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Please Help Me Choose a Speaker Cable

I need to replace my existing speaker cable setup with something more wife-friendly. I am currently bi-wiring with Audioquest Type 4 (tweeters) and Aperature 16 (woofers). About 20 years ago I bought the wires off a spool and had them built w/ banana plugs. You can see a pic of the offensive cable setup on my system page (https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/6318). I put a nice jacket over the cables hoping that would be enough to clean up the messiness.

What I want is something of equal quality that will also fit inside my VTI speaker stands. The stands have a 3/4 inch opening and the 4 banana plugs don’t fit through. I want to continue bi-wiring but would go single if the sound was just as good on a different set of cables. A bi-wired cable terminated with two spades at the amp side would fit through the stands (2 banana plugs might fit also).

I don't want to spend more than $600 and need a 10-12 ft. pair. There appear to be a lot of options on Agon right now. I see names I know are pretty good like Audioquest and Kimber. If I were to pick one I would probably go with the Audioquest Rocket 88 or CV-8 or maybe the PS Audio Xstream. Maybe there are better options for less? Will the cables in this price range be good as or better than what I have? If not, maybe I should try terminating the two cables into one set of banana plugs on the amp end to see if that fits.  I guess I would prefer spades because they would be more flush to the speakers, thus a little cleaner looking.  

Thanks.
treebeard1
bassdude
496 posts
 
I love the Anti-Cables - quality product, superb sound, reasonable price for a 10’ pair!
http://anticables.com/speaker-wires/2-channel

If not that... then consider Blue Jeans cables, Better Cables, or Signal Cables - all good products at good prices - and... no BS.

Or... if you want an even better value... get some "magnet wire" on Amazon, and make your own! I did that, and they sound almost identical to the Anti-Cables for $50. Just get the 12ga or 10ga wire and twist a pair with a drill, sand off the ends and coat them with "Pro-Gold" and connect them. Oh yes... you’ll need to mark the pair "R" & "L" on both ends before twisting them to make sure you connect them in phase. Just use red tape on both ends of the "R" wire, or black tape on the "L" wire.

https://www.amazon.com/TEMCo-AWG-Copper-Magnet-Wire/dp/B00IAZNVX0/ref=sr_1_102?ie=UTF8&qid=14876...
toddverrone's avatar
toddverrone
840 posts
 
I bet that's a stiff speaker cable!
treebeard1 OP
148 posts
 
@joey_v 
I have not but will keep an eye out for my second system.

@bassdude 
I have heard good and bad about anti-cables and blue jeans.  Probably due to the controversy around cables. I don't know what to believe but the anti-cables are about the same as the AQ CV-8s on Amazon.

So I pulled the trigger on the CV-8s for $360.  Seems very reasonable considering the brand, where it fit in the AQ lineup (retail $900), and number of great user and industry reviews.  Thanks to everyone for your help.  I have the same set of cables (AQ Type 4/Aperature 16) on my second system in the basement so it will be very interesting to see if I can tell a difference. If I can then I can explore more cable options for that system.
erik_squires
16,116 posts
 
Those are line-level, not speaker level cables, but yes, they make good one's across the range that are flexible, compact and good sounding.
4425
861 posts
 
Just a thought. The entry level Transparent cables are said to be very musical. That was my experience a few years back. They were inexpensive and punched well beyond their price. Just an idea. Think it was called Musicwave. I know the absolute sound mag gave great reviews and still recommends them. Good luck on the journey. Cable is critical IMO. 

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