HOW TO CHOOSE A SPEAKER CABLE?

In my humble opinion after 40yrs at this hobby, choose the shortest Speaker cable you can get away with. Inch per inch, speaker cable usually contribute more to the sound quality/signature than interconnect. And with high quality Balance IC, the difference will even be more pronounced.

Cables are so system and listener dependent, it is extremely difficult if not impossible to make specific recommendations. However, if the best cable is no cables at all, just try the shortest possible.

+1 @mosler666 . Good post!

I would add that having a short cable is especially important for tube amps, which typically have higher output impedance and whose frequency response is more likely to vary from flat when presented a reactive load (i.e., all loudspeakers and to a lesser degree, cables).

In my opinion even tho metal purity is important (as confirmed by recabling the 15 inch of wire between my midrange/tweeter passive crossover with Neotech UP-OCC wire) in the grand scheme of things, geometry, choice of dielectric, choice of solid core / multi strand etc will have a huge impact as well. What matters is the final result. I use Chinese cables, whose metal purity is impossible to know for sure, but the geometry and decision to use multiple individual solid core wires, individually isolated, make those the very best speaker (and interconnect) cables I’ve ever tried and / or owned.

I’d also say that "thicker is better" is very far from being the truth, depending on your loudspeakers, the opposite can often be true. I believe thin solid core wires give more resolution, details and dynamics than a thick multi strand wire, no matter how pure the metal is. YMMV, as always, but in the context of my system it definitely is the case.

I'm about saving money where I can in this expensive hobby, and they (the Used Cable Co.) have a wide selection of used cable, so shop here:

Here is their website:

Do your homework and narrow the choices down to a couple of manufacturers. Hopefully, this will include a local resource. Then get some samples from each manufacturer at a couple price levels you’re comfortable with to try at home. If available, you might consider borrowing a set of cables a level above where your "comfort level" is. This will let you know what you are missing at the lower price points and set the standard for a future upgrade. You just might decide that taking the leap is worth it.  Or, the more expensive cable could make you feel even more confident with your price/performance/value decision.

Yes, all things being equal, the more metal the better. And, yes, high quality cables can get expensive in a hurry when you "beef" them up.

Good luck.