Any recommendations on a good instrument cable? I have a D3MhA with a K&K going into a Fishman Loudbox Performer. Are the $70.00+ cables worth it?

In my opinion, yes, they're very much worth the cost.

I use Evidence Audio and I couldn't be happier. The best source to buy them is:

http://www.lavacable.com/evidence%20audio%20cable.htm

I use Lyric HG for primary runs, but the Melody is also extremely good cable.

Billy,
There are definitely cables and cables, but before you get onto that merry-go-round, if you are not using a K&K pre-amp between your guitar and amplifier, you are missing out on the best improvement in tone that you can make. Sure, the pickup may have enough level to drive the amplifier, but the pre-amp provides the optimum electrical loading. Even without tweaking the tone controls, just plugging into the K&K pre-amp gives a much fuller sound with a lot more presence, and this with ANY pickup, even magnetic soundhole pickups!
Rather than repeat myself, go to the Acoustic Guitars section of the forum and read my posts under the topic headed "K&K Pure Western Mini and strap question" - scroll down the first page and it's near the bottom. (I'm presuming you are talking about a Pure Western pickup).
Once you have the pre-amp happening, THEN start
looking at cables.
I have recently changed ALL my cables to Zaolla Silverlines - as well as my guitar set-up as described in the above posts, I have changed ALL my studio cables as well, and at a cost approaching something like $10 a foot, this represents a substantial investment that has not been undertaken lightly (my 16-track studio measures 22'x18' and I use up to 10 mics for a small group - the long cables are 30', some patch leads only 3'). One doesn't spend this sort of money on what I call voodoo, or unsubstantiated evidence.
However, as this forum proves time and again, one man's meat etc.,etc., so use your ears.
I suggest you start with a 10' guitar lead and see what you think. Google up Zaolla and go to their dealer page - I'm in Australia, so my options are pretty limited. I usually use John at Shoreline Music because they ship here.
To give you some idea, you get more of everything - more level, more clarity, more presence - I can hear subtle delays and reverb tails that simply were not present using ordinary cables, and words of songs that I've struggled to decipher for years (try The Band's Music From Big Pink, for example) now jump out of the speakers, which have Silverlines too.
But I repeat, get a K&K pre-amp between your guitar and (excellent) amp. before doing anything. This will give you the biggest quantum leap in sound quality, and you don't have to listen for it - it is immediately apparent.
When I got my pre-amp, my wife came into the studio and said, "That guitar sounds fantastic - what have you done?" And she said the same thing when I got Zaollas between guitar and pre-amp and between pre-amp and mixer. She wasn't expecting anything or trying to hear an improvement - she heard it for herself without any prompting from me, and that's what I call proof.
Yes, it's a fair expense, but so is your Collings, and surely you want to hear that at its absolute best?

Peace and love,

John.

Billy,

I have had excellent results with my entire rig since switching all cables to Analysis Plus. These cables replaced Monster Cable 1000 series studio reference cables (pretty nice cables in their own right), and even my wife could discern an immediate improvement in sound clarity. No doubt there are a myriad of premium cables out there. I certainly can't say that they're all worth it. My theory is that any chain (i.e. instrument signal) is only as good as its weakest link. If you aren't compromising in other areas (and with the components you describe, you aren't), why scrimp on the interconnects?

I disagree, in part, on the cable issue. Using quality cable of appropriate length with low capacitance, coupled to quality connectors, it as good as it will get. The "premium" cables beyond these basic specs change nothing. Double blind tests done have consistently shown this.

If we're only talking instrument cables (which the OP has specified) then yes, there is a limit beyond which the ears won't discern and improvement (line level and speaker level components use a different set of rules in that regard), but where does that threshold lie? I think that's always been the question.

I previously had Mogami runs throughout my entire guitar chain, mainly because it's the type of cable many studios tend to use without much further thought. But after some digging I discovered a slew of other options. Evidence is what kept grabbing my eye (there are certainly plenty of great options). I switched out all the Mogami for Evidence and the difference was not only perceivable, but quite noticeable by people here who aren't particularly keen to sonics, so to speak.

quote:

Originally posted by elambo:
If we're only talking instrument cables (which the OP has specified) then yes, there is a limit beyond which the ears won't discern and improvement (line level and speaker level components use a different set of rules in that regard), but where does that threshold lie? I think that's always been the question.

I previously had Mogami runs throughout my entire guitar chain, mainly because it's the type of cable many studios tend to use without much further thought. But after some digging I discovered a slew of other options. Evidence is what kept grabbing my eye (there are certainly plenty of great options). I switched out all the Mogami for Evidence and the difference was not only perceivable, but quite noticeable by people here who aren't particularly keen to sonics, so to speak.

Not a double blind test. True scientific double blind tests reveal otherwise.

Actually, yes, a double blind test. Many of them. True and scientific. And I've read a boatload of tests others have performed, read the response charts and the editor's summaries. When there's down time it's one of our favorite pastimes at the studio - to come up with new ways to test our gear (when we're not playing Golden Tee). The test for high end cabling has been retired with this latest round of Evidence vs. Mogami and we continue to replace Mogami with Evidence whenever the funds become available to do so.

All, thanks for the input. I took jrfree's advise and purchased a K&K Pure XLR PreAmp to complement the K&K mini in my D3MhA. It arrived today. The preamp made a HUGE improvement in the sound. I use a Fishman Loudbox Performer and Monster Cable for instrument leads. Very natural sound and the controls are easy to use. If you are on the fence about which preamp to buy, take a listen to the K&K...you won't be disappointed. Billy