TQ verses SL

I have owned black, ultra black , demoed ultra silver ,  black diamond and super lumina. I bought super lumina to replace ultra black.  Tq is very good but there is a synergy with sl ( and it is a lot cheaper than black diamon).  Suggest demo in your system. 

Nonsense. I'm a fan of Tellurium speaker cable and when I got my 282/SC/250 I bought TQ 'green'  having tried demo sets of 'green' and 'black' in my system. Green was clearly better than black, as it should be given the price differential. I was happy with TQ green until last year when I tried a pair of SL cables in my system.  The SL cables were much more expensive that the TQ green but to my ears the lift in performance justified the price.  My TQ green went to a friend to replace his TQ black.

So I can't understand why your dealer has ventured such an opinion.  

Mike

Because it was an..............opinion. Have you got an absolute data set to substantiate your statement?

The Strat (Fender) posted:

Because it was an..............opinion. Have you got an absolute data set to substantiate your statement?

A rhetorical question, Strat, as you well know.  But I ask you, is it really helpful or logical for a dealer to suggest that the entry-level speaker cable by Tellurium (good as it is) is superior than Naim's reference speaker cable, and to a customer with a Naim system?  

Interestingly the dealer in question sells both types of speaker cables...so no doubt it is just an opinion....but of course with TQ their is no data...

MDS posted:

Nonsense. I'm a fan of Tellurium speaker cable and when I got my 282/SC/250 I bought TQ 'green'  having tried demo sets of 'green' and 'black' in my system. Green was clearly better than black, as it should be given the price differential. I was happy with TQ green until last year when I tried a pair of SL cables in my system.  The SL cables were much more expensive that the TQ green but to my ears the lift in performance justified the price.  My TQ green went to a friend to replace his TQ black.

So I can't understand why your dealer has ventured such an opinion.  

Mike

Hi MDS,  the ultra black speaker cable is not entry level, as for the green I'm not sure if they make that anymore....plus as I understand it the TQ range works extremely well partnered with naim.

Rhetorical or not as far as we know the dealer in question didn't say don't at any cost try SL.  One Naim dealer I know has said to me that he thinks Chord Signature is better suited to certain speakers. It's all good.  

No, I know that Wenger2015, but in your OP you said TQ black. I've not heard TQ UltraBlack. Indeed I once harboured a thought that I might upgrade my Green to UltraBlack but then heard the newly released SL. If your dealer says he prefers UltraBlack to SL, that would be a different matter.

BTW, TQ 'green' I think has been rebranded (again) and I think is now called Blue Diamond.

Mike

MDS posted:

No, I know that Wenger2015, but in your OP you said TQ black. I've not heard TQ UltraBlack. Indeed I once harboured a thought that I might upgrade my Green to UltraBlack but then heard the newly released SL. If your dealer says he prefers UltraBlack to SL, that would be a different matter.

BTW, TQ 'green' I think has been rebranded (again) and I think is now called Blue Diamond.

Mike

Apologies MDS, I should have said ultra blacks...

wenger2015 posted:

I spoke to my dealer today (hi-fi dealer that is...lol) in his opinion the TQ black speaker cable is superior to the Super Lumina and further up the TQ range in a different league all together....

 

Did you mean black? or ultra black?

Edit ... Ah, cross posted

Apologies to all who have replied, I meant to say ultra blacks.

wenger2015 posted:

MDS posted:

No, I know that Wenger2015, but in your OP you said TQ black. I've not heard TQ UltraBlack. Indeed I once harboured a thought that I might upgrade my Green to UltraBlack but then heard the newly released SL. If your dealer says he prefers UltraBlack to SL, that would be a different matter.

BTW, TQ 'green' I think has been rebranded (again) and I think is now called Blue Diamond.

Mike

Apologies MDS, I should have said ultra blacks...

Ah! Perhaps I should have clarified before jumping to 'Nonsense'. 

MDS posted:

wenger2015 posted:

MDS posted:

No, I know that Wenger2015, but in your OP you said TQ black. I've not heard TQ UltraBlack. Indeed I once harboured a thought that I might upgrade my Green to UltraBlack but then heard the newly released SL. If your dealer says he prefers UltraBlack to SL, that would be a different matter.

BTW, TQ 'green' I think has been rebranded (again) and I think is now called Blue Diamond.

Mike

Apologies MDS, I should have said ultra blacks...

Ah! Perhaps I should have clarified before jumping to 'Nonsense'. 

I can understand why you said ' nonsense' now, my mistake... as everyone reads the OP I'm going to end up just annoying everyone...lol

Hi wenger. I love my TQ cables. Not heard the SL cables but have heard NAC. I just felt although it sounded good, it just lacked something. 

Maybe one day out of curiosity I'll have a listen to a set of SLs. But I'll be sticking with TQ! 

Hi Finkfan, yes TQ blacks are superb , I should have said ultra blacks in OP, apparently further up the range it gets better and better...but you would expect that when you consider the costs involved...

I use TQ graphites for speaker cable, and a combination of graphite and black diamond for interconnects. The results sound excellent to me, but having said that my system is pretty much non naim now. I would expect there to be some synergy with SL in a naim based system.

Never heard TQ Black or Ultra Black speaker cables but I have heard (and own) SL speaker cables and found they were a significant step up from NACA5. There is I believe a synergy with SL and Naim (now there's a surprise), particularly SL speaker cables and the new DR'd NAP amps. It would however be enlightening to hear some 'informed' views (as in actually done some direct comparisons) on TQ Ultra Black vs SL speaker cables. I carried out rather arduous and controlled A/B tests (that is swapped NACA5 for SL speaker cables several times in my system) to come to my conclusions which I have documented on here if you care to look back.

To the OP - can you give us a little more detail as to how this dealer came to this conclusion and how does this dealer define 'superior'.

We would all, I think, appreciate a little more than a spurious and unsubstantiated claim if we are to take this dealer seriously.

Have used NACA5 for many years and home trialled a Tellurium Green.  Good they are but i still prefer what NACA5 can produce.  Have heard a mid tier Chord speaker cable range, however, not convinced.  Did not have the opportunity to try Chord Sarum Tuned Array though.  Eventually i settled with an oddball brand, Studio Connections Platinum.  Fantastic, in my opinion :-) 

nigelb posted:

Never heard TQ Black or Ultra Black speaker cables but I have heard (and own) SL speaker cables and found they were a significant step up from NACA5. There is I believe a synergy with SL and Naim (now there's a surprise), particularly SL speaker cables and the new DR'd NAP amps. It would however be enlightening to hear some 'informed' views (as in actually done some direct comparisons) on TQ Ultra Black vs SL speaker cables. I carried out rather arduous and controlled A/B tests (that is swapped NACA5 for SL speaker cables several times in my system) to come to my conclusions which I have documented on here if you care to look back.

To the OP - can you give us a little more detail as to how this dealer came to this conclusion and how does this dealer define 'superior'.

We would all, I think, appreciate a little more than a spurious and unsubstantiated claim if we are to take this dealer seriously.

 

I don't suppose any claim regarding TQ cables can be substantiated as their is no official data provided, but I do think if someone is in a position to spend most days listening to hi-fi as per said dealer, you probably do develop your own likes and preferences, and at least when asked the question directly I received a direct answer as opposed to what he thought I might have wanted to hear...that said his description of his preference came down to small details.

What I have personally noted from the forum is when it comes to SL or TQ black everyone has their own preferences...just the same as any dealer I suppose....but it would be interesting as you suggested to hear if any one has had a side by side test of both cables?

When I got my current speakers, I was using TQ black, which I'd been very happy with when I had PMCs, and which had provided a significant improvement over NACA5. However, 'just to be sure' I tried some A5 with my new speakers and to my surprise preferred it to the TQB, finding that it gave a little more drive and involvement. I then tried SL, which were massively better than the A5, with an insight into the music beyond anything I'd heard before. So for me, with my speakers, SL > A5 > TQB, therefore SL > TQB. Other people may prefer the TQB, which is great for them, as it's £50 rather than £300 per metre. 

The dealer saying that he prefers the TQB seems no different to people preferring, say, the Nait 2 to the Supernait 2. It's just a preference, and should not be taken to mean that one is better than the other, in an area that is so subjective. 

In the OP I meant to say TQ ultra black, which is similar in cost to SL, apologies again if I have misled anyone in this thread.

A very simple reason - your dealer has a much higher margin on TQ cables than on NAIM

wenger2015 posted:

nigelb posted:

Never heard TQ Black or Ultra Black speaker cables but I have heard (and own) SL speaker cables and found they were a significant step up from NACA5. There is I believe a synergy with SL and Naim (now there's a surprise), particularly SL speaker cables and the new DR'd NAP amps. It would however be enlightening to hear some 'informed' views (as in actually done some direct comparisons) on TQ Ultra Black vs SL speaker cables. I carried out rather arduous and controlled A/B tests (that is swapped NACA5 for SL speaker cables several times in my system) to come to my conclusions which I have documented on here if you care to look back.

To the OP - can you give us a little more detail as to how this dealer came to this conclusion and how does this dealer define 'superior'.

We would all, I think, appreciate a little more than a spurious and unsubstantiated claim if we are to take this dealer seriously.

 

I don't suppose any claim regarding TQ cables can be substantiated as their is no official data provided, but I do think if someone is in a position to spend most days listening to hi-fi as per said dealer, you probably do develop your own likes and preferences, and at least when asked the question directly I received a direct answer as opposed to what he thought I might have wanted to hear...that said his description of his preference came down to small details.

What I have personally noted from the forum is when it comes to SL or TQ black everyone has their own preferences...just the same as any dealer I suppose....but it would be interesting as you suggested to hear if any one has had a side by side test of both cables?

Yes, my use of the word 'unsubstantiated' was sloppy as you cannot substantiate an opinion. It is however equally sloppy of a dealer to pass an opinion without proper evaluation, by that I mean some kind of direct comparisons where the only variable is the speaker cable. For all I know this dealer has indeed done a proper evaluation of these two cables. If so I would like to hear about it out if interest. I have gone for SL but was indeed considering TQ Ultra Black but couldn't borrow any for evaluation.

If it don't sound posh don't part with your dosh.