Help with speaker cable recommendations please

Hello to all,

Thanks for the help and suggestions. I think my best bet is to shop around for used cables. I like the AQ sound, but the type 4 in my system sounds a little bright as well as a little bass shy, what bass this wire does have is tight and well defined but does not go deep.

Thank you!

grm

The Blue Jeans Cable cost me $45 delivered!

grm

Thanks to all who have responded!
I have tried 4 different speaker cables and did some research, this is what I have learned AND heard.

Gage/AWG, my 15' length of Audioquest type 4 is only 15 AWG, when you begin to turn up the volume to really enjoy the live experience, the sound becomes compressed as if the cable was saturated where it just lost control of the speakers. I tried another $500 set of cables that were around 18 AWG, they sounded sublime at lower levels but suffered the same problem when you turned up the volume. I did learn something with this cable, and that was termination - go nude!! When I dissected the Amp end spade connectors they were soldered to the wire with a large amount of solder, so I cut off the spades, the results were dramatic! My next test was with a very inexpensive cable I purchased from Amazon, $24 for 50 feet of 12 Gage Pure Copper, Oxygen Free, Stranded wire. I connected the wire "Nude) on both the Amp end and Speaker end, WOW, bested the two other wires in terms of detail and ability to go loud without saturating the wire! In fact, I did not need to turn the Amp up nearly as high to get the same output on the speakers! In the end, I went with the last cable in the test, Blue Jeans Cable! I ordered a 30' run of their 10 AWG cable in white and terminated it myself, just stripping the wire and going nude - fantastic! The lessons I learned from this little experiment were this:

1. Price does not necessarily equate to performance
2. For longer runs, the Gage/Resistance of the wire is paramount
3. For terminations, unless they are "Welded" or "screwed" onto copper connectors, you are not getting the best sound out of you cables! Silver Solder still contains a significant amount of LEAD! If your cables are soldered, re-terminate them.
4. Solid wire is not necessarily better than stranded
5. There is a lot of Snake Oil out there, try different stuff if you can before you buy, you may just be surprised with what you can get without spending a small fortune.

I digress - thanks for reading!

grm   

Hi,

Cardas has a great reputation, however needing a 15' pair is way out of my league. I have heard Cardas speaker and interconnect cables in another persons system, they had Cardas throughout and the sound was amazing - maybe someday!

Thanks,

grm

Hello adi74,

You have a very nice high-end system, your Sonus Faber speakers are works of art both visual and sonic. Your speakers are rated at 4 ohms and your Hegel amp, depending on model, can output considerable power.

In terms of speaker cable, be careful your not investing in snake oil, do your research and try different cables if you can. With your system, pay very close attention to the actual size (Gage/AWG) of the wire! If I had your system I would be looking at cables that were at least 10 or 12 AWG.

Good Luck!

grm