Looking for an advice about speaker cables

For the money, Speltz Anticables are VERY tough to beat and have a very transparent sound. You can get a new 8 ft. pair for under $80 with spades to attach to the posts. It took me paying $600 for severely discounted cables that will eventually sell for over $1500 to significantly improve the sound vs. the Speltz cables. Have tried at least 6 other cables that are good for the money and the Speltz always won out.

Audioquest is a very good match for Monitor Audio. If you can find some good, used Type 6 or Type 8, that would be ideal for the gear you have. If not, you can get some Type 4 in Best Buy. All 3 are very good, affordable options that should keep you happy for a while.

Canare 4S11. About $1.50 a foot and is really, really great sounding.

You can buy it from Blue Jean Cable already terminated with whatever ends you need. It's really easy to do this yourself, if you want to.

Audioquest is a good recommendation for good products that work well, sound good and need not cost too much.

Agree with Mofimadness. For your system the Canare 4s11 or even the 4s8 should sound great and leave money for music (or wine, women, whatever.) It would be very inexpensive to try, especially of you can use bare-wire connections to your amp and speakers and then terminate it with whatever connectors you'd prefer if you like the cable and want something other than bare wire.

You can buy both the 4s11 and 4s8 in bulk at places like Markertek . The 4s11 is $1.37 a foot and the 4s8 is $.73 a foot.

I also am trying the canare 4s11s for a second system. Bought 20' from chromaleaf via E-bay for $38. Will terminate myself. I believe the recommended audioquest cables to be better however more expensive. Can't speak to the advantage (retrurn on $$) they might provide in your system. Watch for them used on E-bay.

The Essense gZero2 from KLE Innovations is an extremely good speaker cable and nicely priced, especially when you find out just how good they really are.

Probably the last cable you'll ever buy - that is, until you try the gZero6, which is outstanding.

I had the gZero2's to start with and thought they were as good as many much higher priced cables out there. They we're much better than my DIY Van den Hul cables that I previously had on my system

Then I the got the gZero6 for my audio system and put the gZero2's on my AV system and they are very dynamic with a well balanced presentation - especially good for home theatre.

Google "KLE Innovations" and read the reviews.

If you are looking for something a little more affordable - try JW Audio - they have a very nice line of product at more affordable prices that would be a really nice match to your components.

They also have a 30 day money back offer, plenty of time so you can try them in-house

BTW - don't be put off by either of these cables "skinny appearance" - they work!

Good luck with your quest

The Canare is an easy choice. A speaker manufacturer with whom I have had personal dealings and whose advise has always been spot on, had pointed me to the Canare cable.

you should check out Blue Jeans cables.

Another speaker cable I have used and REALLY like is QED 79 strand. Not easy to find in the US, but you can order it on line and the price is right.

Thank you all for the advice. Would these be good for me?

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

Thanks!

I think the Canare 4s11 is a good choice, as I said earlier. My advice would be to buy them from Blue Jeans Cables. They're a very well known and highly regarded company that uses high-quality connectors and has great customer service. The calculator for figuring the cost of the 4s11 cables is at the bottom of the page.

The cables from RAM may be perfectly good cables, as well, I just don't have any experience with them. The prices seem roughly comparable, the RAM cables include a braided covering, which makes them about 20 percent more expensive than the Blue Jeans version. Both sites quote a price for just one cable, you'll need two, obviously.

FWIW, on the Blue Jean's site they say they like the Belden they sell better than the Canare. I ignored this advise and got the Canare because everyone here seemed to like it and no one mentioned the Belden.

Then I needed some new cable and decided to try the Belden. In my system is was substantially superior to the Canare, which in comparison sounds veiled/muddy. But the Belden is not bright, just a cleaner/clearer sound. And its cheaper as well. Not as pretty though....

OK, I decide to get 4s11 from Blue Jeans. Now I have another question. Should I get 4 bananas on the speaker end or 2 will sound the same. My speakers have 4 connectors on the back but there is a gold plated piece that connects two and two together.

Thank you.

Just get them in a single wire configuration. Your speakers really won't benefit from bi-wiring.

MoFimadness:....can you elaborate why the Canare 4S11 is so good, that is, its overall sound quality??

Is it good because it is cheap?? or is it good because it provides 90% of what most expensive cables deliver??

Newbee: Was the Belden speaker cable far superior to the Canare 4S11 in bass, midrange transparency, musicality, that is holds your attention and actually sounds like music??

I have my own selfish reasons for these requests. I don't want to add another under $150-200 speaker cable to my box of forlorn cables which have "0" resale value. Nobody wants just another mid-fi cable.

Sunnyjim,

Mostly an issue of transparency and most noticeable in the mid's and highs. This occurred without any high end emphasis common with some high-end wires.

I felt the 'background' was blacker and the mids/highs appeared in greater relief. My depth of image did improve. It is sort of like the apparent difference between some tube stuff and cheap SS except it can't be this in my house - I run no SS stuff apart from a couple of CDPs.

I was using 20 ft runs. Single wired. The Canares were used with both wires joined so that it was effectively 11ga. The Belden was 10 ga. I did not try the Canare bi wired, perhaps the difference would have been different if I had tried that.

Newbee, Thank you for the comments. They were helpful. I might take a shot at the Belden speaker cable. I would need a 12 ft single wire stereo pair with quality banana jacks on both ends. My system is not as sophisiticated compared to yours. Though, I run Acoustic Zen Adagios with a Rogue Hybrid integrated of 100RMS and a Rega Apollo. My goal is a greater degree of musicality form top to bottom.

BTW, You mentioned you use a few CDP's. Could you recommend a CDP that has fewest computer audio features. I only am interested in the best playbook of redbook CDs, some HDCD's,SACD and quality remastered CD's. I have been told that Ayre CX-7emp is the best player on the market for straight playback, but there has been dry spell on used ones on AG......... Cheers, Jim

"BTW, You mentioned you use a few CDP's. Could you recommend a CDP that has fewest computer audio features. I only am interested in the best playbook of redbook CDs, some HDCD's,SACD and quality remastered CD's. I have been told that Ayre CX-7emp is the best player on the market for straight playback, but there has been dry spell on used ones on AG......... Cheers, Jim"

If you can't find a CX-7, consider a Wadia 301 or 302. They're definitely in the same league as the Ayre. I have a 302, so I know both players pretty well. If you like the Ayre, then you should like the Wadia.

ZD542. Thanks for the recommendations. There is a 301 and 302 CD players for sale on AG. Seem expensive for 10-12 year old players that are not even listed in the "Older Products" archive.

I saw these cheap Cables to Go 29176 on Amazon today. Are those any good?

I used to use the Belden from Blue Jeans...it's *ok,* decent even, but it's really no big deal. The sound is kind of flat and boring. I replaced it with another cable (Bryston) and that really woke up the system. More expensive, but worth it, imo. To be fair, I currently use a Bryston amp, so it probably boils down to better synergy.

Another low-cost cable to try is Mogami. I've heard good things about them as well.

For the diy-er, the Nanotech Systems 777 with Furutech rhodium spades are very good. The wire is very easy to work with. Sound wise, I am totally satisfied.

I sell both Kimber and Audioquest. In your situation I would go for Audioqest. Because it is more precise. When you want to go for the most involving sound I would go for Kimber.

Audioquest? expensive and has a grain like sound to it and I don't buy into the battery. good sounding cables for cheap I would go with signal cable or JW audio. if I was going to buy the end of the game cables I would go with Mosaic speaker and interconnects designed by Dale Pitcher, these are the best cables I have ever heard at any price point period!