Entry-level speaker cables

By the way...the 10' AQ Type 8s were less than 200 bucks used, and looked new.

Used cables are AWESOME...I scored a great sounding pair of AQ Type 8 from somebody for peanuts, as well as several pairs of great ICs here and there...you can sometimes get "demo" cables from high end shops also...consider them "pre broken-in."

I've used Type 4 also (and have MANY other AQ bits in my basement "cable museum", including a pair of old reddish cables packed with 16 individually wrapped stranded conductors and thick as a garden hose) and think they're great. I'm into the "solid core everywhere" sound these days and AQ has lots of that to go around so now my rig looks like it's under attack from a bungee cord factory.

Based on the $25 per foot calculation, I saved $340 (68%) on my used type 8 pair. Not too shabby.

My "per foot" comment was innacurate and should be ignored (8tc is not AQ Type 8), but the purchase still lacks shabbiness.

Note that after messing around with spades, bananas, Speakon's, guitar phone plugs (which actually do go back to old telephone switchboards...lame!), and otherwise burning fingers and things with soldering devices, I found that the AQ spades and bananas (non solder user friendly ones) are great...easy to find, not too pricey, and well made.

A fave cable score is a used but new condition AQ VDM5 solid silver S/PDIF cable I bought for peanuts...not sure if it sounds any better than other stuff...hard to tell, and I've tried! (digital cable comparisons...not easy)...but it's silver, heavy, and has groovy RCAs, so there's that.

I think there's a point where you start assuming the cables you've assembled are working. You can then stop thinking about them (except wondering when to clean the contacts), and start worrying about needle age, running thick copper wires from your AC plugs directly to a nuclear plant, and having your speakers veneered with Bubinga. I trained some rare African cockroaches to take turns lying on their backs holding up my speaker wires on their tiny feet...took a while, but totally worth it.