Need Ideas on speaker cables

Cullencable.com

Veritascables.com

Both are great.

I will be #3 to recommend the Canare 4S11 OFC cable as a self build. I run a 5.1 system that requires some very long cables due to room layout etc. I bought a 150 foot spool of the cable and all the required items for the terminations (banana plugs, cable pants,c heat shrink wrap) from Performance Audio and built them myself. It was very easy to do and it was only about $600 all in. I am still burning them in, but after about 100 hours or so, they're sounding terrific. 

Another vote for Silversmith Fidelium cables. Real ear-openers. My Magico A3's smile with these cables. Neal

Plus one for shorter speaker cables due to lower coloration on sound and lower price, if you can pull it off logistically.

Also plus one for Anticables Level 4.2 cables for the reasons given in post above.

Some other considerations: AudiQuest Rocket 44 or 88 cables No Frills versions from AudioAdvisor.  Good value for neutral cables with decent soundstage.  Or, venerable Kimber Kable 8TC or 12TC.

kn

Try Ataudio cables from Aliexpress. 

I don’t recommend their silver coated ones. Very detailed but edgy. 
But their copper cables are really nice and I am coming from Cardas Clear. 
 

dunno how they are so cheap. 
these folks have their hands on some really good copper. 

Audio Sensibility Statement SEs OCC new at $1,000 at current exchange rates, AntiCables Flex 4.2 7.5 awg Litz $500 (cables Paul uses at all trade shows), Zavfino Prima MkII 9 awg OCC $700, LavriCables OFC silver cables $500 to $1,000 depending on specific cable, RAMM Audio Amadeus 7 MkII OCC 13 awg $590 or RAMM Amadeus 5 MkII OCC 11 awg $670.....or SilverSmith Fidelum if you can stretch to $1,400

Due to some new gear, I need some longer speaker cables (10 feet) so yesterday I ordered a pair of WBC in that length from amazon for about $50. I didn't know about the Ultimate Assembly ones, so I might upgrade at some point. 

I second the idea for Canare 4S11 cable from tonyrox. This cable is highly rated by many audiophiles on this site and comes at a reasonable price by the foot from Performance Audio and you can put the ends of your choice the wire or you can buy pre-made with the ends already attached. Good service from P.A. too!

@tonyrox and @connollymj beat me to it -- take a look at WBC (World’s Best Cables) on Amazon. I bought a few of their low-capacitance phono interconnects as a reasonably price stop-gap and now months later they are still in the system with no desire to pay multiples of their price for something "better". WBC have an attractive line of speaker cables with your choice of terminations in a variety of lengths and effective gauges.

For years I bought into the idea that expensive cables, including speaker cables performed better than cheaper alternatives.

My experience with a vintage McIntosh MC225 amplifier has made me completely rethink this mindset. The almost 60 year old amp has old-school terminal or barrier strip screw speaker connections. In my excitement to hear the amp when I first received it I didn’t want to wait for adapters of some kind so I could use my expensive speaker cables. So I used some decent but hardly expensive OFC #10 gauge speaker wire from Parts-Express left over from an AV system project. Guess what? The amp and the #10 gauge sound lovely and just like the WBC interconnect, are still in place. The expensive speaker cables? Up for sale.

Save your money and buy some sturdy lampcord from a hardware store, double it up to ensure good current flow, and then take yourself out for a steak dinner to congratulate yourself for not believing all of the hype of the cable industrial complex!

SilverSmith Fidelium foil cables. Better than the Siltech, Nordost and Skogrand I had used. A steal at about $1,200 for an 8-foot length. Read the Supercables Cookbook to see the case for electromagnetic waves moving along the surface of a foil cable. There's a great YouTube video evaluating these cables, beating cables that cost 5-figures.

Duelund DCA12GA won the shoot-out for me years ago.. So affordable, I'd say give it a try on the monos / short run. This cable is so good, super musical, flat yet nostalgic in the mids. I got tired of the giant garden hose $5k variant - hyped presentation.. Best of luck!

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

Sorry I just find it funny how people always suggest DIY cable builds when someone asks for recommendations. I would think if the OP was interested in that option, they would have mentioned it. 

If someone asked for speaker or preamp suggestions, should we suggest they build their own as well? 

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 would definitely look at Silversmith Fidelium.  Had a major impact on my system of Rogue RP-7 preamp, Odyssey mono bloc amps, and Fyne F-702 speakers.  I was astounded by the improvement, previously thinking cables could make a “modest” difference but finding out they could make a major difference.

Goertz alpha-core (w/ RC networks (zobels))

Straightwire

OCOS (w/ zobels)

or…

wait for Tom Thiel’s upcoming cables.

some good reports with Iconoclast

+3 for Silversmith. Although I have also been pleased with Snake River Audio Signature power cords. I have no experience with their speaker cables. 

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;
"The magnetic rejection is achieved through the geometric symmetry of the conductor pairs. It should also be noted that the pairs do not need to be twisted. 4-conductor telephone quad cable is not twisted, yet it is a form of star-quad cable."

Take a look at Snake River cables at snakeriveraudio.com. 

still another rec for Aaudio Sensibility.    Mine took "forever:" to become its  best  but be patient

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. 

Oops. In my post above.

Meant to say Auditorium A23 has a similar sound signature to Audience AU24SX

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.

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.

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.  

Take a look at the Kirmuss Adrenaline cables and reviews

https://kirmussaudio.com/the-adrenaline-speaker-cable/

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

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.

I would check out the reconditioned Cerious Tech Matrix line.

+1 Silversmith Audio's FIDELIUM speaker cable - many reported as sonic bargain 

Triode Wire Labs.  Under budget if you need 6 feet or less, $49 over budget if you need between 6 and 9 feet.  

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thiel-owners-2

It would be helpful if you define the improvements you are looking for.  However, my recommendation at your price point is WyWires Silver (WyWires.com).  Well balanced, solid bass, extended highs, good dynamics, and excellent image density and staging.   
 

Given your system, I would think you would want cables that are on the natural musical side, if so then the best Cardas (used). If your want more detailed the DHLabs. Anti cables have a nice balance. 

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.

Forgot to mention Silversmith Fedelium cables. A bit over your budget but outstanding cables worth paying up for IMHO.  Read the reviews. 

https://silversmithaudio.com/fidelium-speaker-cable/

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.  

I've been a big fan of Audiomica cables. I've heard them against some Cardas and thought them the equivalent but at significantly less $$. Lots of reviews from around the world do a search. 

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. 
 

Audience AU24 SX

@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

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.

The Acoustic Zen Satori is an excellent all around cable.  Very good tonality, great upper octave detail/air, and an open 3D soundstage. I’ve used these for years as my reference cable and nothing has been able to unseat them.  You can often find them used for $500 or less.  Best of luck.

https://www.thecableco.com/satori-ii-speaker-cable-pair.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq4LhMt4K6zyyZ59C30AhyZQL9FCjZ2GYMSq0e0J4BXZU67lhe1

I really like the Analysis Plus Oval 8. Got mine on US Audio Mart. They come up used sometimes for less than $1000.