice fabric if you want.My guess is bass loading is your issue.

[rabbitz]

mixter_v

I did try the original QED Silver Anniverary after it won What Hi Fi awards a few years in a row. There was a perceived loss of some bass but that could be isolated to that particular system combination.

There's been good advice given here and forget the cable and play with the speaker crossover. A bit of padding on the woofer is one way that can give a better tonal balance.

I never used the QED Airlock plugs but maybe your dealer can hook up some leads with and without for you to try.

Where are your speakers located in relation to corners and walls? Room loading can effect the bass severely especially if the woofer distance from the back wall, side wall and to the floor are the same or similar dimension. Try moving the speaker out more etc.

[mixter_v]

Hi,
Some good replies - thank you. My room is 7m x 4m and the speakers are situated along one of the long walls, one about 2m from the right hand corner , and the other about 2m further to its left. I sit opposite, about 4m away from them. Therefore, I do not think it is to do with radiation from corner reflections. As I said, I already pull the cabs away from the back wall when listening.

A further point is I have positioned these speakers on the small wall and I have been sitting about 5m awaty from them and did not have this problem. The bass was nice and deep and also controlled.

Where they currently are is either side of my LCD TV / component stand.

I have felt pads under the cabs already to try and de-couple them from the floor, but I do not think this has made any difference.

I was thinkning of fitting the spikes and making a platform for them to sit on - maybe a marble block, or even just four coins, but this would be a pain to mess about with moving the cabs.

Going back to the cables, are the Airloc plugs worth the cost. I really cannot see how thay can make such a difference and it is expensive to find this out.

[rabbitz]

I had a problem with bass with speakers on a timber suspended floor and ended up placing 400mm x 400mm x 32mm granite pavers under them. The granite was placed on 3 rubber pads on the floor.

So placed along the small wall and sitting 5m away is OK and along the long 7m wall sitting 4m away is booming. Sounds like you are getting a double whammy on room loading if the listening position is against the opposite wall. As an experiment, try listening with the sofa /chair further into the room away from the wall behind the seated position.