Need help buying new speaker cable

Hi Larry,

I don’t know which Arcam amp you own, or if all are the same. But I owned an Arcam Alpha 10 years ago, and it required BFA style banana plugs, such as Nordost Z-Plugs which are hollow. I used Nordost Super Flatline cables back when I owned that Arcam amp. I really liked that style banana plug and have been using them ever since. IMHO, they are a fantastic connector and I prefer them over spades. They have great contact area and, buy nature, have constant outward pressure, holding them firmly in contact with the inside of the binding post.

If it were me, I would get the cables fixed. For anything near that cost, you’re not likely to get anything better.

My current speaker cables are simple Audioquest Type 4, no frills cables from Audio Advisor. They use the BFA style, low mass banana plugs. I have bananas on both ends because I prefer them. They don’t loosen like spades sometimes do. I checked Audio Advisor earlier. All of their speaker cables said "temporarily out of stock". Likely a victim of COVID induced supply chain issues, or possibly staffing issues for building their cables.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Why don’t you just fix what you have? If its just a terminal, cut back a small amount to fresh wire and solder or crimp it back on. I must have like 3 soldering irons and 5 crimpers laying around...honestly, anything beyond say audioquest type 4 and the like is a total waste of cash....

Yeah.  If you like your present cables, surely a no-brainer to re-fix the termination(s) and save $$$$.
For a good connection I recommend soldering, not crimping.
Or, better, first solder then crimp tight.

Many cable-geeks do not look inside their speakers to see what cables they have there. They may spend a fortune on cables that they hook up to very cheap internal wiring. Placebo-galore.

According to the tech people on the recent Inspiration 4 All Civilian mission to space, as well as the NASA tech people, the only wiring they use in crucial applications in space is a mil-spec branded wire from a company called Analysis Plus, with the specific product line being the “Big Silver Oval Audio Cables.”  From experience I can tell you they are superlative here on earth, too.