which speaker cables to buy?

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.