Best Speaker cables on the cheap?

PS- I wouldn't hesitate buying used from someone with a good reputaion here. I sold my IXOS at a bargain and they were as good as new. I also am not trying to sell you anything now. This is my hobby, not business.

XLO . . . Clarity, definition . . . It is not marketing if there is no illusion.

I'm more or less in the same boat as the original poster, i.e., trying to eek out some decent sounds for <$100. Has anyone heard of a company called Tribute? They have these pretty looking flat 'silver coated' cables ($4-5 per foot) called "Tribute Silver" -- my local los angeles shop said these were more detailed and fuller than my base reference audioquest 4's ($2-3 per foot)... does anyone know?

Those are probably made by Tributaries. General consensus is that silver plated copper tends to sound somewhat bright and has a tendency towards upper midrange glare / possible sibilance problems. This will probably settle down after pumping some power through them for a while, but don't know how long it will take or how much that would change. Obviously, others might have different points of view on this.

If your dealer really is confident in the cables, ask him if you can take them home on a trial basis and return them if you don't like them. Keep in mind that they WILL settle in a little bit, so play them as much as possible and then give them a listen. Just for comparison sakes, when you think you know how the Tributaries sound, put your old cables back into the system and compare the two. That will give you some type of baseline to refer back to when all is said and done. Sean
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Xiaohuang7 & Sean - Yes it is Tributaries. Silver plated copper. I have a bunch of it in my garage. I purchased it a long time ago when I was budget conscious. Looking back, I see it was a big waste of money. I would have been better off saving up the cash to buy something else. Now I have 100 worth of this stuff in my garage. Last week I used a 5' run of it to bundle up my cardboard for recycling.

Since it comes on a BIG spool, I doubt the dealer would let someone demo it. As soon as it's cut, it starts to tarnish... Quite frankly it's not that great and really isn't worth the price. Even the spools of copper Monster Cable is better than the Tributaries.

You might try http://www.accessories4less.com they have a good selection of inexpensive speaker wire which can be used to make cheap cables in a pinch.

However - the magnet wire suggestion was a good one.

In the price target you seek, try CLEARVIEW GOLDEN HELIX CABLE distributed by Mapleshade records. I believe the design is based on high end Omega Micro cables by Lloyd Walker.
For information on Clearview, visit:
http://www.mapleshaderecords.com/tweaks/speakercable.html

It looks silly but the stuff sounds pretty good. Of course the Double Golden Helix is better but.. it costs more.
Sometimes you can find it used on audiogon for a great price.

Sean, you might also note that Nordost Valhalla is silver plated copper. While I agree with the idea that silver plated copper has it's flaws, I think the faults you mention are more specific to cheaply made silver plated copper wire vs well engineered types.