Inexpensive speaker cables: any experience?


I’m currently running some entry Kimber Kable speaker cables and looking at possibly upgrading. In my research I’ve come across some “budget” options on eBay. I assume they’re not great but curious if anyone has any experience with some “no-name” or “budget” cables? 
 

Thoughts on these? 

Thanks!

paulgardner

A cable, by physical definition, has the task of carrying an electrical signal through the movement of negative charges called free electrons, in our case, from the source (e.g. CD player, turntable etc.) to the user (e.g. Amplifier etc.) for SIGNAL CABLES;
from the Amplifier to the Speakers for the POWER CABLES.
The flow of electrons will be conditioned primarily by the CONDUCTIVE MATERIAL OF THE CABLE, (Eg. Gold more conductor than Copper. Copper more conductor than Steel etc.), but also by the LENGTH OF THE CABLE (The longer it will be the more resistance it will oppose), from the SECTION OF THE CABLE (the thinner it will be the more resistance it will resist), from the TEMPERATURE OF THE CABLE (the hotter it will be the more resistance it will resist) from the POSITION OF THE CABLE (the less linear it will be therefore wound in coils, the more it will generate electromagnetic fields that will increase resistance).

So in our case, the flow of electrons carrying the musical information must start from a point A and then arrive at a point B, trying to meet as little resistance as possible.
The resistance, which increases for all the causes described above, opposing the flow of electrons, causes a degradation of the musical signal because part of that electrical energy becomes thermal energy.
In simple terms, the more resistance we have, the more a small part of our electrical flow, instead of becoming sound (mechanical energy), will become heat that will be dispersed.
Having made this necessary premise, it can be said that:
starting from a good conductor (simple copper) containing the length of the cable (a few meters) which must be of an acceptable thickness (2.5 or 3mm), unrolling the latter then keeping it linearly and away from heat sources, we have the certainty that the degradation of the electrical signal from point A to point B will be negligible.
The CABLE, which must be shielded, CANNOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE SIGNAL, it can only avoid its degradation.
All the colorings on the bass, on the highs, on the mids ... are positive aspects. Let me explain:
Having ascertained that it cannot be the cable that adds, EVERYTHING YOU FEEL MORE, indicates a lower degradation of the signal from start to finish. It means that the musical information arrived intact, without losing part of the bass, midrange, etc.
In conclusion, I want to say that a few tens of euro cable is more than enough for our audiophile purposes.
When we say that a cable opens the sound, we enter the PSYCHOACOUSTICS, (attention ... in which I believe a lot).
The engineer Giussani, father of the legendary Esb series 7, conducted many experiments on PSYCHOACOUSTICS and he came to the conclusion that if you spend a lot of money on a cable, the brain with the belief that it hears better will process the sounds in a better way; because the way of processing sounds is subjective, like that of processing memories, (each one will add to the memory of the same event details and discordant nuances with respect to another individual, only for a different cerebral processing, conditioned by the mood of the moment ).
In conclusion, to hear better,
Each pocket has its own cable.

@vinilemania 

I tend to agree regarding bare cable if ones speaker binding posts allow … The one 

exception that comes to mind being High Fidelity Speaker cable where the housing 

of the terminals contain their proprietary magnet technology.

They are not just on ebay and they are made in the USA.

Pine Tree Audio

  • Fitchburg, MA, United States
Pine Tree audio is a custom audiophile cable and passive device manufacturer from Massachusetts, USA. We specialize in exotic geometry cables that are 100% handmade in the USA. Using top quality components and precision craftsmanship, Pine Tree Audio cables will enhance the sound and look of your audio system.

All of our cables are backed by the Pine Tree Audio Lifetime Warranty: if one of our cables ever fails, we will repair or replace it for free!
 

https://reverb.com/shop/pine-tree-audio

 

on a fairly resolving system, I recently tried NORDOST speaker cable and Morrow speaker cable. AMAZING improvements. (both under $900 retail and both avail for less).  I WAS running standard OFC 12 gauge.

I ended up with the MORROW, (smoother to me in the upper midrange) but the detail and soundstage improvements were LARGE, not subtle.