Need copper speaker cable recommendations $300 ish
Audience Ohno are pretty good. https://audience-av.com/cables/ohno/ https://www.thecableco.com/cables/speaker-cables/ohno-iii-speaker-cable-pair.html I have a pair of these gathering dust in a storage box. |
Over the years I’ve owned the basic Monster/Marshall Soundrunner type cables, Belden, Cardas, and Kimber. The Kimber Kable had sounded great on my system, but when I moved I needed much longer cables. I made my own from Monoprice OFC 12awg 4-conductor pvc wrapped twisted CL-2 cable and wrapped it in nylon techflex sheathing (also available in 2-conductor and various gauges, Mediabridge and others offer very similar bulk cable). These sound as good as any I’ve used, and are remarkably easy to do if you’re willing to terminate your own wire....should take about an hour or so. A dealer that sells you $300 cables will pay roughly half of that, meaning the manufacturer needs to make them for somewhere near $75 to sell them for $150 to the dealer, which is a tad more than it cost me to make my own.....food for thought. |
I want to second aj523 - I have been using Anticable speaker wire and interconnects for several years and I have heard a difference in my two systems with every upgrade. They are made in Minnesota - great customer service to. Check out their website - they also sell overstocks after every show they support. |
I reflect on while reading this thread there is a wide variety of speaker cable DIY and many different speaker cable manufacturers. Feels like if we keep going on then we will end up with all the manufacturer there is. When we all buy from them or make our own. It has been educational to see all the types. (For myself I have made double shielded with dead soft pure silver. They're very fast transients but is not cooper.) |
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Off the shelf, just get some Audio Envy. DIY, some good suggestions here: http://image99.net/blog/files/d048bbacfce9bcad4a025be804771d9a-76.html First one top of page here is also recommended, but as noted tricky to make for a novice. https://www.vhaudio.com/speakercables.html There's also a school of though re. braiding. For instance, using Duelund hook-up wire, get a run of 12 awg and 16 awg for each leg, then braid all four together using a simple braiding pattern. |
twoleftears I had a huge dumb misunderstanding for a sec, I somehow thought the cables decide + and - instead of the amp and speakers lol djones51 The more I look into the cables I am more torn apart as to which one I should go for. My speaker has good transparency and definition and the amp make good analogue sound, so I'd better find something that mixes well, but that is out of luck or experience. |
Thanks @noromance I think I am closing down to either Canare 4S11 or the neotech UPOCC copper ones you suggested for me. The question is if I can make one for myself right. The Canares are custom-made from sellers and they are very affordable. But, it has 11 AWG so that might be too thick for me? I do not know. My setup is desktop with 50wpc integrated amp on a small coaxial speaker using seas L12RE/XFC driver (very low sensitivity 82.5 db at 6 ohm). Going back to how to separate, if I understand you right, I mark two neotech cables black (with hea tshrink), I add one them to one unmarked red one, braid it or twist it, then do the rest like crimp and banana plugging. Do you think I am getting it right? |
Mogami 3103 o4 3104 at Redco. https://www.redco.com/search.php?mode=search&page=1&keep_https=yeshttp:// You can get your connectors there as well if you need to solder. I believe Redco does the 3103 in a "custom cable" if you are not handy with a soldering iron or can't do a bare-end connection on both sides.Mogami is a great value, excellent resolution and very musical. |
How do I separate the left and right? Since this thing looks like it comes with just one red wire unlike all the other diy speaker cable bunch that are thick and comes with at least 2 separate wires in one cables, one red and one black or so. A little confused.I use a little piece of heat-shrink to add a black marker to each end of one wire of the pair. Then use a larger piece of heat-shrink every six inches to hold the two wires together in a pair. Keep the wire in one direction and try both directions when testing if you want. For a 6' pair, you'll need 24' of wire. |
@falconquest @limomangus @elliotbcombnewjr @twoleftears @millercarbon @pcutter1 Thank you all for providing me great options. If I wanted to make a my own speaker cable with https://www.partsconnexion.com/NEOTECH-70757.html this wire How do I separate the left and right? Since this thing looks like it comes with just one red wire unlike all the other diy speaker cable bunch that are thick and comes with at least 2 separate wires in one cables, one red and one black or so. A little confused. |
last time I researched, long time ago, I decided to believe in avoiding the ’skin effect’ read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litz_wire so, no large diameter strands, each strand individually jacketed or coated to maintain individuality except at ends. I made my own using Cat 5 cables, 8 wires per leg. My friend doubled his, 16 strands per leg. There is a reason to avoid long runs of Cat 5 I think, someone else here explained it. you might make your own, buy some nice connectors, spend the rest of the $300. on content. |
There's a company called HCM Audio in the US, they are currently offering closeout deals on Audioquest GBC and GLC speaker cable sets, a 8ft pair of the GBC is listed at less than $150 terminated. They are also listing "Extreme Silver" IC cables at about 1/4 of the original prices, just to give some idea of what you might save. I believe the cables are stocks of cable types made redundant by upgrades in the Audioquest line, and bought up by the retailer but are still regarded as genuine Audioquest.If the GBC is the same cable that was superseded by the Gibraltar when Audioquest went over to the DBS system for their higher end cables then it's an excellent cable. I have no connection with either company but have been using Audioquest cables for many years. Not sure where you are (if) in the US so I can't comment on taxes and delivery costs. Isn't there a cable company in the US that allows you to try cables at home and return them if you're not happy? I seem to recall one many years ago and wishing that we, in the UK, had access to a supplier like that. Good luck with the search |
jtcf , noromance , nonoise Thank you all so much for providing me some options! |
This is a little more than what you want to spend but Chris at Blackcatcables.com makes some well reviewed cables. https://blackcatcable.com/collections/speaker-cables/products/coppertone-speaker-cable?variant=20126386880571 There’s also Zu Audio speaker cables that are a steal at the prices they’re asking for on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Zu-Audio-MISSION-Loudspeaker-Cable-Mk-I-8-ft-banana-to-banana-New/133480694798?epid=17029676900&hash=item1f1411c40e:g:5zsAAOSwnGFfJGEY Both make their own cables from scratch. There’s more out there so take your time and then decide. All the best, Nonoise |
