Your "Budget Cable" recommendations, please......

I have had good results with Kimber 8TC and Tara Labs Space & Time TFA Return speaker cables with my Magnepan MG1-Improved speakers driven by a Classe CA-150 amp. They are relatively inexpensive to begin with, and can often be found here on the AudiogoN site used. The Tara Labs cable can still be ordered new from The Cable Company. Cardas Quadlink 5C interconnect cables might work well with your equipment. They generally are regarded as having a slightly warm presentation with good bass extension. They are moderately priced as well.

I second the Mapleshade vote. I have their speaker cable and power cords too, replaced all my Kimber KCAG and 8TC and my AQ Lapis and Diamond. Fantastic stuff, and very reasonable.

Thanks for the thorough post Sean. I do have a couple of questions/thoughts.

I am THE WORST DIY'er. There's no possible way that I can make my own ICs. I like that I can buy a completed kit from homegrown cables. Seems like a VERY fair price, too. How would it be if I used two pair of Super Silvers? Or would that be too bright/forward to use between the amp and preamp?

Also, I'm not familiar with what you were referring to regarding Zobel networks. Again, I'm not handy in the least nor am I technically proficient. Are there any other cables that you might recommend that are a bit more "plug and play".

HCM audio (or audioquestcables.com) has the Audioquest GR-8 cables available for a VERY reasonable price. They purport to offer a "smooth midrange" and "thunderous bass". Might this be a good way to go? They list for $300+ and I could snag a pair for around $100. Thoughts??

Thanks so much everybody.

Dan, I would like to publicly say that you should not put more weight in anything that i have to say as compared to anybody else. I'm sure that everyone contributing to this thread is offering very honest and sincere suggestions. There is NO guarantee that you will like the same sonic characteristics and presentation that i or anybody else have. I did try to paint a pretty detailed picture as to where i was coming from and how i was looking at things though, so you might have found this a little more helpful than some of the other posts.

None the less, you might have seen enough of my posts to know that i try to stress listening and finding out for yourself what you like within your own system. Nobody ( including myself ) can tell you what you like or is "best".

As to your questions, I am not familiar with the specific Audioquest cables that you mentioned. My basic experience with their speaker cables are that they are somewhat "flat" or "neutral" sounding. I also do not (typically) like the geometry of their cable designs from a technical standpoint. In terms of sonics, i would basically say that they are neither additive or subtractive to any great degree. While "neutrality" may be a sought after characteristic, i just don't get that "toe tappin" type of response from these cables. Nor am i hearing things that i've never heard before when they are in a system. As such, you can't call them "detailed" nor are they "musical". While i don't think that they are "highly flavoured", i also don't think that they are completely "transparent". As such, i don't consider them good or bad. They are simply "there".

With that in mind, their upper level cables might be good for someone with a truly balanced and complimentary combination of components, but they can come across as "bland" or "dull" in less than perfect pairings. Once again, personal preference and system synergy come into play "bigtime".

Out of curiosity, how long of a run of speaker cables do you need ? Keep in mind that you want to take into account a reasonable "bend radius" i.e. "extra length" for cables that might be solid ( rather than stranded ).

As to your doubled up run of silver interconnects, i can't say. As i mentioned, i looked at the system as a whole. Entering variables that i am not familiar with ( the various AQ products ) completely throws things for a loop.

As to your "DIY" situation, drop me an email. We might be able to work around that to a certain extent. Sean
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I've found TG Audio cables by Bob Crump to be excellent and fairly priced.