which speaker cables to buy?

There are hundreds of opinions on this forum and others about speakers cables, how much to spend, does it make a difference etc. I have been a skeptic all along about claims about cable difference. I have found that some cables do seem to sound different (better?) with certain amplifiers and speakers.

My suggestion is you do more research and you will see that there is NO consensus on this issue. Personally, I have found anti-cables to be the best sound for the buck out there - if you are a DIY'er you can also go buy transformer wire (coated) and make your own. More information is also available on this forum about that (search anti-cables).

It is my experience that spending more than $100 - $300 is better for the ego than it is for sound reproduction. However, You will never convince anyone who has spent a lot of money on cables (wonder why?).

12 ga. lamp cord.

wow what a way to get most audiophiles all heated up by saying "LAMP CORD". Those two words place together have caused more hateful words and smack down fight's.Then the abduction of Helen of Troy by Paris that brought about the Trojan War.

I've tried some of the Signal Cable products and have found them to be excellent performers and very fairly priced. I don't think you can go wrong with any of their products.

Get the lampcord and some moderately priced speaker cable (used it's cheaper) from Audioquest, Kimber, Tara, Signal, Blue Jean, Clear Day, etc and compare. Listen over several weeks and different times. Do A/B comparisons. Have fun.

Your ears will tell you what to keep.

So what do you consider to be moderate priced speaker cable? I don't have a clue what the $$ or quality difference between lamp cord and moderate price is?
Gary

Look at classified ads on this site for speaker cables.

Some will be over $10,000 some will be less than $100. The ones that are less than $100 would be moderately priced. Some brands have been suggested for which to look.

How will they sound? Will you like them? Only you can answer that after listening. Everyone has a different perception as to what they hear and no one here can tell you what you will like for speaker cable or equipment. I will offer an apology if it sounds like we could.

Everyone does here however, does have an opinion based on what they hear and like.

Lamp cord is about 30 cents per foot at Home depot. Start small and move up. Resell what you don't like.

Welcome to the merry go round.

I'm really unsure why a lot of 'audiophiles' claim not to be able to notice cable differences, as to me, the differences range from mildly obvious, to VERY obvious.

Resistance, Inductance and Capacitance of different cables vary; It stands to follow that so will the sound.

This is not to say that 'more expensive = better' - not at all. It's simply a matter of finding a cable that works well with YOUR PARTICULAR SETUP.

Example: Once upon a time, in my old setup at my old place, i was getting too much low end boom in my room, regardless of speaker placement. After describing the sound i was getting to my dealer and telling him what cable i was using, he suggested something that he thought would solve the problem.

The new cables, which did not cost any more than the older cables, were a much better match for my system. The bass was cleaned up and a veil was lifted from the midrange.

The difference was easily recognized by me and my girlfriend (who is not into audio gear at all).

Find what works for you... Hate to say it, but I sort of view cables as 'tone controls' (almost, but not really)...

Again, expensive cables do not necessarily mean 'better sounding' in your system.

It is my experience that spending more than $100 - $300 is better for the ego than it is for sound reproduction. However, You will never convince anyone who has spent a lot of money on cables (wonder why?).

I'm a bottom feeder. I got a $1500 pair of PS Audio Xstream Reference Bi-wire for $350 on closeout. They definitely sound like $1500 cables, not $300 ones.

For the OP, I recommend these. If your speakers can be bi-wired, get these.

They're not a lot of money but should give you more than a taste of what carefully designed cables with quality materials bring to your system.

I have had very good results with transparent audio cables;
I bought used and was very pleased with the results.
I think you need to follow some of the above advice with research,maybe even try some of the companies that allow home auditions,if their is a local audio club in your area talk with some of the members;I have always found members like to audition their systems and talk audio with people.

Garypic,

In trying to set a budget for speakers cables I would say no more that 10% of the combined price of your speakers and amp. Basically if your amp is worth a $1000, speakers worth $1000, that's $2000 ....... so 10% would give you a $200 budget for speakers cables. Which is from a price/performance perspective is were you want to be. If you spend much more you would be better off upgrading either amp or speakers. Not knowing what components you have it's hard to make a suggestion of "just what" cables would be best. Myself I've had good results with Audioquest (I have the AQ CV6 w/DBS that I pick up for $100 used) and really haven't felt the need to "experiment" with other speaker cables. Now if I was doing it all over again, I would probably go with speaker cables made by companies such Signal Cable and Blue Jean Cables has their products seem well made, affordable, and work quite well and as such have gotten a good reputation in the audio community. While I certainly agree that good cables make a difference on how well one's system sounds, I also believe you should spend as little a possible to get desired sonic results. Unfortunately when dealing in the "World of Wires" it's very easy to go overboard and spend much more than necessary.

I had very good results with Anti Cables at $10/foot. check em out!

garypic, what is your entire system? include present interconnects as well.

If you're a person of modest income like myself who prioritizes family needs and buying quality healthy foods, I'd just buy cables from sellers like Blue Jean Cables (and the other sellers out there that sell decent, quality cables sans the bluster).

Concurring with Byegolly, I have found Blue Jeans interconnects to be a great value, well constructed with good neutral performance. I do have not tried their speaker cable.

Hi-I have been impressed with the inexpensive models from Kimber and MIT speaker cable. Try buying used. If you dont like it you can always sell it. Also, lately I tried the anti cables for $10 per foot. I really did not care for the rigidity of the cables-like coat-hanger wire. However, I have not yet used them so I cant comment on the sound quality.

Seriously, you'd be hard-pressed to get better-engineered cable with better copper than the AudioQuest closeouts at HCM Audio. I provided the links in my previous post. We're talking $79.95 for an 8-foot pair of multi-gauge (12 ga. aggregate) solid core high purity long grain crystal copper with hand terminations of copper or silver spades or bananas.

Thanks for all the insight into cable/prices. This gives me a good starting point into I would assume ( from reading forums) the beginning of my rollercoaster ride with cables into the near and distant future.
I will start my search with these in mind; Blue jean, Signal Cable, Anti, and Audio Quest.
Thanks
Gary

i too have been looking into budget minded quality cables. i was drawn to the elf, yacco, kimber tc's, and goertz. i used the anti's in a previous system and they were very good. currently i am using all blue jean cables. but, we just put together an entire new room and i had started looking for soemthing a little more aesthetic than the grey jacket of blue jean and the hanging wire of the anti's(silly i know, but WAF allowed the new system, so the cables must also fall in line). it would seem to me, and this is admittedly without listening, that the kimbers used may be the leader in price/performance ratio. they can be had pretty cheap. my advice to you is the blue jeans cable canare. buy the diy banana terminals cuz the bare wire on these can be a bear.

Take a look at the Supra offering - there are a number of choices, They usually advertise on the Gon so easy to find.

I built a set of cables using their Ply 3.4 and then covered them with black Techflex. They look very nice - in fact you basically don't see them at all. They sound good. And because they are flexible they are easy to run and hide.

BTW I finished them with the low cost but very good sounding Audioquest gold over copper bananas that Johnnyb53 mentioned.