Bulk cable for rear speakers


Any recommendations for good unfinished cable that will be 20 to 30 foot run from my amplifier to the rear speakers? I guess I need a spool of cable.

jumia

Agree with stereo5 about the recommendation for Canare cable. Depending on your gear the 4s8 cable might also work, both are available in either black or gray. A good source for either is markertek.com.

The Canare quad is very good value for the price. That said, if you are looking for more premium options, DH Labs sells some great cables in bulk by the foot. I used 24’ runs of the T-14 for my home theater, which sounded great until I took the theater apart. I did use the Canare many, many years ago and it’s a great value cable in comparison. 

I’m full disclosure I am a DH Labs dealer. 

 

so how much is the DH labs Cable? My system includes Macintosh monos and b&w floorstanding rear speakers.

These are rear speakers and maybe not necessitating the same High level of cable I have elsewhere

You might look at Furez In-Wall Rated Speaker Cable.  They make a 14awg x 4 wire cable (2 x 14awg = 11awg) or a 14awg x 2 wire cable.  The wire is 99.997% OFHC C10100 Copper Construction (High Conductivity Oxygen Free Copper), in a 7 Bundle Advanced Rope Lay Design.  The other unusual value with this cable is the foamed polyethylene insulation (FPE), which I have never seen at these prices.

I believe these come in either 25-foot lengths or a 500-foot spool.  However, at AV Outlet, it appears that multiples of the 25-foot length ship as one continuous cable, which is what you need.  Price-wise it would be hard to beat a star-quad, 11 awg OFHC copper cable at $0.75 or less per foot.

If one is bi wiring then the Mogami 3104 is a great choice.
(And even more so if one has SpeakOn connectors.)
And 3103 in a pair, rather than a quad.

If one likes cotton insulation, then the Jupiter cable is not bad. 

@jumia So for an AVR…

  • If it was a 2 channel, I would move the amp and run longer ICs.
    • I would not run cotton insulation in a wall, but out in the room, the Jupiter cotton insulated is not too bad in price.
  • For HT then the 3104 might be better.
    • Ideally everything has SpeakOn connections.
    • The 3103 is a pair, and the 3104 you at least have a spare set or can double it up.
    • (The Furez mentioned would likely be similar)
    • I went with an AVP, so I could put the amp in the back and not run 30’ of cable, but I doubt it makes any difference.
      • If your AVR did have a set of RCA output that would do the rears, then I would run longer ICs and run a rear amp.

@emergingsoul The DH Labs bulk cables come in four different options from $5-$27/ft and their designs vary in conductor gauge and materials, dielectric designs, etc. The T-14 I was mentioning is $13/ft. The Q-10 is even better which basically takes four conductors to make two 10awg silver plated high purity copper, but at $27/ft. Info on them is available from their website link in my post above. 

DH labs pricing is horrifying, especially for rear speakers.  This is unfinished cable and no doubt substantially hi margins for the seller.

Just go to hardware store like Ace hardware find those round black cables on a roll.Perfect for rear speakers.

@jumia Your last statement is subjective, and the pricing is value driven for the level of performance. Their products satisfy some of the best quality components and speakers, but as I said, Canare is okay for more basic applications. 

jumia Your last statement is subjective, and the pricing is value driven for the level of performance. Their products satisfy some of the best quality components and speakers, but as I said, Canare is okay for more basic applications.

Objectively; isn’t a rear set of HT speakers a basic application?
(We are generally pretty distracted by the visuals to notice a lot happening in the HT sound at the back.)

The front speakers, and a 2 channel especially, speaker cables and the rest of the chain, make a more noticeable difference - than sound during a movie.

 

Hence; I think cheaping out on the rear speaker cables makes a lot of sense.

Putting the rear cables into a plastic conduit, so that different ones can be pulled through the wall later without destroying anything also makes sense. And putting in larger sweeps make pulling a cable through a lot easier than a tight 90.

Having tried Canare 4S11 in a mini system that drops like a rock at around 55Hz I can say that it does sound good in the mid/HF's.

This said, aside from it being difficult to strip it's also quite stiff.

You might look into Canare 4S8 (16 gauge) which is also well reviewed and cheap as chips.

DeKay