Zu Audio Mission cables, should be close to $300 depending on length.
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Thanks very much everyone for the suggestions. I wasn't aware of some of the brands mentioned. But I did find out through some research that some some cable manufacturers actually buy the wire abroad from Taiwan or China and then cut and terminate them in the U.S.. I'm looking for cable made entirely in the U.S.. (Sorry, I forgot to mention I'm looking for 10ft length.) |
Few cable brands make their own product - Kimber, Transparent and Cardas do, but they are the exception. Most cable companies are a guy at his computer when he gets home from his day job who contracts out production to Belden, which would be U.S. made (some designs really are very advanced and there are but a small handful of manufacturers who have the requisite manufacturing expertise). Others have their designs made overseas, while some have it done in the U.S. and overseas. |
I would say contact Steve over at My Audio Cables. He's got nice speaker cables at or about your $300 threshold. I know they are made over here in NY but as for how many of the parts are US made you would have to ask him. Why such an interest in making sure all the speaker wire parts are from the US in addition to be made in the US? For me I don't mind if the speaker wire I'm buying is made in the USA with foreign parts. To each is their own I guess. |
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Okay, so after researching and contacting the many brands mentioned here, I've narrowed it down to four choices. Anti-cables, JPS Labs Ultraconductor 2, Analysis Plus Black oval 12, and Clearview Double Helix Speaker Cables. I'm leaning towards the JPS Labs Ultraconductor 2 due to the fact that there are many favorable reviews. Any thoughts? I'll be purchasing one of these by the end of the day. I really appreciate everyone's help. Thanks! |
Raquel: The manufacture told you this..in reality this is a very low tech industry. Most of the cable maybe unknown to you comes off of very giant spools. At least one honest speaker cable company admits that they determine cable direction depending which way the cable is cut off the spool. I gather that many believe that these companies hire techs the way Intel does and they walk around all day with lab coats on. Lets look at it this way. If you in your basement can make em just as good or better for very much less with very little in tooling and knowledge does that not tell you something???? |
DH Labs T-14 wire is very good, for a modest price. http://www.silversonic.com/docs/products/T14.html Silver Sonic T-14 High Resolution speaker cable was designed by D.H. LABS to provide the highest quality sound at a much lower price than competing cables. It uses the finest materials available, including silver, oxygen-free copper and a pure Teflon dielectric. The cable is completely manufactured in the U.S.A. The process begins with strands of high purity OFC copper, which are individually coated with a thick layer of silver. The strands are then tightly wound and extruded with our Teflon insulation. Silver Sonic T-14 uses DuPont PTFE, which is the highest grade of Teflon (and the most expensive). The cable has a very low capacitance of 21.5 pico-farads per foot. The inductance is also very low, which allows consistent performance with a wide variety of speakers. In fact, a ten foot length of T-14 cable has less inductance than the output stages of many amplifiers! Vibration damping spacers and a tensioned wrap under the jacket hold the conductors tightly in place, and the cable is completely free from resonances and microphonic effects that cause a loss of resolution. From the deepest bass to the highest treble, T-14 provides the most transparent sound possible, with precise imaging and a large, deep sound stage. Our quality is second to none. We test every spool of Silver Sonic cable , and our Teflon insulators exceed mil-spec. T-14 is available in bulk lengths, or factory terminated with your choice of connectors. For more information, please contact D.H. Labs. |
highly complex designs with a lot of science behind them...tell me the name of the scientist that are designing audiophile cables Raquel...if any cable manufacturer, writer, technician, etc. can identify such an audible design parameter that cannot be measured using available lab equipment or be described by known theory, I can guarantee a nomination for a Nobel Prize. You have been hood winked into thinking this and so continue to spend hard earned cash on special configuration wire that sounds no better then the anti cables that are nothing more then solid core wire,,certainly nothing high tech about that. |
There are other reasons people might think they hear the sound change even when no change is likely. One is the limit of auditory memory - if it takes 15 minutes to swap a set of speaker cables, it will be more difficult to recall the original sound when compared to switching quickly between two different sources. Crawling around on the floor will also likely raise your blood pressure, which can affect perception. We also hear differently early in the day versus later when we're tired, and just listening for a while can change our perception. Does that solid state amp really sound different after warming up for half an hour, or is it just our perception that changed? Add a couple of cocktails to the mix and then you really can't tell for sure what you're hearing! This was written by Ethan Winer and it makes allot more sense to me then spending hard earned cash on something that just might not be there. |
Schipo: With all due respect, you are misinformed. The better cable brands are proprietary designs - again, some are enormously complex and very difficult to manufacture. I'm not here to defend the audio cable industry - there are indeed cable brands that are nothing more than what you describe and the bullshit factor with cables can be very high - but there a lot of cable companies, Cardas, Jena, Synergistic, Audio Quest, PAD, to name just a few, that produce highly complex designs with a lot of science behind them. As explained above, most cable brands are guys that design from their computers and who outsource production to large manufacturers like Belden. Kimber, Transparent and Cardas have their own production facilities, but they are the exception. Regarding "lab coats", your basic message is correct inasmuch as most high-end two-channel manufacturers (of cables, speakers, preamps, amps, CD players, etc.) are one to four-person outfits, often times operated on a part-time basis as a side business, that are not what people typically think of as a "company". Much of the time, they hire industry veterans as consultants on a per-project basis to design their gear. Taking Kevin Carter, for example, he was employed by VAC and designed its Renaissance amplifiers, and thereafter has done projects for other hi-end companies, most recently, for Art Audio (he also has a product line and does business as K&K Audio). PS - I've been associated with the industry for thirty-five years and my knowledge of the audio cable business is not based upon something that some manufacturer told me (or that some no-nothing wrote on an audio forum). |
Raquel...your a new kid on the block I can tell extra cash in the pocket and susceptible to the Madison ave commercial industry..so cables are your thing and no matter what is said at the end of the day. This low tech industry that has made millions off of no peer reviewed papers. Continues to use the same argument every issue from some high end advertisement Mag by saying. We have broken new ground in sound reproduction...complete nonsense. And at the end of the day when all go home after the fleecing.They can say without hesitation not a bad days pay for just selling wire. |
PS - I've been associated with the industry for thirty-five years and my knowledge of the audio cable business is not based upon something that some manufacturer told me (or that some no-nothing wrote on an audio forum). That's the clincher what you just wrote..your associated with the industry so of course there has to be a higher science to all this..so tell me how many scientist do you employ ...I'm just asking remember me I am the no-nothing.Thirty five years in the cable business and you never strayed from it ..wow allot of suckers took the bait.I am guessing there more to make markup wise in selling fantasy cable then designing a reliable tube amp? |
Humm I've got a BS from Penn State and have worked in both the environmental and chemical manufacturing industry. So I have a 'little' exposure to scientific process. I also believe Caelin Gabriel's (Shunyata) background would qualify him as would Bill Dudleston(Legacy)although not a cable mfg., does loudspeakers, he was in the chemical field prior to moving to audio. I am sure there are others too but these are ones that I know were scientistÂ’s in previous lives. Chris Kline Tel Wire |