Short speaker cable recommendation

Welcome Phil. This combo is simply as good as it gets. Astounding value.

Just wanted to thank Grannyring for the recommendation on the WE 16 guage wire. I had purchased enough to make 8 ft quad star biwire pair. I only have around 30 hrs on them and I am flat out amazed of the improvements in all area's . I had to juggle some interconnects and tubes to get the proper balance which was easy to do. The sound my system is now producing is absolutely terrific it mirrors all the praise of everyone on this thread. I have not ordered the belden I/C yet because I have a hard time believing it can improve on what I am hearing now . Maybe with 100 or so hrs I might try the belden to experiment, I just wanted to give you props for the information you put out.

Phil,
I am so glad that you find these cables as engaging as I do. As Grannyring stated, "this combo is simply as good as it gets," is true to my ears. I had a good hearty laugh when I received an email from the Cable Company informing me that Shun Mook was selling Western Electric speaker cables for over $3,000. I'm giddy thinking about that one.

The real hero here to thank is Shirokazu Yazaki-san who brought this wire to the attention of Jeff Day (reviewer extraordinaire for Positive Feedback and 6 Moons) and Jeff Day brought this WE wire to our attention via his Wordpress Blog: Jeffsplace@me.com that Grannyring kindly linked. You should read Day's blog, most people could learn quite a lot. Best, Rob

Oldcar63 I have been around the block a few times and the Belden is blowing me away like nothing else

Oldcar, get the Belden and it well get better......so much so you may cry!

Mikirob, thanks for turning us all onto this based on your comments in another thread. You were spot on! Some will not be opened minded enough to believe this and others may think it is just another flavor of the day. Oh my I sure wish every Aphile would try some and learn first hand.

I suppose it is possible some systems and ears would prefer another set of wires. I feel very strongly that the WE16 wire should be doubled up and run with the Belden ICs for the full effect. Others have tried this and feel the same way. I just finished putting the WE wire in my speakers.

Where did the original go? Please tell us what you did as we are interested
in your final choice.

Grannyring,
Thank you. I'm going to attempt your suggestion of doubling up the WE 16ga at some point today, plan on a weekend of listening. A side benefit to to me with this WE 16ga and Belden combo is that my wife also think it's the best combo we've ever had, she is really digging the sound now, and very enthused about listening. Like you said above I wish some of our Agon friends would give this combo a go.

Soon I will begin wiring up my speakers! change crossover and capacitor. Then it's Little Mo (Coincident Dynamo 34SE) turn. I'll make the the
capacitor, resistor, and wiring change there as well according to Yazaki-san sage advice. I'll keep you posted. Best, Rob

I finished putting the WE wire inside my speakers, my outboard crossover
and even inside both my amps! Sublime for sure.

Have fun with your projects!

May try the Arizona caps at $25 per cap. The Jupiter caps are so special I
am dragging my feet on this one. Not sure if I should get the blue or green
Catus. Called Arizona Cap and they were absolutely no help at all. They
have no idea what their caps sound like!

The Jeff Day article is vague at best on how to use both caps in general. It
seems like trial and error for each piece of gear by mixing the two. Not sure
I want to go there.....

Grannyring,
Thanks for the info. I'm going to trust that all will work out and I am going to have fun. As I said, I am a novice, will sweat bullets with knees knocking, but it will get done. Thank G-d my brother will be there to hold my hand and rescue me if I make a mistake...he has been doing stereo DIY for 40 years. Best, Rob

Hey all,
Just returned from riding my bike across Iowa and am now thinking about putting together some new cables with the WE 16 and 14 awg and Belden 8402 I received just before I left.
My question is whether to solder or crimp - crimping could include either tightening the bare wire in the binding posts or attaching the wire to spades using my hydraulic crimping tool.
The ICs will be soldered to my Furutech FP-601/602 balanced connectors, since there is no crimp option with those connectors but, with the speaker cables, I could either crimp or solder.
Although I like crimped connections for speaker cable I make from bare copper wire, I suspect soldrering is the superior connection for tinned wire, since it should provide a more direct connection between the copper base materials of the wire and the spade. A hand tight crimp through tinned wire is not typically thought to be an optimal connection.
OTOH, tinned wire is typically thought to be inferior to bare copper for audio purposes in every respect, except for resistance to corrosion, so it is interesting how good everyone thinks this wire sounds, particularly since I suspect the "tinning" material of wire this old may have lead in it, and lead has been taboo in the "audiophile" community for several years now (although I have stubbornly continued to use my roll of Cardas Quad Eutechtic solder for all my soldering jobs).
As it stands, I plan to solder all the connections, but I would be interested in hearing from any of you who have tried it both ways.

Ok, forget everything you think about tinned and stranded etc.....this wire will destroy past understandings. Really. No connectors is by far the best! Please just use bare wire if possible. Give it all 30 hours before comment!

Second Grannyring on his suggestion; don't over complicate this simple task. Just go naked!

Mikirob and Grannyring I put a order for the belden. I was told it could take 7 to 10 days to receive them . I am looking forward to trying them. I will post my thoughts when they are run in . Also I laughed when you informed about the Cable company prices on the WE-16 guage wire. Thanks again

Good for you Oldcar63. You are open minded and that will work to your great benefit. Please let them run for at least 30-50 hours as they will sound closed in and bright at first. They will end up open and so wonderfully natural sounding!

Ok, so I couldn't resist overcomplicating it. Since the wire is tinned anyway, I do not see how soldering a set of pure copper spades to the wire would negatively affect the sound. If anything, soldering the tinned wire may provide a better connection to the underlying copper. I convinced myself it will be much easier dealing with spades than trying to twist all those connected double run wires together...and four wires to each amp binding post.

I am going to let them cook for a day and then hear what results. These will be replacing a double run of HT Pro 11+ with hydraulically crimped on Furutech pure copper spades that actually sound great. With the recent changes to my system, I will be (very pleasantly) surprised if the WE wire can make it sound better than it does now. I will let you all know.

WE Star Quad Bi-Wire Speaker Cables

Cardas makes junpers to any length.  standard is 6" I think.  I use doiuble runs of 10" to my coicident speakers.  two sets of terminals on the back of my pass amps and two sets on the speakers.