Best speaker cables for longer runs

My Cardas Cross sounds very good. 6m

+1 MIT or Transparent. 

N

Transparent or M.I.T.

Tvad,

I once had a certified NSF technician come to my house to calibrate my rear projection HDTV. He was not an "audio guy". He looked at my anti-cable speaker cable and asked me if it was some sort of modern art, before I told him that those red wires sticking up in the air were speaker cables. After he stared at me for a second, he shrugged his shoulders and went to work. 20 feet of red wire! I gotta see this!

I will run Bi wire. Looking at the anti cable, if you run a 20' run biwire it's not actually so cheap. Although possibly still a bargain.

Anyone have any opinion on MIT for this purpose?

Steveaudio, it is certainly true there is a big depreciation it with cable. Isn't that why we hang out at audiogon?

Second the Canare 4S11 note.

…and another one.

With runs of 30-40ft in my main HT setup driving the Silverline SR15s (92db, 8ohms), bi wire is quite good... suplanting them with a pr of Canton two ways (87db 8ohms)I had to lose the bi wire approach and connect them up double stranded instead.

I also use a pr of Synergistic Research Sig 10 - x2 active bi wire cables as my main speaker cables with a variety of amps and speaker conbinations... primarily though with Silverline sonata IIIs 92db at <8, Odyssey Stratos Plus 180w, Butler TDB5150 150w x 5, Dodd mono blocks 120w BAT VK60 60w, Rotel 1080 200w.

The SR speaker cables are decidedly better than the Canare… BUT Canare comes in around a buck or so a ft. the SR Sig 10s new were around $80 per ft. I got mine for under $600 @ 21 ft.

Canare’s using two strands per terminal are a warmish sounding cable… going bi wired, using a strand per terminal, they become less hearty and not warmish at all.

The SR Sig 10s are about as neutral as I’ve found while still possessing body, openness and balance that delivers fine imaging, bottom end and a very musical presentation without spotlighting, or obscuring detail. And all is conveyed with refinement and a very very low noise floor… w/SS or HS.

My equipment is on the side also which means I run 21 ft speaker cables. I currently use DH Labs Q-sonic which is silver plated copper in a bi wire configuration. These cables sound excellent with either of my two very different speaker/amp combinations, which currently is W4S ST500 to Nautilus 802 or VAC PA100 to ESP Bodhran SE. As I recall, the price was under 800.00 which is very reasonable considering the quality and performance.

I still have the OCOS cables with enough adapters to run single or bi wire but they don't impress me with either amp or speaker. I have Audio Magic Excaliber single wire which sounded great with the VAC powering the 802's. The ESP's absoulutely require a bi wire run. I also have a run of the MAS hybrid cable that is pretty good but I prefer the DH Labs and Audio Magic over that one.

Do you plan to run single wire with jumpers or bi wire?

*I currently use Nordost Blue Heaven,.....But I would like to substitute something that won't sound worse.*

I bought a set of bi-wire 15 ft. DH Labs T-14's used for about $200. Very happy with them, at the very least they don't sound "worse" than Nordost Blue Heavens.

PS-you may pay thru the nose for long runs of name-brand cables new. Used, the price can drop drastically.....

Goertz Alpha-Core?

Bluejeanscables.com-cheap and good

I have used Canare 4S11 for 15 meter runs and it works very well. Neutral, easy to handle, and perfect for biwiring.

Contact Dynaudio North America to find your closest OCOS dealer.

630-238-4200 - Ask for Mick

Cheers,

Tyler

Thanks for the suggestions. I currently use Nordost Blue Heaven, and like how they sound. However I find them very messy to work with, because they never really lie flat, get bent and crinkled, etc. I am also not sure I want to spend the money to get Nordost in long runs. But I would like to substitute something that won't sound worse.

Who sells Ocos? Don't see many advertisments for it?
I guess Anti-cable would be an interesting try, price certainly is right.

OCOS again. 5.5m and no problems. Would love to get a second run.

If you have to use a long run you should use an efficient cable. Cardas has 3 grades of SE cables which are very efficient. They are designed to get the best power transfer from single ended amplifiers.

I have a friend using long runs of Ocos with good results.

If you are on a tight budget try solid core thermostat wire from Home Depot. Actually you should try it before buying the other cables. You can buy 40' for the cost of a few spade connectors. It takes a while to break-in, but it has a rightness to it from the beginning.

I'd recommend the OCOS as well. Being a coax design, it lends itself well to long runs. Best used in double runs, the bass benefits greatly from that configuration. I have my right and left speakers using 25 to 30 foot lengths.

I second the Ocos suggestion but on reputation note experience.

I use Anti-Cables for a 30 foot run I love them see comments in my system.

I spoke to the owners at analysis plus and they said there
oval 9 is go to thirty feet

QED Silver Anniversary is what I use for 20 foot runs.

Rich

try using homedepot 10awg copper its cheap and works very well.

Ocos. They are known for very long runs. Price isn't bad compared to most cables.
http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/systems/lines/accessories/ocos.php

This question has come up a lot lately. I myself recently posted a similar thread which you can read here.

FWIW, I have decided to give Paul Speltz's Anti-cables a try. Good luck.