Speaker Cable Recommendation

Try a pair of these and run them in for 100+ hours.

Not kidding.

https://www.amazon.com/Micca-Copper-Speaker-Plated-Banana/dp/B078SBL7JM/ref=sr_1_3?crid=29843KF3YJ2LX&keywords=micca%2Bspeaker%2Bcables&qid=1698085278&sprefix=micca%2Bspeaker%2Bcablee%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-3&th=1

DeKay

I am quite surprised that no one has suggested, to me, the slam dunk answer-Silversmith Fideliums ($1295 for an 8’ pair).

They replaced a $6K set I had. Those are now, relatively, junk.

After the introduction of Fideliums I was sure there would be an avalanche of pricey cables for sale.

@ghdprentice

+1 ( emphasis added ) It is my direct experience too. Upper range NORDOST cables starting with the NORSE 2 range ( HEIMDALL, FREY, TYR models) are very fine performers, I had an all-FREY array in a prior system before I upgraded to CARDAS CLEAR.

The NORDOST entry level LEIF range are an easy pass for me …comparatively to their top ranges … they suck to be blunt.IMO. I had the PURPLE FLAIR in a prior “B” system. As you highlighted , they are “thin” at a minimum , and IMO lousy investment at their pricepoint. I agree that the entry level range may be beaten in certain systems with other OEM options,

@magnuman

You dislike NORDOST in YOUR system (emphases added again ). Fine , no worries …. carry on …. But to patently profess that NORDOST can be “generally” beaten by the cheap options you list in your post, casually ignores my NORDOST cables range bifurcation immediately above .

There is a BIG and graphic performance superiority reason why NORDOST VALHALLA , and NORDOST ODIN , and equally, CARDAS CLEAR and CARDAS CLEAR BEYOND together comprise the big lion’s share of best of breed performance cables selected by OEM audio companies for their products at the audio expos.

TAKEAWAY

They choose the best audio performance choices from a buzzilion option choices to showcase their products lines …Sure …there are other very fine performer OEM cable companies with their high-end range options for certain bespoke system synergies including inter alia, TRANSPARENT, AUDIENCE 24, VAN DEN HUL et al …. BUT you won’t see any budget options there …, full stop.

akg_ca,

obviously you don't know the price of the neotech the Sahara and the Amazon and obviously you know nothing about wire either The Amazon starts at $8,000 US for 2 m nothing cheap about that and obviously you've never heard it either, and just because Nordost charges ridiculous amounts for their speaker cable doesn't mean it can't be beat in fact the Amazon which is the rectangular OCC single crystal wire beat an $18,000 speaker wire and it was probably Nordost but I didn't ask the retailer if it was, wire companies like nordost, transparent audio, MIT and all those other rip-off companies charging an arm and a leg for cheap OFC wire like transparent and MIT uses is a joke and it's time for people to start waking up and seeing them for the ripoff artistd that they are, it has now been proven for over 50 years that OCC single crystal is far superior for audio than anything at any price OFC and if you don't know that by now maybe you should start doing your research a little bit better, and regular silver that Nordost uses is nowhere near as good as OCC signal crystal and the rectangular OCC single crystal is even better than the round OCC, Nordost does not use OCC single crystal so they're already starting with an inferior conductor material. and obviously you should read my post a little bit more carefully never did I say that I didn't like Nordost in my system, so please don't put words in my mouth thank you very much.

Nordost is bright.....Cardas is dull.... always buy with return privileges...even if it a bit more.  Find the cable YOU like

Jacobsdad2000,

I'm not a homer at all I'm just stating a fact, most of these companies use silver plated OFC which is the cheapest junk wire you can get out there, just because it's silver plated so what, just for your information OFC wire has 1500 crystal barriers per foot, that's little fractures in the wire that the signal has to jump across that shears off minute harmonics which screws up the sound, OCC single crystal has zero crystal barriers per foot, maybe you should do some research and find out about all this stuff, I'm not saying anything that's not true, OCC single crystal both silver and copper were shown to be far superior to anything at any price  OFC cheap wire 50 years ago,companies that charge 18-28,000 or more for wire are just total ripoff artists, think about it for a second what can you do to a piece of wire to make it worth that much, absolutely nothing, so if you want to get ripped off that's totally up to you, I choose not to, and and for your information the rectangular OCC single crystal wire is even better than the round OCC single crystal wire, you can't change physics.

ghdprentice,

have to correct one mistake I made Nordost does not use silver wire they use silver plated copper OFC junk so they're really ripping people off, they don't even use pure silver in their wire lol

@magnuman Well I am no longer reading your crap. Nor amI buying your crap.Very happy with my cables. Enjoy your rants Homer. 

Jacobsdad2000,

I really don't care whether you read my posts or not and obviously you're very ill informed and stupid if you think that OCC single crystal silver and copper is crop you obviously don't know very much about cables and your system is probably crop as well lol, and I don't care whether you buy neotech or not I could care less but you are very misinformed about cables like I said maybe you should start doing some research and reading or can you even read? and just so you know my system is worth $72,000 and if you would like me to list what it is I'd be happy to and I can even show you a picture if you like, I've been an audiophile for over 40 years so I know what I'm talking about, whether you choose to listen or not I could care so keep buying your silver plated OFC junk wire and paying a lot for it lol, makes no difference to me, unfortunately uninformed people like you make stupid decisions.

Not what I said. Quite content with my cables I said. Guess reading, comprehension and critical thinking are an issue for you. So go peddle your cables and leave me out of it. Homer and a shill. Your system is worth nothing to me. Is your system compensation for your lack of class and dignity. Or better yet lack of manhood. So tired of your Yaddah, yaddah, yadda So $78 K Canadian so it’s $32k US and depreciation it’s work $14k now. Feel stupid, you should. Oh have another scotch reading your post I think you’re drunk eh.

Zavfino Nova $400, Prima for $700 but minimal gain over the Nova's.

All my interconnects are Zavfino as well, details in my profile.

Cost/performance ratio tough to beat IMHO. 

Clarity Cables Organic are very full sounding with fine detail.  All other cables will sound thin in comparison.  They could be bought new for close to the $1000.  I tried Silversmith Fideliums among about 10 other speaker cables in my system.  I have a very nice pair of VMPS RM40 BCSE speakers.  This pair are great speakers and very detailed with excellent bass and dynamics.

Bob

u/jacobsdad2000 … I think you would be surprised how good the older (10+ years old) Focal Chorus 836 sound.  I do have better speakers 🤣 and clearly the next purchase when the dedicated room is completed will be the MX180. All running on 12 or 10 gauge OFC wire … most of the wire will be in walls.

@n0m1n4l Yes I would be as I have never cared for Focals, only their HP's. If old is your thing then be happy. 

The problem with blind cable tests is the subjects know it is a cable test and by definition will believe they should or should not hear a difference.   This means very large sample size and very high stats to be conclusive. With a very subtle difference and average population, that is a very high bar to pass.  100 listeners and 60%?  Logic says yes, but accepted scientific levels of proof says not even close.   Bummer. 

I spent the last year auditioning a number of speaker cables, but still had not found a set to my liking. Mogami and Kimber 8TC have been mentioned and were in the mix, and both had their merits, but some drawbacks as well. Unsure of next steps, and whether going up the price ladder would yield better results, I recently made an offhand comment in a general cable discussion describing my quandary. In jumps soix suggesting something similar to the post below. 

@soix I’d highly recommend looking at these 12’ Acoustic Zen Satori cables that are well within your budget if they’re still available. They have plenty of tonal weight but are also well balanced with excellent and natural upper-octave detail and throw off an excellent 3D soundstage. 

I took the bait and picked up a used pair of the Satori's and was very glad I did. I put them in my system and they sounded pretty average at first, but this was not unexpected. I gave them a couple days to settle in and was really wowed once I started listening. They were not only technically good, they were musically great, bringing a very liquid sound. I second his recommendation.

For me the job of the speaker cable is to be transparent, neutral, adds no coloration, simply adds nothing to the performance nor takes from it. Over time I have had lots of cables in my system.

Canare 411

Belden,

Signal Cable Silver Resolution 4 strand pure silver with 4 strand OFC (excellent and not stupid expensive)

Raven Audio

DH Labs Silver

Zavfino OCC

All have the qualities sited above.

The best cables to use is any company that is using OCC single crystal silver or copper far superior to anything OFC at any price, any company that is still using OFC and charging exorbitant amounts for it is totally ripping people off, it has been proven now for over 50 years that OCC single crystal is far superior to anything OFC on the market so if you're going to buy cables at least use cables that have the best conductor material regardless of which company it is, if they're using OCC single crystal you know you're going to get a product that's better than anything OFC.

here's a PS, I forgot to mention that rectangular OCC single crystal wire is even better than the round OCC single crystal wire and the only company that makes it is Neotech.

Onother recommendation Tellurium Black Cables. Price reasonable but good cables.

Wonderful. 

magnuman,

IF you have speakers that are a little bass heavy or just average in detail retrieval, there is no question the Fideliums would be a big step up in SQ.  I currently have a pair of SP Technology Revelation Mk-V speakers that would just love them.  I will be selling the SP's soon however and never tried them with the Fideliums.  The Clarity Organics just sang with my VMPS RM40's.  The Fideliums were too detailed with a somewhat thin sound on the 40's.  The builder of those cables is s super nice guy to work with.  I really wanted to like those cables.  Hope that helps.

Bob

magnuman,

Also had Green Mountain Audio Continuum 3/HX speakers that slightly lacked the somewhat live quality with less detail than my RM40's that would have sounded considerably better with the Fideliums.  Magnepans would not like them much.  That thin character would come back to often.  I'm betting Spatials would also love the F's.

Bob

BTW, the Satori’s are OCC copper, which will make some people happy, me included. Not sure of their geometric cross-sectional shape, but I am assuming they are circular, and not polygonal. 
 

Tekton's would also love Fideliums for speaker cables.

I will second @dekay's recommendation for the Micca cables.  They're cheap enough to just try and see how they compare to your old cables.  Or they can serve as a placeholder if you want to try other cables.

There are a couple of threads here about these cables.  I bought them just for yuks after reading Steve Huff's review.  I still prefer my Transparent cables on my main system, and my Anti-cables on my second system, but I could live with the Miccas.  I listen to a lot of acoustic and folk music, and the Miccas do something special with midrange and vocals. 

Not true, OCC Single Crystal Rectangular cable can be found here from Harmonic Technologies. http://www.osageaudio.com/Harmonic.html#Rec

OP,

Hard to beat AntiCables 3.1 ($250 6 foot pair) or 4.2 Flex ($460 6 foot pair) speaker cables for the money. Just remember that the 3.1s take at least 150 hours to settle in, and the 4.2s at least 100 hours. I haven't completed testing, but the Zavfino Nova OCC cables ($390 2.5 meter pair) and Morrow Audio SP6 ($550 2 meter pair on sale) are very promising.....will complete a shootout next year when my listening room is completed. Also I would have NO problem using the Micca speaker cables in a second system.....silly good for $40 per pair.

The OP asked for a cable for high efficiency, low current cables. There is really no point in proposing arm thick, high capacitance cables with lots of skin effect. My two bits worth…

Like you I have a low power, high efficiency system, with fully horn loaded speakers. After playing with various cables including Duelund, which I found charming but ultimately too colored for my taste, I’ve now found audio nirvana with some "Chinese Valhalla" (in truth a chinese copy of Nordost heimdall). There are no logos or fake branding but the cable seems identical.

They are the best cables I’ve owned: not thin at all, nor bright (and my system is on the bright / upfront side so I should know!) but very dynamic, transparent, and wide open (imaging is fabulous)

It’s been compared by others to entry level Nordost stuff and is better, doesn’t have the "thin and bright" character at all. In fact I find it buttery smooth!

Iconoclast are the best bargain for the price and get completely out of the way. And they have a 30 day money back if you dont like them.

I have been through a fair number of speaker cables - many were upper end Audioquest - and then one day bought and connectored some "Western Electric" cloth covered tinned copper 36 strand 10 gauge wire on Ebay and was astonished by how good it sounded on my tube amp system running Klipsch Cornwall 4's. Some in the Japanese audiophile community swear by this kind of wire for tube amps and horn speakers.

This wire had been "burned in" for about 40 years at a telephone central office, and I seriously doubt it was "OCC" copper. It had been subjected to 40-50 years of 48-175 d/c volts daily. Perhaps a case could be made for such wire having been somehow annealed to having fewer grain boundaries during this journey, but I doubt anyone would give this credence without analysis at the atomic level.

To further incite the wrath of the cranky audiophile community I also recently did some bi-wiring on this same system with some 16ga wire of the same  "Western Electric" pedigree by making some spaded jumper cables with the stuff and running them  from the bass speaker terminals to the treble connections. According to some internet experts this should make absolutely no difference. This was done to, theoretically, reduce some of the energy going into the tweeter relative to what was going into the woofer. I waited until after component burn-in to do this because I had learned that fiddling with the system before components had revealed their true selves could become quite confusing. Lo and behold the at times faint jangle in certain treble expression - especially with regard to piano and flute - had been tamed with no loss of resolution.

I second the Morrow cables as a good buy,and there is usually a 50% off sale or something.  I had the SP7’s in my system and they were really nice, especially for the price.  They replaced MIT 3.3 Shotguns and Cardas Golden Cross.  I replaced them with Shunyata Alpha v1, which used is a little out of your price range but was, IMHO, a definite audible leap forward.  Cables dont make a system sound like a brand new system, of course, but an audible improvement is an audible improvement. 5% or 10% here and there adds up.  I will make a radical suggestion here.  Many people rave about the knockoff Nordost Odins that you can get on Alibaba.  Although obviously not as good as the real thing, many people think that they are the equal of cables costing thousands.  If you are not morally opposed to buying knockoffs, check out some of the threads on them here.

@bolong I really enjoy my cloth insulated WE’s. . The seller here on AG has made me a couple pair of speaker cables, one bi-wire. He’s also made me a couple pair of IC’s. He can be found periodically here on AG selling speaker and IC’s from his stock.

I think they are a steal at the price he charges, excellent workmanship too! I feel anyone looking could purchase some and try them out. If they don’t float your boat, re-sell them. It’s not like one had to get a second mortgage to buy them in the first place.

OP, I am using mine from a Cary SLI80HS to my Volti Razz’s. I feel it’s an excellent match. Thought I’d add this due to your amp and speaker pairing being very similar to mine.

Seconds to Morrow Audio [SP7] and Cardas [Clear, Clear Cygnus]. I agree that no entry level cables sound good, something I really hoped was NOT true...but every time i have upgraded, I gained more detail, or bass "oomph", or something SIGNIFICANT [there's that word again]. I do NOT agree that that means you must spend $10,000, as someone chimed in above...

I also use Anticables in my 3rd setup, their current top of the line, which is well under your price guideline.

Unfortunately for my [our] wallets, cables do matter.

What most surprised me about the Western Electric cloth covered cables is that they apparently have very wanting insulation - at least relative to a more modern understanding of what is required to to keep ambient EMF from using the cable as an antenna. The WE's have a probably waxed cloth outer covering and a single inner tube which certainly does not appear to be teflon. It looks more like pvc.

For a low powered amp you need cables low inductance and low capacitance cables. The inductance will ruin you base and capacitance will reduce your high frequencies. There are a lot of low resistance cables and silver plated cable is very good option. Also look for short cables. Good luck

@ghdprentice  👍 right again

OP, have you considered that may not have enough power (8 watts)?

@eastendhifi 

Thank you.

I've been using expensive JPS Labs speaker cables for a least 15 years now with no plans of switching to another brand.  Their less expensive speaker cables are superb as well.  Also, I really love Audioquest cables.  You can't go wrong with Audioquest.      

Cardas or Mogami. I find Mogami makes very humbly priced but superlative gear. 

I moved to Delund 12Ga tin over copper with oiled cotton insulator. I really like this for speaker cables and I hear users dyi the 16ga into single ended RCA. It is not pricey I for one glad I tried this. -

enjoy the ride -