Most "Musical" sounding speaker cable under $1000

I would go with Acoustic Zen Satori. I find it to be unfailingly musical and a steal at its price. Plus, it should work well with your speakers.

I would also try the Satori. Like you, Sunnyjim, I also run Class D monoblocks (BC Ref 1000 Mk 2)with fairly efficient and easy to drive speakers. I use the Shotgun external bi wire set. Plenty of detail, but very smooth and good bass response. I might say they lean just a bit to the warmer side of things, but with a Class D amp, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. As Drubin says, a steal at the price, and there have been some good deals offered up lately here.

Thanks to all who added their choices of speaker cable to the discussion. To Almarg, I should have checked with Acoustic Zen about other choices than their own cables, but it seemed pointless in some ways However, your point is well taken, but checking with owners of the same speaker or others that are 5 to 6 ohm impedance. The Adagios are officially 6 ohms

To Drubin, I previously had AZ's Hologram 2 speaker cable which was approaching the musicality I was after. However, I had to sell them due to their awkward size and girth and they had spade lugs which are a nuisance to keep in place. However, as good as they are, they produced a smaller sound stage than was previous Analysis Oval 12. Bass was good but not exceptional. I decided to try Audio Art SC-5 cable to save some money and to evaluate the lower priced overachiever.

At first, I was surprised that the sound stage was wider and a tad higher, and bass was tighter, and the overall sound somewhat easier to listen to. The AZ's Hologram 2's at retail for 10 ft pair is approx 6 times greater than a 12 ft pair of AA's SC-5....Go figure!! However, after a few weeks of listening, I concluded that the AA's did not have the mid-range detail or finesse of the Hologram 2. I thought there was about a third less music being conveyed. I have to say that AA's presentation brought new life or zest to several CD's I played (Another aspect of that "musical" quality, I am sure)

Nevertheless, Rob Fritz of Audio Art offered me a decent trade-up allowance toward his SC-5SE cable which is more money, but I decided to test the choppy waters of speaker cable mania instead hoping to see if there is truly a low to medium price cable that is exceptional.

07-11-12: Sunnyjim
To Almarg, I should have checked with Acoustic Zen about other choices than their own cables, but it seemed pointless in some ways However, your point is well taken, but checking with owners of the same speaker or others that are 5 to 6 ohm impedance. The Adagios are officially 6 ohms.

Sunnyjim, I would emphasize my reference to the flatness of the impedance curve I linked to, across most of the spectrum, and to the fact that the phase angle curve (the lighter of the two lines in the graph) does not go significantly negative at any frequency. Those characteristics are probably more important for present purposes than the nominal impedance.

Most speakers do not have similarly flat impedance magnitudes, and most speakers have impedance phase angles that reach considerably negative values (i.e., considerably less than 0 degrees, meaning they are capacitive) at some frequencies. Sounds like Swanny's speakers might be an exception, which would increase the relevance of his (and DRubin's) suggestion.

Regards,
-- Al

DH Labs Q Sonic floats my boat. It is equally adept connected to very different power amps and speakers.