Canare 4S11

IMHO it is a good solid sounding speaker cable. 

I have both the 4S11 and 4S8 cables and both are very good sounding, flexible and well made. I have considerably more expensive Analysis Plus cables in my main system and they may be a bit better but I think you'll be surprised at the Canare. There's a reason it's used widely in recording studios.

I agree that Canare can provide excellent sonics as long as you have good components. They provide a faithful presentation of recorded music. 
If not performing up to expectations, break them in longer than the specified period.

Canare does nothing wrong. Very good cable for the money. I find it has a nice, maybe a little warmish presentation. Maybe doesn’t have the extended top end of better cables but it gets the job done nicely. I think once you get some hours on your new cables you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Definitely let us know what you think.

I actually just put these Canare’s back into my system due to the previous cables sounding a little too thin and a bit bright for my lively room. They may not have the extended top end, but that’s actually what I’m trying to get away from. 
Full and definitely on the warmish end of the spectrum as others have already mentioned.

My present speaker cables are a bit too warm and I didn't want a cable that is too highly detailed.  I hope like Goldilocks says, they are just right.

Another good one that doesn't break the bank is the Furez FZ124AS 12-4 Advanced In-Wall Rated Speaker Cable.  It is a quad of 12 awg cables that when cross-connected in a star-quad configuration yields 9 awg to each polarity.  You could use them as an internal bi-wired pair but I would personally use two separate runs to each speaker for bi-wiring.  Features include a rope lay construction using both 27 awg and 36 awg, 4-nines, OFC wires, and  foamed polyethylene insulation (FPE) that you don't usually see in budget cables.  Check the link....just over $1/foot!

https://www.avoutlet.com/av-cables-connectors/av-cables/bulk-cables/speaker/furez-fz124as-25/

I received the speaker cables early this afternoon.  I must say, the fit and finish of the custom built cables are off the charts.  It is as good as any of the high end companies that charge megabucks for their cables.  I hooked them up and let them play while I was out.   I just got back (2 1/2 hours later) and I am quite surprised as what I am hearing.  At initial turn on, the sound was very bassy, highs weren't that pronounced.  Now they sound much better after only a couple of hours and I am enjoying the sound.  I won't pick these cables apart until I have a couple of hundred hours on them but so far, I like what I am hearing.

I was turned on to these a few years ago by an ultra high-end speaker manufacturer friend of mine.

I have used them ever since as my reference cables. They do indeed take forever to break-in, but once done, they are spectacular.

@stereo5  "At initial turn on, the sound was very bassy, highs weren't that pronounced."

The bass of 4S11 will taper off during break in, almost to the point of where the cable begins sounding a little to thin. At this point the 4S11 without a over pronounced midrange and lacking bass is where some people make the grave mistake of giving up on this wonderful cable. The bass eventually comes  back sounding extremely solid and positioned correctly in back of sound image but it does takes time.  When dielectric is fully burned in the highs will be perfect/garbage in-garbage out, no midrange bloom present, with solid non woolly bass. Once broke in completely the 4S11 becomes excellent tool for evaluating other cables in system, a cable version of the famed Stanton 881S phono cartridge if you will...

With 31 hours on the cables, the sound hasn't really changed since after the first two hours.  So far,  I am smitten with these cables.

Good information from Jeffrey.

Stereo - maybe I missed it, but did you go through Blue Jeans for the 4S11?

He said he got it from Ram Electronics.

https://www.ramelectronics.net/ram-speaker-cables.aspx

I did get it from Ram, but got this:

https://www.ramelectronics.net/HS.aspx

I use the 4S11s in my secondary system. Bought bulk cable off Ebay and terminated myself. Ram Electronics looks like another good way to go. Makes for a good looking cable offering excellent performance for the price. 

At the 72 hour mark, I tried cranking the system a bit.  I put on The Dead Can Dance/Spiritchaser cd and listened to "Song Of The Stars".  This was a MFSL SACD.  The sound was better than I heard with my Groneberg Quattro Reference speaker cables.  The bass was deeper and the highs were crisp but not overdone.   When I checked the SPL meter (Radio Shack), I found I was pushing 98db SPL's.  That is way too loud for me but it showed there was no sense of strain coming from the speakers.  My Mac amp was showing 30-60 watts average (60w were the peaks).  I am pretty impressed right now but it still could change.  If this works out, I will buy a longer pair of these cables for my main system, probably a 25 foot pair.  I will break them in on the secondary system because I can run that system 24/7 at a decent volume as its on the second floor of our home.  Stay tuned, I will keep updating this.

At the 265 hour mark, I am still loving the 4S11 cables.  I have temporarily disconnected them to break in another 25 foot pair of 4S11 cables.  Once some playing time are on these, they will go into my main system and I will reconnect the previously broken in pair of 4S11 to my secondary system.  So far, I see no negatives.

Good to hear. You might be surprised how good the Canare Digital coax cable is with their own True 75 ohm RCA plugs or BNC if you equipment has that’s even better. Had one probably twenty years ago, well maybe not that many years ago but close I bet. No idea where it is but I just might have to pick one up again. I recall it was a very smooth cable but that was many years ago on old digital equipment so I might have to see how it fares against my Nordost Silver Shadow that probably cost 5-10x the price.

Thank you for taking the time to report on this.  It is refreshing to hear someone warrant the inexpensive cables based on sound quality.

This is the final report on the Canare 4S11 cables.  I let the 25 foot pair break in on my secondary system for almost 19 days 24/7.  At the 445 hour mark, I reinserted them into my main system.  I first removed the $1500.00 Groneberg Quattro Reference speaker cables and coiled them up under the floor in case I decided to go back to them. After my son helped me install the Canare cables (I had to make larger holes in the floor for the banana plugs to fit) and routing them perfectly, I am happy to say my system now sounds much better.  I no longer have the softness in highs I had with the Groneberg cable and the bass is tighter and deeper.  I was always under the impression that the higher the price, the better the cable.  The fact that a $130.00 pair of speaker cables bested a $1500.00 pair should be a lesson for everyone regarding price VS performance.    Now I have the Canare in both of my systems and I am one happy audiophile. 

@stereo5...I'm so glad you put in the time and effort on these! 

I've been touting this cable for years and years on here, but never had any luck because most people think because they are so inexpensive and/or require a long break-in period, they can't be any good.

Over the years, I've become friends with a couple of guys from Canare.  Even they don't know why they take so long to break-in, but if you're willing to put the time on them, they are richly rewarding.

I run mine in a shot-gun configuration and they are even better.  See this thread about how I do it.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/need-20-25-foot-spk-cables/post?postid=1846157#1846157

@mofimadness ……………………….

You gave me so many great tips.    Thank you for giving me your experience with the cable.  My system(s) are sounding really good today.

@stereo5...my pleasure sir!  Glad to have helped.

@mofimadness  +1
Your posts, years ago, helped shape my decision to use the 4S11 and I have never looked back. I use a double barrel shotgun configuration and the cables have been put thru cryo process.

@jeffrey75...thanks for kind words. Glad you tried them!  They really are incredible.

Correction, I use two runs of 4S11 on each amp post utilizing both spade and banana input for each post in a 11 gauge form to take advantage of Star Quad geometry for EMI rejection. Shotgun biwire but there is four runs of cable to each 4S11 so not sure if this qualified it as a double shotgun configuration.

How good are the highs, loud,bright,metallic,soft,smoothe, best for soft dome tweeter or metal tweeter, any brand of speakers they work really good with ?

The highs are smooth, smooth, smooth!

I moved my amp between the speakers and went with Canare 4S11 from bluejeans cable. The best cable is no cable.. these are a close second, especially with short runs.  

At $1.55/foot (Markertek), for a star-quad configuration, 11 awg aggregate conductors (4 @ 14 awg) per polarity, and polyethylene dielectric, 4S11 is certainly a bargain and it would probably take a lot of money to do significantly better.

The other bargain SC at barely over $1/foot is the Furez FZ124AS 12-4, which is a quad of 12 awg cables providing an even larger 9 awg aggregate conductor to each polarity. These feature a rope lay construction using both 27 awg and 36 awg, 4-nines, OFC wires, and foamed polyethylene insulation (FPE - which is unusual for budget cables). I am surprised more folks are not trying this one out - let us know what you hear if you do try it.
Furez FZ124AS

I just bought some Canare 4S11 at this place for $1.16 per foot.  The lowest price by far that I found anywhere!  https://www.performanceaudio.com/accessories/cables-connectors/bulk-wire-cable/speaker-wire.html

exceptionally good sounding wire at a ridiculously low cost

biwire ready too...

i have a set shotgun biwire and another non biwire set i use in my Vintage room, excellent neutral wire i got from Blue Jeans here in Seattle. a super value. great thread

I was always under the impression that the higher the price, the better the cable.  The fact that a $130.00 pair of speaker cables bested a $1500.00 pair should be a lesson for everyone regarding price VS performance. 

You don’t always get what you pay for, and that’s true for other components as well. 

I just purchase 50' of the Furez cable to try out. May run double shotgun. Also have some Canare 4S11.

Why are multiple audiophiles reporting that they are using the inferior version of an already inexpensive cable? Why go with 4S11 instead of 4S11G? Is it availability? Not knowing? 

The Canare 4S11G is a custom, special order product that has a 500M minimum order, (well, that's the way it used to be anyway).

Maybe a group buy?  :-)

Guys,

I may order some Furez SC to hear how they sound in relation to OCC.

Wig

For terminated Canare speaker cables, this Chinese reputable seller has some good options:

http://www.ghentaudio.com/part/index-sp.html

4S12F and 4S8

I am not sure why all the hypes about the Canare.  It looks just like an ordinary set of cable that you can purchase at Home Depot.  If something is too good to be true, then there's a reason for doubt.  

I may be a bit naive, but if somebody is saying a $1/per foot cable can beat a $1500 cable, that is a bit of a snake oil in itself.

I don't think Home Depot sells cable designs like Canare. Did you look at the wrap of the conductors or only the outer jacket?

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can radiate from these speaker lines directly into adjacent low voltage cables (i.e. microphone, video lines, etc.). Canare solves this problem by using a 4-conductor "Star Quad" configuration in all of our 4S Series speaker cables. Because every conductor is located the same distance from the center, the opposing magnetic fields are cancelled out. Attenuation of magnetic field radiation is superior when compared to a standard 2-conductor speaker wire.

I replaced my $2500 cables with Canare 4S11.

I may be a bit naive, but if somebody is saying a $1/per foot cable can beat a $1500 cable, that is a bit of a snake oil in itself.

With all due respect, you are a bit naive.  First thing I learned when I got into the high-end audio business over 45 years ago...price sometimes makes no difference.

With all due respect, you are a bit naive. First thing I learned when I got into the high-end audio business over 45 years ago...price sometimes makes no difference.

I guess this is the case where you're right, and a whole lot of people are wrong.  

Hmmmmm…. This sounds like something that the snake oil screechers would call Snake Oil, as according to them, nothing of that stuff really matters, inaudible, etc. etc.

But, I guess because the price is cheap / reasonable, it’s not considered  snake oil?

I don't think Home Depot sells cable designs like Canare. Did you look at the wrap of the conductors or only the outer jacket?

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can radiate from these speaker lines directly into adjacent low voltage cables (i.e. microphone, video lines, etc.). Canare solves this problem by using a 4-conductor "Star Quad" configuration in all of our 4S Series speaker cables. Because every conductor is located the same distance from the center, the opposing magnetic fields are cancelled out. Attenuation of magnetic field radiation is superior when compared to a standard 2-conductor speaker wire.

@thyname


unless you have heard the Canare 4S11 cable, you have no clue as to what you are talking about. The Canare replaced a pair of Groneberg Quattro Reference Cables that cost me $1500 per run were replaced by the Canare at less than $200 a pair. The difference was obvious from the first note. I liked it so much that I re-wired both of my systems with the Canare.

A friend with a Pass amp and preamp driving Magnepan 3.7i speakers liked them so much in my system that he bought them as well for his system. We are both extremely satisfied.

Oh I have. And still own the Canare speaker cables I posted on the link above. Scroll up. Admittedly, they are not my primary speaker cables, but I keep them as a benchmark for any speaker cables I try.

Two runs, as I bi-wire. Here is a copy/paste from my Ghent receipt:

DescriptionUnit priceQtyAmountItem Name: S01(A)---Canare 4S12F Speaker Cables 4x13AWG (Ba---Spa)
Item# 
Length: 2.0m
$56.00 USD2$56.00 USDSubtotal$112.00 USDShipping and handling$0.00 USDInsurance$0.00 USDTax$0.00 USDTotal$112.00 USDPayment$112.00 USD

Canare  & Mogami  manufacture some fine  wire and  rather than argue I suggest experimenting.  I am not only an audiophile but was a composer musician in my youth and  have used low to high-end cables from  Goertz , Synergistic Research,  Nordost, CRL, Acoustic Zen, Acrolink, Cardas and  Oyaide. All  excellent companies IMHO.
In this hobby it behooves one to try patiently rather than criticizing out of embarrassment, ignorance or the insecurity of being duped for over paying high prices for boutique cable. Which admittedly I have done,  and not just cable.

canare is really good cable, its low cost is a bonus

when it comes to cabling, more expensive options are sometimes better, but usually just different... totally depends on what your system needs, what sonic traits you value, what cabling you are changing from

anecdotal evidence from singular users here stating 'this is best' should be discounted - even if they are being honest, it is what is 'best' for them, their gear, their room, their taste

It is never mentioned, but I have really come to appreciate my interconnects made with Canare L-4E6S wire, which is also a star quad configuration.  They are ridiculously inexpensive, I purchased mine from Redco ages ago.

Other interconnects I have used or are currently using are Mogami, Magnan, Cardas and Morrow.