Fundamentally correct sound, with no obvious aberrations, for a fundamentally
bargain price. Excellent materials and construction technique-just plain good engineering and materials, well executed.

Not bulky,fat, expensive, or twitchy enough to be taken seriously by audiophiles.

I went with these when I needed something quick and dirty after going to a pair of Magnepan MMG's, which are strictly single wire. (I'd been using Nordost SuperFlatlines in a biwire banana configuration.) I'd considered
going with AudioQuest Type 4 or 6, but a 14 ft. pair of the DH Labs was actually cheaper, from Jeff Delman at Value Audio (ValueAudio@aol.com). So I went with it. Considering the size of these cables (14 gauge, versus like 9 gauge with the Nordost), you'd expect less bass. Not only was there not less bass, it sounded more...natural. Across the board, it bettered the Nordosts, which are darn good cables themselves. These cables do require significant break in time, so don't judge them right out of the box. Anyone who thinks
cable doesn't matter should try a pair of these. I can also highly recommend Jeff Delman at ValueAudio. He does quality work at almost ridiculously reasonable prices, with rapid turnaround time. Custom configurations,
reterminations, whatever-he's easy to work with. Great "real world" cables.

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These just replaced a pair of Nordost SuperFlatlines that cost over twice the price, which are no slouches themselves.

Great value.

Not much of a "critical" writer in that I can effectively convey / write what my experience with the cable is other than to let you guys know this cable WORKS!

Count me as one of those that initially did not believe in what cables can do for your system - but after listening to these I am a believer. For what I paid it cannot be beat - and as othes have said, even at "retail" still a great buy. Am now looking to upgrade my interconnects.

Biwire on BK Pro5 / BK ST140. Also tried on NAD T760 and 512 CD. Speakers are Epos ES11.

Similar Products Used:

Monster X2s, Audioquest Type4

Doug, going by the price of $90 you say you paid, you must have been running your Nautilus 801s off a single run set of T-14...a rather ridiculous prospect for a speaker of that proportion.

If your dealer would have educated you well instead of just selling you something, he would have at least had you step up to a biwired with two runs of cable, or more appropriately, a set of the 10 gauge Q-10s, perhaps biwired.

You obviously had a inappropriate match of cable gauge to your speaker, and it's really a poor excuse to downgrade an otherwise excellent cable like these to a one star rating, just because you didn't know how to match it up. Next time, deal with a dealer that can recommend a good combination of cable gauge to your equipment. If you'ld read some reviews here, the biwired or doubled up T-14 is the best choice for most speakers. For an 801, you should step up even larger.

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Regarding "One Star Doug" below.

Doug, going by the price of $90 you say you paid, you must have been running your Nautilus 801s off a single run set of T-14...a rather ridiculous prospect for a speaker of that proportion.

If your dealer would have educated you well instead of just selling you something, he would have at least had you step up to a biwired with two runs of cable, or more appropriately, a set of the 10 gauge Q-10s, perhaps biwired.

You obviously had a inappropriate match of cable gauge to your speaker, and it's really a poor excuse to downgrade an otherwise excellent cable like these to a one star rating, just because you didn't know how to match it up. Next time, deal with a dealer that can recommend a good combination of cable gauge to your equipment. If you'ld read some reviews here, the biwired or doubled up T-14 is the best choice for most speakers. For an 801, you should step up even larger.

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Regarding "One Star Doug" below.

Beautiful sound. Smooth--not etched. Spectral balance excellent. Highs shimmer with realism and clarity.

None at this price

This is a wonderful cable for the price!

I have to disagree with the 2 star review below, as his complaints are probably system dependent. I have listened to these cables on several systems, and what seems to be the case is they are very clear and revealing of what the equipment is putting out, especially on higher frequencies. Good equipment will come through this cable with great clarity, especially metallic insturments like bells, cymbals, acoustic steel guitar strings, etc. Harsh equipment will always sound grainy, however, this cable does have a fairly forgiving nature, and I've found it actually to be very smooth on the higher frequencies, rather than grainy.

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Kimber 4TC, Audioquest Indigo, Wireworld Atlantis.

See below

See below

this is my second review on T14, and now I have double run that cable.
I agree with several review writes below that:
- the bass is more revealing, tight but smoother than before
- the mid blosom but sometimes too open foward for some sistem (also my sistem)
- the high, I heard no significant changing.
- soundstage same as before, but more wider imaging (that's I like that).
Comparing with some cable I've test last month:
# 8TC has more strength in mid your CD's female vocal more singing with an emotion, hi has more little detail it brightness just like T14. low freq is good, imaging is good and wider than T14 (better get any test on this cable to prove it - I recomended)
# Straightwire Rhapsody, has a stronger bass, loudly mid, and harsh treble (maybe it stil in break in times - I will test it later after burn in for 100 hours - after that better see my review on straightwire). I had no comment for this time.
# QED silver anniversary (Qudos), wow I really like the mid and hi freq (the T14 can't compare this cable on mid and hi), very smooth and details, I'm very recomended it for biwiring, specially in mid and hi freq, but not for low ok? the bass is very weak, not tight.
# Sharkwire has a wider imaging, smooth mid and good hi, the bass as not tight as T14 and 8TC, it's smoother but strong enough (maybe it like Cardas cable).
the conclusion is: T14 quite good enough for it's price range, comparing the higher price cable, very competitive, great!!
My sistem has been upgraded as follow:
-- Nad T555 DVD player
-- Parasound D/A Converter 800
-- Cary audio 807 Signature tube power
-- Audible Illusions Modulus3 Pre-amp
-- Cardas 300B microtwin interconect
-- DH labs BL1 interconect (not really good, the soundstage is disappointed)
-- Apogee Wideeye 75ohm digital cable
-- My old Technics SB-RX50 loudspeaker - good sound
-- DIY Vifa loudspeaker

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Kimber 8TC, Straight Wire Rhapsody, QED silver anniversary, Sharkwire top line cable,

Good bass, good imaging

Not as "robust" sounding as higher priced Analysis Plus cables

I have to disagree with Bill Powell below who said these cables are bright. I have heard other silver plated copper cables, and most do sound bright, like the Nordost stuff(which people often confuse with more detail). I also like the Analysis Plus Silver Oval speaker cable from Audioadvisor. The DH Labs has good bass and nice imaging, although not in the same league as the Analysis Plus, it is good, and a lot cheaper.

Equipment

Musical Fidelity X-RAY 24/96 CD Player
Musical Fidelity X-P100 Preamp
Musical Fidelity X-AS100 monoblocks
PSB Goldi speakers

Similar Products Used:

Kimber PR4, TC4, Analysis Plus Silver Oval

Great balance at a super price

None

Awesome cable for the price, you'll have to spend a LOT more to hear any significant improvement. They don't exaggerate bass like the Type 4s can, and the mids & highs are very well presented. Try em..

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Audioquest Type 4+

A step up from lamp cord

See below

I recently upgraded my system to the following components:

B&W N801 speakers,
Audio Research LS-3 pre-amp,
Pass Labs Aleph 2 amps,
Sony SCD-777ES,
DH Labs T-14 speaker cable,
DH Labs BL-1 interconnects.

I would highly recommend any and/or all of the components listed above (except for the cable and interconnects - read on). However, I was not sure I was getting the full capability of the 801s. I started to look at alternative pre-amps to see if it was a mismatch between the Pass Labs and the Audio Research. I substituted a couple of other brands and found while the sound quality varied between the pre-amps, this did not solve my dissatisfaction.

I never have been a member of the camp that thought speaker cables or interconnects made that much of a difference. A couple of audiophile friends encouraged me to try some new cables to see if it made a difference. I agreed, but before I went out and spent hundreds of dollars on new cables, I wanted to know if they would make a difference. I also wanted to try to do something new. I went down to Home Depot and purchased four 6' runs of CAT-5 computer networking cable. I also purchased some silver solder from Radio Shack and high quality spades from a local stereo store. Total cost was less than $30. The CAT-5 cable has 8 runs of copper cable twisted into 4 pairs. First I twisted the pairs together. I then twisted the four resulting ends together and soldered them to the spades. In the end I had four individual cables to be paired for use as the positive and negative runs to each of the N801s mid-range/tweeter connections.

Anxious to hear the results, I hooked up the new cables. The difference between these cables and the DH Labs T14s was like night and day!!!! It seemed like a filter had been removed from my system. The midrange and treble were much clearer and precise. Sounds were distinguishable on recordings that I had never heard before. The soundstage width and depth increased by about 50%. Imaging improved to the point that I could easily localize each voice and/or instrument on the entire soundstage. The characteristics of the specific recording studio and/or hall were clearly apparent (the VTL series of purist CDs are excellent for testing soundstage and imaging). I had no idea cables could make such a difference in a system. It was absolutely incredible!!!

In order to verify my findings, I got my wife and another non-audiophile friend over to hear the differences. I swapped both cables for them in an A/B blind listening test and although both people think my obsession with my system is insane, they both were astounded by the difference the cables made. They could clearly and precisely articulate the differences with no prompting from me.

One caveat is that I did not experience the same degree of improvement on the bass connection. I have a double run of T-14s going to the bass connections of the N801s and they seem to be doing an OK job.

This experience taught me very clearly that cables do make a difference. I will now probably start shopping for some high end cables. While I think my home made cables are GREAT, I have to believe that the high end cable companies have better products. I will not be looking to DH Labs however. When I can spend $30 and make cables myself that absolutely blow away the DH Labs cables, I have no desire to purchase any more of their products.

I would encourage anyone thinking about DH Labs cables or any other speaker cable to run down to Home Depot and make these CAT-5 speaker cables for yourself. They will make a good reference cable for comparisons and you will be astounded at the sound quality for such a small investment.

One final note, I often see people using this forum to arbitrarily trash products that they do not own nor have they spent sufficient time with the products to make informed comments. Rest assured that is not the case in this review. I have come to the point in my audiophile obsession (over 15 years and many thousands of dollars) that I no longer take other people's word on what sounds good and what does not. There are some products that are simply astounding and many that are simply mediocre. Price is not a measure of quality. Listen for yourself and make your own judgements. If you cannot hear a difference it probably isn't there. When you come across a truly great product, the difference will be obvious. Also, before making final decisions, try to get second opinions. We sometimes force ourselves to hear what we want to hear.

Good luck and good listening.

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Tara labs, monster cable

Clear, articulate treble. Very light and clean sounding. Good dynamics.

Can sound a little thin sometimes. Bass is articulate, but no voluminous

This is generally an honestly good cable and good value considering it's selling price. It's silver coated copper and sounds more similar to silver cable than copper.

I have a biwire set I have used with Proac Tab 50 sig and Proac 1sc driven by Golden Tube SE40, Cary 300sei or Musical Fidelity Class A integrated.

There is a system matching component involved here and this may account for some negative results that others have experienced. It's not a perfect cable, but you will find yourself comparing it to much more expensive stuff. It can almost be too revealing in some cases, sounding bright, grainy and thin.

Connectors make a difference here too. This cable sounds better unterminated. I use spades just because it's less maintenance. Bare wire does sound a notch better.

I'd recommend a double run as other's have to get the best results.

In comparison to Synergistic Sig. No 2, which used to be my main cable, the DH labs doesn't fair badly. The sound is definitely different. The Synergistics had a full, rich sound. Sound you could sink your teeth into. Lots of detail with no grain. The T-14's sound thinner in comparision, but the highs are more extended. The T-14's are more delicate sounding, lighter, cleaner. Bass is more restrained, but accurate. I like the Sig 2, but I can live with the T-14's very happily.

I use the T-14's now, because I didn't want to spend a lot on cable and I'm convinced I'd have to spend three times more to get better. It's the real deal, so give it a try before you spend more. If you don't like it there's lots of people who will take it off your hands.

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Synergistic Signature No. 2, Tara Labs, Audioquest, Kimber, Monster, many others