Speaker Cable Suggestions

Why not contact Used Cable:
http://www.usedcable.com//default.aspx
They even have a consultation service, as well as a 30 return policy.
Bob

Before spending more, demo Audioquest Type 4.  (It even rhymes!)

Something to consider is due to the B&W’s tweeter which is very detailed and some say unforgiving, it may be best to use a stranded conductor rather than the AQ solid copper wire. Cardas, Kimber, and a used pair of Audience (my recommendation) may present smoother, more organic mids and highs.

You might want to try making your own using silver wire.

Sabai, can you develop on the silver wire?  Source and configuration? Thx

When I tried ClearDay cables I couldn't believe how much better they were in my system after auditioning all top price cables from top manufacturers.   Try them with a money back guarantee......I'm not affiliated with ClearDay, just a satisfied user.

Try Signal Cable 'Silver Resolution'.  I am currently using this cable. Fabulous sounding cable and incredible value.  

http://signalcable.com/silverresolutionspeaker.html

chrisr,

I bought 9999 pure silver wire on Ebay. I use no connectors. This sounds far better than any high end speaker wires I have ever used,

You will need to experiment.  Even with a LOT of test equipment (and the engineering experience to go with it you can't predict the sound ahead of time).

That is why places that allow use & return exist.

You CAN narrow the field a bit by finding cable with low vs. high inductance - e.g look at Kimber's uH per m specs. and compare to others.

Buy some cheap cable and use against the others to test against it.  Be sure to do the testing blind and see what you find out.

Silver won't change anything except your wallet size, and there is no reason at all to spend a lot of $$ on cable, tho various configurations can change the sound (tho they may not universally improve it).

randy-11,

You stated "Buy some cheap cable and use against the others to test against it. Be sure to do the testing blind and see what you find out.
Silver won’t change anything except your wallet size, and there is no reason at all to spend a lot of $$ on cable, tho various configurations can change the sound (tho they may not universally improve it)."

With regards to price, pure 9999 silver is cheaper than even most cheap speaker wires you will buy from a cable/wire company. With regards to blind testing, I agree. And silver is a great way to start testing. IMO.

I love silver when done right.

@ - walnut - KLE Innovations gZero6 - best bang for the buck - even in their stable

I have not found anything better to date

See http://image99.net/blog/files/category-klei-gzero6-sc.html

Regards - Steve

joey_v,

I agree. When done right silver can be like magic for a system.

Lots of suggestions but none claim to own 802's.  I currently have my N802's set up.  I use DH Labs Silversonic Q10 biwire cables.  They are excellent with both of my systems and multiple different amp configurations.  Highly recommended and priced within reason.    

silver is fine as long as you are not overcharged for it

Yes on used cables and change until your complex load (speakers) give you the sound you want

Kimber tells you the inductance of their cables...

for the record I have some free kimber I used on Vandies; when I switched to maggies inductance is not an issue as the Maggies don't care" about the inductance of the cables (nearly pure 4 ohm load at all freqs.)

Another vote for Clear Day cables. You can try that in your system and return them. Paul will send them to you without asking you for your credit card info :-)

+1 for stringreen and milpai!  You can get two 8 foot pairs of Double Shotguns from Clear Day for $900.  You can audition them for a month and if not satisfied back they go for a full refund.

It can't hurt to call Paul Laudati, the proprietor and tell him about your system and the prospects that his cables might be a good match.  The Clear Days are detailed across the frequency spectrum.  There is an organic sense of realistic dynamics.  Very revealing in the treble but SMOOTH.  I am very sensitive to tipped up treble with any edge whatsoever and it just come through with my set-up. YMMV of course.

http://www.cleardaycables.com

@hifiman5,
Paul does not even charge you for the audition. He simply sends the cables to you. If you do not like, all you need to do is pack them up and send back through USPS which might cost you a MAX of $15.

randy-11,

It is hard to get overcharged for silver if you do a comparison of the sellers on Ebay. Compared to the prices charged by the manufacturers of most silver cables, the cost of making your own silver speaker wires is very reasonable.

I tried Clear Day Double shotguns.  Tried to make them work in my system, but they were a little dry and did not have a very expansive stage.  At the time it was with. Elac FS 409s.  I gave them to an office mate who is getting into to audio, and they sound better in his system on his Mark and Daniel speakers.   I now have Proac D48Rs, I should borrow them back and try them again since I am curious about how they would work with those. 

Buy used.  That way you can try them and if they don't work you can turn around and sell them at little or no loss, assuming you stick with brands that have a good following.  It would be helpful to know what you're using now and what areas youre looking to improve upon. 

All that said, a pretty safe bet is a pair of Acoustic Zen Satori or Hologram cables.  Well within your budget used and just great all-around cables that do a whole lot right.  To my ears they walk that line of sounding very musical yet are still very detailed so you don't feel your missing anything, and soundstaging and imaging are very good.  The result is a very organic and natural sounding cable.  Hope this helps and best of luck. 

<<dealer disclaimer>>
Purist Audio Design goes SO well with Krell and B&W.  I also carry Krell, and used to carry B&W for a long, long time.  Purist makes AWESOME sounding cables.  At $1.5k you can jump into some nice stuff...  :-)

Walnut,

I can't stress enough to build your own!  http://www.laventure.net/tourist/cables.htm
Or: 
http://www.tempoelectric.com/cables.htm#intro

This is a great read and all I can say is you can build them and you won't be dissatisfied!!! As far as how they stack up to the before mentioned, they beat them hands down!  If you need any help or direction I will gladly help.  Others good luck! 

Buying used is great but there’s no return policy. I agree with the posters who suggest Clear Day, for all of the above reasons...biggest reason , you can demo for free and return them at a nominal cost. There are other cables you can buy and try them out for 30 days, sometimes more. An inexpensive way to sample different cables. Btw, Paul @ clear day is a first class guy. Very honest. Goodluck.

Skip the hype, skip the snake oil, skip the sparkly shiney covering and pick basic wire of the correct impedence/guage from Monoprice or other scam-free manufacturer/distributer.  Then take the money you save and buy some serious music media...or a great set of headphones.  Do your research and don't fall for all the BS out there.

Lamp cord: about as good as Monoprice, which is as good as Blue Jeans, which is as good as Audioquest, which is as good as Kimber, which is as good as Nordost. 

I just recently bought Transparent Audio speakers cables, "The Wave"  I got four 8 foot pairs here on audiogon brand new and on sale and I think they sound great.

"I can’t stress enough to build your own! http://www.laventure.net/tourist/cables.htm
Or:
http://www.tempoelectric.com/cables.htm#intro

This is a great read and all I can say is you can build them and you won’t be dissatisfied!!! As far as how they stack up to the before mentioned, they beat them hands down! If you need any help or direction I will gladly help. Others good luck!"

rrwolfgram
I have not had time to read it yet, but your not having an issue with that pure silver wire as being etched or bright? I haven’t really had much luck with sliver other than the very expensive Tellurium Q Sliver Diamonds.

Edit, okay I have read it now, the tempo electric one.  if someone wanted to try them out, it seems there is so many options it is hard to decipher what to choose or what would be best.  

What length are you looking for.

Cerious Technologies Graphene Extreme speaker cables are the best I have ever used. Check out the thread in the forums. 10 foot pair approx $750ish.

+1 for dynaquest4

If you really need new speaker cables go to Blue Jeans Cable and avoid all the snake oil with the 10 AWG Belden 5000 series Cable, add their Ultrasonically-Welded banana plugs and you will have a great cables and lots of $ still in your wallet.

I have analysis plus big silver oval. They are in you price range and well regarded.  What sold me on them was when I saw them used in a $150,000 system.  To me, it spoke volumes that a system designer at an audio show used them in such a rig.  For the record, I don't have a $150k system.  Mine is about $5k-wyred 4 sound amp/DAC, kef ls50 speakers.  

Also, I don't have blue jeans speaker cables but have a lot of their other cables and can speak to their quality. 

Hope this helps.  

Crimson Audio in Austin

i've tried tons of expensive cables

these have great tonality, dynamics, imaging

http://www.austinhifi.com/crimsoncables.html

Creston is wonderful

@audiotomb: cables cannot, will not and have no capability to "have" tonality, dynamics and imaging."  All expensive cables can do (supposedly) is fix issues caused by outside influences​.  If you buy basic cables that meet basic requirements, these influences will be minimized.  Spending more only lightens your wallet.  

If you think cables, on their own, create or induce improvements in SQ, then there is nothing I can say to change your mind.  Keep funneling money to the hackesters that are scamming you.

They maintain tonality, ...,...

the best cables add or subtract little to the signal they are fed

a bright cable overemphasizes the top end incorrectly



money isn't the determining factor

Blue Jeans cables are made very well, but they are not audiophile grade...they will tell you so.

Definitely give Cerious Technologies Graphene SC a try, the best I've heard to date and I typically evaluate 3-4 SC yearly for the past 8 years...

Wig

My experience has shown me that cables (speaker/interconnects) depend on your desired taste and component interaction. ANTICABLES is a small enough company that you can talk with owner Paul Speltz and get information for decision making. As well, his company offers a trail period for auditioning their products. Presently, I use their Level 5 speaker cable and am totally satisfied with the results.

Ref: stringreen.

"Audiophile grade" cables are those that are prettier to look at, sometimes hand made in the Philippines, have shiney connectors, make wildly exaggerated claims and cost stupid crazy amounts.  They do not improve SQ at all above smartly selected cables from Monoprice and other scam-free distributers.  But...if you are an "audiophile," you have to spend more because your self-imposed status requires it.

@dynaquest14,
I am so sad, you do not think my Clear Day cables as "audiophile grade". They are the exact opposite of what you say:
Not pretty
Made in USA
Ordinary connectors
No exaggerated claim
Affordable
Tremendously increases SQ

Let me go and hide my system page now, so that people don't see it :-(

Nothing personal, milpai!  And my "description" was a generic one for expensive aftermarket cabling. That said, I disagree with your premise. Cabling cannot, should not and never will be able to "increase sound quality" above what the audio producer intended.  All cabling can do is possibly mitigate outside (external) influences that might interfere with accurate delivery of an audio signal.  In my opinion, very inexpensive cabling that meets basic length/impedance requirements does that - as well as it can be done.  There is no need to expect better interference cancellation performance by throwing money at problems that do not exist. It is shameful that we have this cottage industry that preys upon niave, uneducated and unsuspecting "audiophiles" with too much money to waste. 

@dynaquest4,
In my system the Clear Days made a significant difference. This was because the double shotgun configuration suited the efficiency of my loudspeaker. My previous bi-wires somehow did not produce the "liveliness" to the system that the Clear Day provided.
BTW, for loudspeakers that are greater than 91db, the Clear Day shotguns are not recommended. A simpler pair is recommended.

Milpai....you did not address my opinion, you just touted your cables with a fancy name.  Therefore I have nothing, really, to which to respond.

But, again, cables cannot "make a significance difference."  See my previous post. And since you are in the business of selling this nonsense, your opinions are biased and therefore, on this forum, moot.

dynaquest4,
Clearly we have different opinions. So no point going forward with that discussion. You think cables should not make a difference (more nonsense) and I think cables do make a difference. I can say the same about your opinion, being biased. I have posted my system here, while you have not. I would like to know, what components are in your system? Now don't tell me that it does not make a difference, if I do not know your components. Cause, I feel, it does. If anything, your opinions on THIS forum are moot. You need to go to your brothers on avsforums.

Yep...we clearly do are on opposite poles of this issue.  My opinions are not biased because I have researched the science and believe it...and I have no financial interest in these products.  My point is the cables cannot make, induce, accentuate, instill, highlight, perform or any other active verb you can think of.  All they can provide is the prevention of interference from outside influences as they link the audio signal from component to component.  Inexpensive cabling does this quite nicely. Spending more is just silly.

My stereo system is Oppo-105D/Emotiva XPA-2/B&W 803s.  I could spend 1000% more and MAYBE achieve a subjective 5% improvement in overall SQ - for me, a stupid, wasteful, low value investment.  But it might LOOK cooler...there is that!

Oh, and I have KimberKable for the speakers; got them free with another deal. Wasn't  impressed with them over heavy guage zip cord.  Also got a set of six Wireworld RCA interconnects for 10 bucks (retail on Amazon $100 each).  Made no difference over the Monoprice set they replaced.

I do monitor AVS...and Audioholics.  Both groups encourage not wasting money on silly, ineffective cabling.

Oops....forgot to add the SVS SB13 Ultra sub to my system list above.  Got it a year old for half price.  Wonderful sub - Monoprice balanced cable.

My stereo system is Oppo-105D/Emotiva XPA-2/B&W 803s.  I could spend 1000% more and MAYBE achieve a subjective 5% improvement in overall SQ

That pretty much says it all. No bias there what so ever. Congratulations on reaching the top of the mountain. I used to think you had no credibility, now I am sure of it. Nothing wrong with those components per se, but to believe it cannot be improved upon by more than 5 percent by wisely spending a thousand percent more.....what a hoot. IMO they could be bested by spending the same amount, YMMV.

 My opinions are not biased because I have researched the science and believe it.

I hate to break it to you, but your statement is biased. It makes the assumption that science knows all there is to know about the human hearing mechanism. It also assumes that the only measurements that matter are the ones that we have the capability to make now. History is full of examples where this kind of thinking is proven absolutely wrong. The person that thinks they, or science, know everything there is to know about any subject is a fool. 

Csmgolf says: "I used to think you had no credibility, now I am sure of it."

Do you really know me well enough to post this personally offensive comment?Please try to stay on topic and not resort to personal comments when unable to usefully discuss the subject matter.  I know this might be difficult but that is what this forum is for.