This ribbon or parallel design has been around for quite awhile, Weber Wire and Bradley Audio TC10 come to mind. Aside from the possible, somewhat awkward placing or routing of the cable, they look well made and their feedback is quite complimentary, decent pricing too.

There’s nothing wrong with fooling around with cheap cables for fun or to see if you can get a different flavor, but frankly, in the price bracket you are looking, I would just keep the Kimbers and perhaps think about moving up within the Kimber line. You have a nice system and it may well benefit from a real cable upgrade. Kimber makes good stuff 

What chay said is some good advice...after your done with the budget stuff the itch for some high level comes calling...i did some diy speaker cables this summer and it was to see what/were these budget cables were at after reading so many convincing reviews.I really was quite shocked at how good a couple of these sound in my system...and keep telling myself i could live with them in...i didnt. 🔃

@paulgardner - Those cables use just plain copper and as such will impact the dynamics performance of your system !!!

Save yourself time and money and invest in Zavfino speaker cables...

https://zavfinousa.com/collections/speaker-cables/products/nova-speaker-cable

The are a little more expensive, but they work and you WILL hear improvements across the board AND, they have a nice product lineup so when it’s time to upgrade there is a cable that will fit your budget.

So why do they work?

1. the cable geometry used - very low noise floor
2. UP-OCC copper wires - which improves the dynamic performance of a cable
3. choice of wire insulations - which improves the micro details
   • which in turn improves imaging
   • e.g. venue acoustics - those little echoes and reverberations of the concert hall

Also try their interconnects and power cables - just excellent!

And just in case you are wondering - these cables will improve the sound of ANY system they are installed on, regardless of its components

There are better cables out there, but not at their price

Regards - Steve

why? just enjoy the music

 At the price they certainly look worth a try.  Keep us posted if you take the plunge. Good luck.

They look like they sound great!

Speaker cables aren't rocket science.   Lots of inexpensive cables sound great.  At least 99% of the very expensive one.  You need:

1.  good copper

2.  heavy gauge wire

3.  good connections

4. Good connectors.

These are 14 ga which is a little light on my preferences for 2 above.  I like 10 ga.

I assume you don't need biwires.

I have used cables by ebay seller "Legend Audio" with no complaints.

I'm leaning now toward the woven designs.  Not sure about inexpensive versions of those.

Jerry

These are more colorful, and they're interlaced.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264256557009?hash=item3d86eb0fd1:g:VtgAAOSwTpBbchRg

I would steer clear of the eBay jobs.

I have been looking at the braided Kimber, as the inductance is low.

But I usually use the Magomi 12 or 13 ga stuff which is 4 wire (2 pair) and just put on the ends. I ordered 40 or maybe 50 feet of it, as well as mic cable and Nuetrik RCAs. So all that gear is allegedly now in the mail.

A speaker cable as DIY is pretty easy of one is on a budget and they sound just dandy to a iron-fist and lead-ear.

It's ribbon cable  https://www.ebay.com/itm/334199317464

with a razor knife and and a heat gun you should be able to strip off enough insulation  to put ends on it.

Can of worms indeed! 
 

@williewonka thanks I’ll look into these! 
 

Also, thanks to everyone else for the ideas. I probably won’t make my own but it’s a great idea. I’ll let you know if I try the black eBay ribbon cables but I’m leaning toward the ones that @williewonka recommended. Relatively inexpensive so the risk/reward is attractive. 

Secret, most good not to much is in Europe .

Asked why at the BIG  Munich show , Answer. 

American are suckers .

Canare 4S11, best budget speaker cable by far. 

Lean OP lean. There are a few better option at even lower prices. It's about knowing the material they are made from. I didn't see a very good check list.

PTFE?
OCC copper (at least)?
OCC/silver clad option?
GREAT terminal ends are as important as great cable design. What did they use?
Did they make all the above worse by joining it with solder?

I haven't spend more than 2-300.00 on the best cables on earth for my gear. I've yet to be proven wrong. Maybe it's the gear, maybe its the speakers. I just know they work VERY well. Pick the right ribbon material or weave, all the hocus pocus goes away and you can concentrate on what really changes the sound, like room treatment, tuning the room and vibration control.. 

Instead of 1% you get 20-50%. Helped a guy put up 2 6 foot floor to ceiling curtains Monday. He couldn't believe his ears. Beautiful custom made silk curtains. Two small trees, a thick round rug and he bought 2 3 x 4ft panels and placed them on the ceiling in front of the seated position.

He cried.. 5 year of trying. 4 hours of work and about 1500.00 total he was happy. 

Maggies. Sure nice speakers..

williewonka's DIY RCAs are the biggest bang for the buck period. Are there better cables? I find that question silly and I ask it. Different YES, better NO!! Great cables. NOW back to the room.. LOL

Regards

I have a "new" pair of speakers and they are currently connected with some 16 AWG Duelund unterminated wire and sound great.  I have some nice Analysis Plus cables on order, but I'm going to be pretty disappointed if they don't sound noticeably better than they do now. 

https://www.thecableco.com/srx-speaker-cable.html 🤨

Recently replaced some thinnish speaker wire (prob. obtained at Radio Shack eons ago) with Canare 4S11 and it does sound quite a bit better to my ears. 2nd system in a workshop/art studio environment…

I needed longer runs than my Kimber Kable or Cardas wires would reach, so I bought some bulk OFC 12 gauge copper 4-conductor cable from Monoprice, added tech flex and terminated my own ends.  It's good....very good.

@oldhvymec - many thanks for the endorsement - it is very much appreciated👍

williewonka’s DIY RCAs are the biggest bang for the buck period. Are there better cables?

The answer to that is Yes - of course there is better

• take a look at Hijiri - I hear they are very good but a little pricey ($4k),
• but according to one member it’s a swings and roundabouts kinda deal i.e.
  • The DIY’s are better at 1,2 and 3
  • the Hijiri are better at 4,5 and 6 but overall they do a little better job than the DIY's
• But the cost of the Hijiri is not as much as other cables that boast to be "the best" -
  • while costing upwards of $30k for a 1 meter  interconnect (I kid you not)

The latest version of my DIY Helix interconnects with

• 2 x 20 gauge 5N solid silver signal wires and
• 2 x 18 gauge 6N solid UP-OCC copper neutrals
• finished with Absolute Harmony RCA’s
• cost around $400 CDN for a 1 meter pair to build
• and if you get the latest Perfect Harmony RCA’s (which I am yet to try) that price goes up to $460 CDN
• But they are the best sounding Helix DIY Interconnect I have built to date

If anyone is interested in taking a look at the DIY Helix - here’s the link that shows how to build them

http://image99.net/blog/

MY VIEW - When you deploy cables at this level of performance, the differences are subtle and can vary due to the components in the system.

But upgrading from a more conventional cable design, to cables that use advanced geometry, wires and insulations - such as the cables mentioned above - the improvements can be a bit of a revelation

DIY or Hijiri - It really boils down to what YOU are prepared to pay to reach that elusive "Audio Nirvana".

Regards - Steve

@paulgardner Before Zavfino took over as the current fav of AG posters, one of the other much favored and less expensive brands was Audio Envy.  You might take at look at them, too.  I know Audio Envy offers some kind of home trial for standard lengths.

+1 with Holmz

Mogami is quality cable. I love my homemade speaker and interconnect cables.

No need to spend huge money. Much more profit without warranted gain in "audiophile" cables than any other component in your system. Plenty of gullible ones keeping those companies in business however.

Cheap advertising!  these ribbon cables look like old flat cables used in IT to connect equipment in the eighties.  

I very fortunate be bless with golden ear. I throw perfect pitch when on the mound and cut with finest Japan steel. I use Odin cable in reference system. You might have have mileage I might use kilometer but it very good cable. Good cable need be heard not easy explain but you give me good mushroom I tell you all about cable.

I’m using Duelund 12 g double runs. It gives a very natural presentation…

I use install gear 12 gauge pure copper from amazon, sounds pretty good and cheap, they also have a 10 gauge which is quite more expensive which i'll be upgrading too soon, they also sell smaller gauges also but i would only stick with 12 gauge and lower, unless you get a 14/4 cable and double up the wires would be like 10 gauge maybe 8, pure copper is all the same, copper is very good, pure silver is better and pure 24kt gold is the best

I used monster cable, I then used a bi-amp bi-wire set up off using 10 gauge BlueJean speaker wire. There was definitely an improvement. I then bought AudioQuest Oak bi-wire/Bi-amp speaker cables and the sound totally changed. Much smoother, with better separation and color of tone. Unfortunately the only way you will know is by testing wires in your own system. 

my 2 cents (consistent with some comments already made...)

lots of decent copper stranded cable out there, branded or unbranded, just get right gauge, terminate well, make tight connections - solid core copper maybe a touch more lively but once again not a difference worth chasing for most

of course if just for curiosity, just want to tinker and try for fun, then have at it... make yourself happy

many options out there all work fine, many makers/sources named already, i would throw in belden 9497... differences are non existent to very very subtle unless one has an exceptionally high resolution system, even then, changing speakers, source, or even interconnects will most likely make more of a difference sonically

it is very hard to do quick a/b of speaker cable... (the ava abx comparator does allow this)... once you set up for controlled a/b, better blinded, it is really hard to reliably tell the difference

above all else, i would say, just enjoy the music...

Anyone who quotes a reviewer on their eBay listing, but doesn’t name the reviewer, is best to stay away from.  Already being unethical in their listing, wouldn’t want to deal with them.

‘NOT saying all eBay speaker cables are bad.

Spend the money on treating your room instead. 

About thirty years ago I bought some stranded, silver coated, 12 gauge wire. I still have two, ten foot lengths with the ends tinned with silver solder. While they aren’t on my main system, they were until I bought a pair of AQ Rocket 88’s.

All the best.

JD

Unless speaker wires are very thin or have something in-line to alter the flow of electricity, there's no difference despite what Crystal Cable and Nordost tell you. 

Depends on amps and speakers.

My digital amp needs a lower current but different config than my analog amps.

My Maggies like a fire hose, Proac’s and Maggies dont need that much attention. 

Wire wound and tie with ends. Sound like can with string, like walk talkie. Magic word like I don’t know not part from lip, truth not be in them like fisherman, and breath smell of strong drink.

Long answer,  nobody know until tie on radio. 

@muvluv What if I told you gold was a significantly inferior conductor to copper?  about 30% more resistance. So  your solid gold speaker wires would have to be heavier gauge.....

I believe you, but i was thinking about stranded wire also if you could afford gold wire i don't think price is an issue 

If you want a brighter cable, this could be an option, $40 - $50 for 5ft pair.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003595877080.html (Spades)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003695409218.html (Banana lock)

Honest question:

Why are Morrow Cables rarely mentioned?

Transparency: Morrow RCA/phono user.

The main problem with any cable, from the poorest to the most expensive, is the connectors. I think the fewer there are, the better.
It is useless to buy a superconducting cable if there is a tin section given by the soldering to the commander and a subsequent mechanical contact (even if screwed tightly), and a second mechanical contact of the connector in the pot holder of the speaker. Let's not forget that we often have the same connector on the amplifier side too (I would avoid it; better the stripped and inserted wires).
Same story in the connectors of the signal cables ... in the old turntables in fact to limit the problem by 50% the connectors were soldered directly to the internal board of the platter and came out in addition to the ground, two cables with their respective connectors on one side only ( when things were done wisely).
A gold or silver cable between two tin soldered and screwed connectors could visually represent a six lane highway where cars are free electrons to run at full speed, but this fast-flowing artery begins and ends with a narrow lane. countryside, dirt road.
Another example, perhaps even more representative, could be that of a city with a sewage system made up of enormous pipes, but near the purifier, where everything flows together, the main drain pipe is squeezed into a coca-cola straw. It goes without saying that the entire sewer system would have the performance of a coca-cola straw.
With this I do not mean that the Tin-Silver solder is such an exaggerated bottleneck, but certainly a solder of this type and the two mechanical contacts to follow (all for each connector), are already an obstacle for the flow of electrons. that arrive shipped by a simple cable of good copper, tin or Tin-Silver that is and the mechanical contacts are represented by the straw.
 So if I used a gold cable ..... platinum ... or a cable of a new material, the one that brings Superman from intergalactic space, costing one hundred thousand dollars per centimeter ..... absolutely nothing changes. , the maximum performance is always the straw.
Save your money .... and where you can strip the wires and insert them the old fashioned way; if you want the best, weld them directly inside .... IT WORKS BETTER.
Ohm's law says it ..... but unfortunately it's full of outlaws ... hahahaha

A cable, by physical definition, has the task of carrying an electrical signal through the movement of negative charges called free electrons, in our case, from the source (e.g. CD player, turntable etc.) to the user (e.g. Amplifier etc.) for SIGNAL CABLES;
from the Amplifier to the Speakers for the POWER CABLES.
The flow of electrons will be conditioned primarily by the CONDUCTIVE MATERIAL OF THE CABLE, (Eg. Gold more conductor than Copper. Copper more conductor than Steel etc.), but also by the LENGTH OF THE CABLE (The longer it will be the more resistance it will oppose), from the SECTION OF THE CABLE (the thinner it will be the more resistance it will resist), from the TEMPERATURE OF THE CABLE (the hotter it will be the more resistance it will resist) from the POSITION OF THE CABLE (the less linear it will be therefore wound in coils, the more it will generate electromagnetic fields that will increase resistance).

So in our case, the flow of electrons carrying the musical information must start from a point A and then arrive at a point B, trying to meet as little resistance as possible.
The resistance, which increases for all the causes described above, opposing the flow of electrons, causes a degradation of the musical signal because part of that electrical energy becomes thermal energy.
In simple terms, the more resistance we have, the more a small part of our electrical flow, instead of becoming sound (mechanical energy), will become heat that will be dispersed.
Having made this necessary premise, it can be said that:
starting from a good conductor (simple copper) containing the length of the cable (a few meters) which must be of an acceptable thickness (2.5 or 3mm), unrolling the latter then keeping it linearly and away from heat sources, we have the certainty that the degradation of the electrical signal from point A to point B will be negligible.
The CABLE, which must be shielded, CANNOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE SIGNAL, it can only avoid its degradation.
All the colorings on the bass, on the highs, on the mids ... are positive aspects. Let me explain:
Having ascertained that it cannot be the cable that adds, EVERYTHING YOU FEEL MORE, indicates a lower degradation of the signal from start to finish. It means that the musical information arrived intact, without losing part of the bass, midrange, etc.
In conclusion, I want to say that a few tens of euro cable is more than enough for our audiophile purposes.
When we say that a cable opens the sound, we enter the PSYCHOACOUSTICS, (attention ... in which I believe a lot).
The engineer Giussani, father of the legendary Esb series 7, conducted many experiments on PSYCHOACOUSTICS and he came to the conclusion that if you spend a lot of money on a cable, the brain with the belief that it hears better will process the sounds in a better way; because the way of processing sounds is subjective, like that of processing memories, (each one will add to the memory of the same event details and discordant nuances with respect to another individual, only for a different cerebral processing, conditioned by the mood of the moment ).
In conclusion, to hear better,
Each pocket has its own cable.

Duelund 16awg is all you need.

https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/duelund-coherent-audio-dca16ga-premium-tinned-copper-vintage-tone-cable/

https://theaudiobeatnik.com/my-opinions-after-a-month-of-using-duelund-dca16ga-for-speaker-wire-and-belden-8402-for-interconnects/

https://hifihaven.org/index.php?threads/more-duelund-fun-this-time-speaker-cable.3156/

@vinilemania 

I tend to agree regarding bare cable if ones speaker binding posts allow … The one 

exception that comes to mind being High Fidelity Speaker cable where the housing 

of the terminals contain their proprietary magnet technology.

They are not just on ebay and they are made in the USA.

Pine Tree Audio

• Fitchburg, MA, United States

on a fairly resolving system, I recently tried NORDOST speaker cable and Morrow speaker cable. AMAZING improvements. (both under $900 retail and both avail for less).  I WAS running standard OFC 12 gauge.

I ended up with the MORROW, (smoother to me in the upper midrange) but the detail and soundstage improvements were LARGE, not subtle.

I have used inexpensive Belden 9497 and recommend it at its price. It is sold by reputable seller HighEndAudioAuctions.

paulgardner Rather than listening to this forum, you would do better to listen to some cables. Borrow or rent a few at different price points, to see where your subjective response takes you. You may be an OMG! believer and go off in that direction, or, like me, if it's long enough and is plugged in at both ends, it's good to go!

I purchased Signal Cable Co. speaker cables 6 years ago at a great price and have never looked back.  

Canare 4S11, best budget speaker cable by far.

add some locking bananas and you are done