Decent starter cables?

You really can't go wrong with just about anything from Kimber. They are very neutral and will bring out the best in any system.

Hello,

My suggestions:

Kimber (Hero or PBJ)
Bogdan Audio (Type "bogdan" here in the search box)
Signal Cable Analog 2 (Signal cable.com)
Bolder cable M-80 (Bolder Cable.com)
HGA (Homegrown Audio cables at Homegrownaudio.com)
LAT International cables (Latinternational.com)

Best buys are Audioquest Type 6 or Type 6 CV speaker cable, Wire World interconnect.

I feel that the Coincident CST 0.5 loudspeaker cable is the BEST BUY in that area. Very close to being a world class cable at the $200/8 ft price point. It definitely betters the AudioQuest Midnight cable which I also own.

In terms of interconnects, if your system is not harsh, then I recommend the HomeGrown Audio Silver Lace. I find it to be the best IC I have come across, and the price is less than $200! Coincident CST also gets my nod. Reference quality cable to be sure. Under those prices, if you prefer silver, try HomeGrown Audio Super Silver. A bit better than Kimber KCAG at 20% of the price. For copper, buy the best AudioQuest cable $50 will buy you.

For speaker cables I would start out with Kimber Kable's 4VS. I believe it's under $3 @ ft. Buy a good wire striper and terminate yourself and use no connectors. As far as interconnects go, I recommend Straightwire "Musically II/Chorus" and if you have a little more $ try Van den Hul D-102III. Tons of choices, new/used. You'll do fine w/these. Bill

Check out Discovery cables. They are excellent for the money.

What is your budget and how many interconnects / speaker cables.

You should mention your system so members can help you better in cable choice.

Regards,

You asked a good question but left us with no parameters. Decent??? Cost??? Kimber and Analysis-Plus probably cover all the bases. With either company you can spend as little as $100 for 10 feet of speaker wire and less than $100 for ICs that you can keep for 1-2 system up grades. Alternatively, you can spend $200 on speaker wires and keep them for a long time.

It comes down to what sounds best with your current equipment and what you want to spend.

By "starter" cables, I assume you mean as inexpensive as you can find, but still good. With that understanding, the Kimber 4vs speaker cable recommended above is fine. You might be able to find it used for $1.50 a foot. The Kimber PBJ and Hero interconnects are also fine, as are any of the less expensive Audioquest cables, but you can buy Mogami interconnects from some pro electronics stores that are also ok for alot less money. Mogami also makes a coaxial speaker cable, the 3082, that is excellent and very cheap. Someone here regularly recommends Canare star quad speaker cable, also very inexpensive. Pro-electronics stores or maybe on-line.

Where are you located?

Thank you for the feedback. I forgot to include my current setup - sorry first post mistake. Actually, I'm just starting to put it together (no surround speakers or center channel yet):
60/40 audio/home theater
Rotel RSX 1055
Energy C9s
Rotel RCC 1055 cd player
Samsung DVD player (a leftover from my previous setup)

Oh, and my budget...probably no more than $400 for all the interconnects and cables.

Paulwp - I live in Columbus, Ohio.

All - I appreciate the suggestions. Reading the various threads on Audiogon over the past few weeks has really improved my paltry knowledge base.

I am going to go against the grain here. For interconnects, I would recommend you try the Radio Shack audio cable before buying anything more pricy. These are black color cables with gold plated RCA connectors. They are very cheap and sound quite good. I have compared them with Cardas Natural Reference, Alpha-core TQ2, Harmonic Tech Pro-Silway II, and Acoustic Zen Silver Reference.

When I connect my SACD player to my preamp with them, I can honestly tell you that the differences were very subtle if any at all. I heard more profound differences when I use them as tone-arm cables and use them to connect phono and preamp. But in your setup, I don’t think you will hear any difference unless you compare them with something very high-end.

Actually, I have a spare pair and if you want to try it out, you can have it for free.

I will recommend the obvious. Any reputable recipe for DIY cables should yield decent results and will keep you on budget.