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Cheap Audio Cables

So what did I do out of Covid boredom? I bought and tested a variety of cheap audio cables just for fun. I also ordered some more expensive models with return privileges and returned all of them. I have a invested about $10k in my system and my cables are about fifteen percent of that. Kimber KT12 speaker cables, Audience Ohno interconnects and a Kimber D60 digital coax cable. I'm still keeping my cables because I like them, but the cables I found were darn good. Sometimes shockingly good for the money. So for all those of you who don't like the idea of spending lots of money on cables. I suggest you consider these. You can get quality sound from a set of digital coax, interconnect and some speaker cables for about $150.00 all in. 

SPEAKER CABLES: Gotham GAC SPK 2x4.0 mm. (11awg). $2.13 a linear foot from Gotham. I only see rolls of 100 feet listed so maybe you can find a retailer by the foot. This OFC cable is excellent. Buy a roll and sell the left overs to your friends. Terminating is easy using screw on banana plugs from Amazon. I do not recommend the GAC 2x2.5 cable. http://www.gothamaudiousa.com/index.html

 

Acutek 14x4. This is an OFC cable. You pair two 14 gauge wires together for 11 awg. Maybe you can find it by the linear foot but at $.65 a foot, a 100 foot roll will only cost $65.00. (Amazon) Buy and sell or share.

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Mogami W2921 is another OFC quad 14 awg cable. Pair two for 11 awg. Available from Redco.com for $4.35 a linear foot. https://www.redco.com

 

DIGITAL COAX CABLES: Gotham GAC-1, Canare L-5CFB, Mogami 2964. All of these are available on Amazon and Ebay assembled for about $40 or less. All are very good digital coax cables. Mogami the most flexibe, then Gotham, and lastly Canare which is quite stiff. If you want to spend more, Kimber's model 30 for $95.00 is excellent.

 

INTERCONECTS: I found two very good interconnect cables available by the linear foot. You can terminate yourself with some quality RCA connectors from Amazon and be sure to use a quality solder like Wonder Solder (Ebay) or WBT 4% silver solder. (Ebay and Amazon) it makes a difference. By soldering your own, you can save enough to buy yourself a nice soldering station on Amazon for about $40. Gotham GAC 4/1 is an OFC Quad microphone cable for about $1.25 a linear foot. Mogami 2497, another OFC quad cable for about $3.65 a linear foot from Redco.

If you want to go cheap on a decent RCA try Canare F10 connector ($3.50 ea). You can also find a similar locking RCA connectors that World’s Best Cables uses on Amazon for about $20.00 for four,  and Cardas SLVR connectors on Music Direct for $20.00 a pair. 

If you don’t want to solder. You can buy either these interconnect cables on Amazon assembled by World’s Best Cables with 4% silver solder and nice locking RCAS. 

I didn't include Canare cables other than digital because they are not OFC copper and I don't like them. 

All of these are better than Blue Jeans in my opinion. Yes, I compared them. 

 


fredcdobbs
fredcdobbs OP
128 posts
 
12 TC My goof. Mostly those were digital cables, Blue Jeans silver and regular. Momoptice, Audioquest carbon, Nordost. Pangea. I also tried a couple custom makers and didn't like their cables either. 
I have a pair of Kimber Heroes. It is not as good as the Audience Ohnos. Mogami 3082 is a coax speaker cable and not quite there. The Gotham 2.5 was too weak in the bass a little light weight. The 4.0 was killer. Didn't think a lot of Blue Jeans interconnects or gray speaker cable. Their cables do not use OFC copper I believe and I can tell the difference. 
I needed a 10 foot extension for my headphones so I hooked up some Gotaham GAC 4/1 cable to Gotham male and female stereo 1/4" connectors and it worked well. Also 2534 Mogami sounded good. 
As a general rule for me, I avoid any silver plated copper cables except for digital cables where it seems to work out fine. 
fredcdobbs OP
128 posts
 
You can get Gotham cables by the foot and decent Amphenol RCAS at ProAudioLA. Also completed Gotham digital cables. For some reason they don't handle the SPK 2x4.0 speaker cable. https://www.proaudiola.com
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,763 posts
 
Don’t forget 14 gauge Neotech UP-OCC copper in Teflon hookup wire for making your own speaker cables. Fast, black, detailed, and sweet. #Parts ConneXion
jaytor's avatar
jaytor
762 posts
 
Thanks for making this effort. I think many people will find this helpful. 

Would you be willing to share the products you tested that you felt were not good enough to be considered?
tony1954's avatar
tony1954
1,033 posts
 
Very interesting, but it begs the question.
Is this your version of the search for Sierra Madre treasure?
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