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Cables for a high-school newbie

Im on an extreemly tight budget. My goal for cables is simply to open up my current system, tighten the bass, and sharpen immaging, i dont want to color the sound at all (well, maybe a tad bit darker to counter the metal dome tweeters on my speakers). I have a sony cd player, Onkyo Tx 8211 reciever and a pair of NHT SB-3s (best speakers under $1k i've heard... and they're only $400 new if you shop around). are cables worth the dough at this level or not, and if so what brands should i be looking at? I need both interconnects and speaker cables. I listen to rock, small group jazz, metal (too bad metalheads can't figure out how to make a decent recording), and classical in that order.
thanks for the help
dk89
1markr
594 posts
 
Give the Speltz Anti-cables a try. Enormous bang for the buck!
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
Go to usedcables.com that is best way for you right now
celtic66
1,668 posts
 
Signal Cables.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
Speaker cables: Make them from Home Depot 14 gauge outdoor extension cord (it's orange with a longitudinal black stripe). No, I'm not kidding. A 50-foot cable should cost you less than $20. There's a very positive review in The Absolute Sound, April/May 2004.

Interconnects: Go to www.starlink-dss.com and scroll down to the Petra component video cables that say they were "formerly Music Boy." You get 3 six-foot cables (component video cables, remember) for under ten bucks. Or get the same cables as "component digital cables" for under 5 bucks. Again, I'm not kidding.

I've replaced $500+ cables with this stuff and find it extremely musical and involving. The Home Depot speaker cables simply demolished some $1200 wires in a friend's system. If you reterminate the ICs with better connectors, they sound even better. Do a search here and on Audio Asylum under "HD-14" and "Petra" or "Music Boy" to learn more. Good luck, Dave
bignerd100
515 posts
 
I wouldn't call the Absolute Sound review of the extension cord "very positive," but cables are not going to change your set-up as much as a new receiver/integrated amp. If your budget allows for $400 towards an amplifier of some sort it may be worth looking at an NAD, Cambridge Audio, Rotel, etc. Then you can use an extension cord for wire. Or go to a local hi-fi shop and get installation 14/2 for $0.50/ft. It is OFC, CL-3 rated, and usually the same ugly orange color as an extension cord.

Good luck!
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