I really like the Analysis Plus Oval 8. Got mine on US Audio Mart. They come up used sometimes for less than $1000.
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For many years VPI sponsored an active and excellent forum. A strong consensus formed that Audio Sensibility made great interconnects and cables at very fair prices. I settled on their Statement series and use them for all needs including speakers. Once in a while a friend or a dealer will give me something else to try, most recently a Shunyata that won a best of the year award or some such. It was certainly good, but not good enough to make me want to switch. In addition to everything else, Stephen will let you return it if you don’t like it. Highest recommendation. |
@chiefsteward1 One of the amps I use in my system is the Red Dragon Mono Blocks. I highly recommend you take a look at Veritas Cables, their Aperta speaker cables or better yet their Aperta SE speaker cables, all within your price range. Excellent sounding speaker cables. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/veritas-cables-a-new-brand-that-i-found Veritascables.com
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What are your current cables and what improvements are you looking for? I’ll add my recommendation as I feel these cables worked well for me with several different amps (Rogue, Pass Labs) and 2 completely different types of speakers (Martin Logan Montis and Wilson Sabrina). The cables are resolving, natural sounding and let your components shine. |
Many choices... The fact that you have monoblocks also opens a slightly different discussion. Your amps could be individually located close to your speakers if you have interconnects long enough to accommodate that placement. This could open up some savings on the speaker cable cost based upon length, though the savings may be consumed by changing to interconnects of adequate quality and length. It is nice to have options. |
If you locate the monoblocks next to the speakers and use very short cables, the influence of the speaker cable is minimized. That may be enough. Given your setup, I would try a different amp before spending money on wire. The most recent Hypex and Purifi output modules are completely load independent, so you might try one of those and see if that helps the sound when used with your low-impedance speakers. The only review I could find of Red Dragon monos said they were not great at low impedances. Whether that applies to your model or if the manufacturer changed them, I don’t know. There is NO speaker cable that will make up for a fundamental mismatch in amplifier and speaker, if that's what you have. Just a suggestion for you to consider. |
@mike_in_nc +1, very short speaker cables is best! Mike |
I have borrowed a number of sub-$1,500 speaker cables from The Cable Company in recent months. Cardas, DHLabs, Shunyata, Kimber & RSX. I thought the highest value for the money were the RSX cables. They get out of the way—transparent & natural. Not the last level in detail, but plenty. I haven’t decided whether to buy them or spring for some much more expensive Cardas cables. i have a vintage solid state Krell integrated (re-capped) and Audio Physic Virgo speakers. My interconnects are Cardas Clear Beyond. Best of luck finding something that works for you. |
Would highly recommend duelund cables; very comparable to my Cardas reflections when comparing interconnects; duelund were a tad bit more vibrant and a lot lower cost. Cardas were warmer. much prefer the duelunds to my anticable level 4.1 speaker wires; at least in my low power horn setup. Good luck
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Take a look at the Kirmuss Adrenaline cables and reviews https://kirmussaudio.com/the-adrenaline-speaker-cable/
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You can get quite good speaker cables from Home Depot or Lowes. Get two spools of SmithWire 12 gauge THHN stranded copper wire, one red, one black. Twist the wire 3 to 4 turns per foot between the amp and speakers. Use the bare copper if you want, or terminate with banana plugs. It's an inexpensive and good preforming $25 alternative to $1,000+ cables.
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I really wanted Audience AU24SX speaker cables. But a bi-wire pair were a little too much to import. Ended up with Auditorium A23. Similar sound signature to Auditorium. Found them on Hifi Shark in Norway. Around $700 including shipping to New Zealand. A new pair of A23 jumpers brought it close to US$1000. |
Well I am just going to say it! Give the Chinese guys a look, they are producing some of the best hifi right now and in my experience many of their speaker & Interconnect cables offer tangible, compelling performance & Value propositions that put many of the North American and European offerings to shame. |
Another rec for Audio Sensibility. I recently replaced all my ICs with their Statement line and their Testament speaker cables. Could not be happier and I’m picky as hell. I too have a VPI turntable that now sounds better than ever. The speaker cables are not super flexible but if that’s not issue for you, I can’t recommend enough. |
Buy some bulk Canare 4S11 cable and terminate how you wish, or buy pre-made from WBC. Your money will be better spent in other areas, like room treatment or calibration, IMO. 4S11 has some science behind it as far as noise rejection, and has very low resistance and capacitance. Again from John Siau;
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Go to Parts Express and pick up Audtek Pure Copper Audiophile-Grade 16 Core Interlaced Braided OFC Hi-Fi Speaker Wire 11 AWG Clear insulation is polyethylene, white is teflon Then find some terminations of your choice. You'll have your $500-$1000 cables (at least one other supplier is selling finished cables for that) for a fair bit less. |
I'm very happy with World's Best Cables Ultimate Assembly, 7AWG that cost $220 (10' length). I'm running them on Focal Sopra No. 2 speakers and they sound great. Probably the best value out there and they look fantastic!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLYK9DF1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
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