January 29, 2025
#504
Gentle reader,
A quick background: I have been in the pursuit of good sounding music since 1976. I have (thanks to thrift stores, yard sales and eBay) bought and tried hundreds of components and speakers and tried all kinds and types of cables to hook them all together in all those years.
My previous article dealt with me replacing my mixed brands of RCA cables with Worlds Best Cables RCA cables. The Robb Collections: ARE The "World's Best Cables" Truly the Best? I Decided to take up the Challenge to Find Out
I chose to do that because the B&K Components preamp and power amp I had bought recently have the option of XLR (professional audio type) interconnecting cables. I was so blown away by just how much more there seemed to be to the music (I know using balanced XLR cables was part of that improvement) that I decided to try their RCA cables too. The link above is of that journey.
This is the big box the speaker cables came in. It is quite heavy, kind of plain, but also fancy in a constrained kind of way.
"Fine" black ribbons tie them all together with sleek silk black bags to hide/house the banana plug ends of each cable.
Once all of the wrapping is all removed this is what is inside. Now, these are not the most expensive WBC speaker cables, nor are they their least expensive. The have 12 gauge copper wiring which is more than enough to carry the highest amplifier output.
These are the weights of the cables (weight of the fabric is negligible) in US pounds, above and kilograms below.
And these are the weights of the Monster Cable Z-series Z1R cables I have been using for years. I bought them all used via eBay.
It is my considered opinion that a lot of the weight is the fabric covering on the WBC cables.
I cut these cables to different lengths since one speaker is closer to the system than the other. Sonically, it does not matter because sound carried over wires travels at the speed of light, less the resistance of the conductors.
I chose to make this image full sized so that you can read what is printed on the Monster Cables.
Note the system is off to the right, thus the need for unequal length speaker cables. The B&K Components power amplifier only has one pair of speaker terminals, thus I am no longer able to enjoy my last vintage speakers which are Dynaco A25XL units. Plus, there is simply no room for a good speaker switch.
Before finding the C-V speakers, I was enjoying a pair of Klipsch KG-4 speakers. Their factory bases were in sad shape, so I found other bamboo stools for them. They also match perfectly and raise them higher that the bases did. The Robb Collections: Wooden Speaker Stands and Risers too Expensive? Try Bamboo Stools. How-To Guide.
Below the left cable snakes behind the large record shelf. Therefore, I started there by removing the dragon statue and left Dynaco speaker.
I wrapped white electrical tape around each end of the new cables to designate LEFT.
To "fish" the new cable behind the shelf, I taped the two cables together as seen.
There is no interference at all from the AC cable, therefore, the WBC cables must be shielded.
To help you understand the QD-2, here are two photos of it. Look at the markings of the controls above. Left: Theater, Surround Channels, Stereo. Middle knob controls how loud the rear speakers are and Right: Flat, Center Off, Contour. I forget what the outer two setting do.
Image courtesy of TMRAUDIO.COM
I never had one of these. They were an inexpensive way to passively enjoy Quadrophonic music back then. I've listened to Quad LPs through the QD-2 and it works!
The LS-12s are awesome sounding and are, by far, THE best speakers I have ever owned. Bar none. Check out these specs:
Speaker Type: 3-way - passive
Max (RMS) Input Power: 300 Watts
Frequency Response: 29 - 26000 Hz
Nominal Impedance: 8 Ohm
Sensitivity: 91 dB @1 meter driven by 1 watt
Output Features: Bass Reflex
Magnetic Shield: Yes
Recommended Placement: Floor-standing
Detachable Grilles: Yes
Everyone is back in their places.
A stack of previous cables and wires I have used in the past. Note the variety.
Before photo, note the pink M.C. speaker wires and cheap banana plugs:
I went ahead and removed the pink "lamp cord" type Monster Cable speaker wires which led to the tower Tannoy C-88 rear speakers from the QD-2 and installed the Z-Series Z1R cables in their place.
After Photos
I imagine that you are thinking, "Well, how do they sound?" I've been playing many favorites through them for a couple of weeks now, including as I am typing this, albeit in the next room, and they sound just as good at the Monster Cables Z1R cables do. Which is high praise from me.
They cost $179,95 via Amazon for fifteen foot 12 gauge pairs and I am very pleased with my purchase. And frankly, those pink M.C. wires which were powering the Tannoys, being replaced with much better constructed and designed Z1R cables, they sound better too.
Thank you SO much for taking the time to read my blog. Feel free to leave a comment below or via Facebook. It is a labor of love for me and that so many people, like you, around the world are happy to go old school and READ an article rather than watch a three minute video on YouTube, truly warms my heart.
I have written two other blogs but have not updated either of them in some time: Pictures of Nancy. The Love of My Life. People Say I'm Special. But I Don't Know Why Feel free to take a look at them.
The former is of course pictures of Nancy, but also has relationship advice. In the latter, I try to figure out just WHAT I have, do or say, that grab's women's attention. I'm happily married, yet somehow I'm sending out some vibe that women are picking up. Kids and animals are also drawn to me.
LONG ago, a coworker's daughter babysat for us. My wife told me her mother said to her as they were looking out the window at the two of us sitting at their picnic table, "Mary is completely in love with Scott." She was ten! My wife told me that on the way home. I just shook my head.
Another example: I had to work part time to make ends meet since my wife kept popping out a new baby every two years. I had four kids. One family specifically asked for me to deliver their pizzas. One time, Dad met me at the door and asked, "What do you want from my daughter?" "Want? What are you talking about?" "Erin keeps insisting that you deliver our pizzas!" "I have four kids of my own, in fact, they likely ride the same school bus she does, my ex lives down the road from here. I've never even spoken to your daughter." That deflated his anger and he invited me in, even introduced me to the whole family. Things were fine after that. Or so I thought.
One Saturday afternoon, another order came in from the same family. I got teased plenty about my "exclusive rights" to deliver to them. So, I took the pizza and Erin herself answered the door took the pizza and then came outside. She paid me cash, then said, "My parents won't let me date boys!" Then she was hugging me. "WTH?", I thought. "Erin, how old are you?" "Twelve." "Well, I think that twelve is too young for kids to date too. They'll come around when you are older."
That was my last encounter with her until seeing her as an adult in a comedy TV show on Fox TV in the early 2000's. I said to Nancy, "I don't know who that is, but, I like her." Nancy just smiled, she knows I'm a girl watcher. She also knows that I am loyal as a dog. The next week, I paid attention to the cast names of that show, when I saw her, I said to Nancy, "That can not be the same Erin _____!" So, I looked her up, it sure was! So, I wrote an actual letter to Fox, showed it to Nancy, she added a little message to it. A week or so later, Erin e-mailed me. She said that she showed my letter to her mother and both remembered me. This is what I looked like then:
Does this look like someone that would attract females to you? Okay, so I did look a lot younger than my late thirty's.
Here is the latest example: I am our church's C.O.R.* to the organization formerly know and Boy Scouts of America (now Scouting America). I am the liaison to the Scouts and from the Scouts to the church. SA now has girls in it, thus the name change.
A girls troop in a nearby town wanted to move to our church to get away from their crazy scoutmaster. I held a meeting with the parents/troop leaders and one of them was, I thought, a teenaged Scout. After the meeting, I asked if her name was Polish and what grade she's in. It is, but, she said, "I'm not a Scout, just a mom." I briefly spoke more with her, and they all left.
When they came weeks later for their first meeting at the church, I, of course welcomed everyone and afterward spoke with them all again. As I was driving slowly through the parking lot after the meetings, I saw her looking at me with kind of a dazed expression. I waved, she waved back slowly. I thought right then, "Oh, no, not again!"
The next meeting, she was openly flirting with me. I mentioned my wife and brought up things to her from long before her time, and she seemed to know about all of them. Yet, she was still making it clear that she was interested in me. Since then, we have talked and I have been strictly professional. She seems to have calmed down, and we are now friends at Scouts and no where else. *Chartered Organization Representative.
Nancy and I at our niece's wedding last year. Why would a thirty-something woman be attracted to that guy?
I did not mean to go on and on like that, I just truly want to understand. Ok, one more thing: During the last days of my first marriage in the early 1990's, (Pizza Hut days) we decided to go to arbitration counselling. The counselor was a woman. We were talking about the problems/issues in our marriage and all of a sudden, my (then) wife said to the counselor, "You're taking his side!" At first, the counselor denied it, then stopped, thought and said, "I just realized that I am. I can't help you two with my bias towards Scott." See? I did NOTHING to get to her.
Scott Robb
January 29, 2025
#504
