Who makes budget speaker cables which are truly “good” or “exceptional” in quality?

Another vote for Clear day. Double shotgun.
Fantastic.

I try not to spend a lot on cables either.  +1 for Anticables.  They beat the Canare cables I got from Blue Jeans in both my main system as well as in a more moderately priced secondary system.  I can't say I noticed much of a difference between the Canare cables and the cheaper wire they replaced.

Pick up some oxygen free 12 gauge at Monoprice http://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2747 and lay them in the Listening Room along with any other manufacturer’s cables and if you don’t hear the difference then put the money you save towards better speakers, or back in your pocket.

Clear Day Double Shotgun
JW Cryo Nova
Canare 4S11

Last week, I went to pick up a subwoofer from a guy that I had bought it from via an online forum. 

He lives in a huge huge mansion in an exclusive neighborhood. He makes a living by designing hi end cable for the Pentagon. 

I thought he he would be the perfect person to pop the question: are expensive speaker cable and audio interconnects worth the money?

He said that for high frequencies in military applications that are beyond what the human ear can hear, yes. For home audio, they make no difference. Cheap Radio Shack cable is fine. 

Signal Cables - all of their stuff sounds great, and beats competitor products costing over 5x as much. I have used their interconnects, speaker cables and power cords. Most recently,  I swapped out my PS Audio AC-12 (a $1,200 power cord) for their best power cord (which cost about $250.) I also use their connector for my massive REL sub. Their speaker cable is my favorite product; it's the best value I've ever seen.

To me and my opinion, cables are very important , depending on speakers and equipment . Simple rule high end equipment require high end cable , cheap equipment you won’t hear a thing  . And depends what kind of sound do you prefer, because cable in the system are like tuning the instrument . I like acrolink or esoteric, of course you might not like that sound .

best regards Mark

Douglas Connection makes wonderful cables that are of exceptional quality. I will try and find a link for you.

I would look into Transparent Audio  "The Wave' speaker cable. I find it very very good for the money.

Audioquest rocket 44 ,work very well Mac mc602 to b&w 802 d 

Cables do make a difference and I can usealy hear the difference...the problem is I cannot decide which one I prefer. After a while the benefit aquired tends to minimise and the start noticing that I have lost something...there is always a compromise somewhere....I prefer the one's that  does,t add or remove something and those are usealy standard mid priced ones....

I use the lower level Morrow Audio for my interconnects. I’ve used Kimber Kable in the past and really likes those as well for both interconnects and speaker. 

My current speaker cables I made and I’ve been very happy with them. Purchased  the stretch sheathing to jazz them up and they look and sound really good.

another happy Signal Cable owner here, Franks stuff simply works !

Blue Jeans Cables Belden 5T00UP 10 AWG (white or gray jacket) with their Locking Banana plugs that are Ultrasonic welded which allows it to literally fuse the copper wire to the brass banana plug body without using the heat of conventional gas or arc welding, for a tremendously strong physical connection, low contact resistance, and low susceptibility to corrosion.  Custom made to your length requirements its the best value in cables out there.

For years I was quite happy with Auvio 12 AWG premuim speaker wire ($0.48/ft; but, alas, no longer widely available). My weakness is that I spend too much time on these forums and eventually give in and buy something of questionable value.
Recently I bid $80 on a $1,200 pair of Zu Lubtec cables. I think the improvement is worth $80. I'm glad I didn't spend $1,200!

Take a peek online at Cabledyne. Excellent 
cables and excellent value.

Beside the excellent low-cost heavy 10-12awg proposed by Van Damme, Belden, Monoprice, Douglas,etc... I would say Canare 4s8 is a best buy.  It is 13awg, so a little more resistive, but it seems, it feels like it makes my LS50s sound a bit smoother, for the better.
Impeccable quality of construction, PE insulation, starquad, flexible, made in Japan.

Who makes budget speaker cables which are truly “good” or “exceptional” in quality?

You do!!

@unreceivedogma is right. With two caveats:
1. Unless you are running long cables, in which case you want to minimize inductance, by having the two conductors as close as possible.
2. Terminating connectors are a tradeoff. While they ensure a good connection to the speaker and to the cable, which is good, they introduce an extra pair of junctions, which is not good. But spades or bananas are convenient ... If you decide to go without, which is a good idea, just make sure that the copper at the connection points is clean and stays that way - Vaseline helps there. After a while, trim off the ends and repeat.

IMO. YMMV.

I have tried many different replacement cables over a period of about 6 to 12 months. I finally found a company who makes cables that are, to me and many other audiophiles, second to none. Try Morrow Audio and ask for Mike Morrow. He has tried, and by using sophisticated testing tools, came to the conclusion that small diameter wires and great terminators work best, especially when it comes to musical subtleties. They offer a free lifetime warranty. Even if your dog or any pet chewed through Morrow Audio cable, he will replace them without a hassle. When I was testing Morrow cables, I had wires all over my floor. My wife tripped over a set of cables causing the cables to break-off  from both connectors. I called Mike Morrow who replaced the cables at no cost! The most common cables are big and fat that may give you a better sound. But the Morrow Audio cables outperform every cable and cable set I have tried. If you listen to a tune or song that you know very well, you will be surprised to hear subtle sounds that you never heard before. An example is percussion sounds like a small triangle, but on the other hand, low frequency sounds like subbass, you will hear a substantial difference and actually feel the bass.

The difference in Morrow Audio cables are outstanding. If you are looking to improve your sound stage, I highly recommend Morrow cables. Go to their website here and ask for Mike Morrow. Feel free to give them my name which is Michael J Smith in Clayton, NC. Their products are superb and they sell expensive audio components as well as cables. The components they sell are awesome and expensive, but if you love sound as much as I do, you will discover the "Morrow sound." Every audio component I purchase are connected via Morrow Audio cables.
You have nothing to lose, but a lot to gain. Given their cables, Mike Morrow and his team of talented audiophiles, will guide you. Then you can sit back in your listening area and become a Morrow Audio fan.  

Though I have Kimber Kables for my speakers and Wireworld RCAs for my interconnects, I received them essentially free with used equipment purchases.  They work fine but I didn't notice any improvement (or even a difference) in the sound.  My other cables come mainly from MonoPrice.  

Be aware that "budget" cables means different things to different people.  When Norhost makes cables costing in the thousands, some think an RCA pair costing $500 is a budget purchase.

Hi psyop,

I like Thales Cables. They are a little more than the analysis plus but well worth it. They will give cables that are in the tens of thousands a serious run for the money. 

www.tonarm.ch
www.aaudioimports.com/ShowBrand.asp?hBrand=30

Agreed that many “budget” cables can make this list...and that’s the fun of discovery. My fast vote for Budget is Signal Cable. Silver Resolution Speaker Cable. 

(Higher vote for the AC Silver Resolution Power Cord.) Might add that the other matching Silver Resolution Cables are Fabulous. 

Price and Performance are Excellent. ...will they compete with “ultra” Cardas, Straight Wire, Kimber, Nordost, Transparent, NBS, Acoustic Zen...the Answer is no. 

But Count me in on Signal Cable Silver Resolution Products. “Bravo!”

With a little DIY-efford you can make the second best cable I have ever known/auditioned (the best was a solid silver wire by the Swiss company Audio Consulting, very pricey..., thread in a cotton hose).
It consists of 6 solid cores of bell wire in a PVC coat. So twist 3  opposed leads each and crimp with a cable lug/cable shoe, cable termination or whatever you need. You will get a cable that will outperform nearly every cable of the big names! Build with confidence- this cable won't disappoint you!

I have used many different cables from many companies. After over 55 years of audiophile fun and games I now use AWG10/type3-k tinned marine mains wire. Type 3 has greater strand count and k is for awg30 individual strand size. It can be had at reasonable per foot cost (under .50) and has superb audio characteristics. All interconnects and speaker wiring has only one goal, to transmit the signal with no alteration. If a connect is adding some "voice" to the sound then for me it is unacceptable.

You all have been brainwashed, imho

That's humble alright (third meaning).

There are lots of good cables out there without breaking the bank. Don't listen to anyone that says speaker cables don't make a difference or only need to be a certain guage, that's nonsense. Kimber makes great cable that gets you close to the music without edginess or fake sparkle and I use it most of the time. Anything past that level you will be spending hundreds if not thousands for a 2-5% increase in transparency and sound quality. If you don't want to spend over $100 I've found a lot of flat copper generic cable to do a good job as well but don't go with standard zip chord. Don't do it!

I have owned some pretty decent monitors over the past 10 years or so (Proac, Fritz, PMC, and currently Trenner & Friedl) and when I purchased the Proacs some one recommended Canare 4s11 and I have used that ever since with very good results.  When Fritz came to my home to drop off speakers for a 30 day trial, he approved of the Canare cable, saying “that’s good wire”.  You can purchase in bulk for about $1.20 a foot.  On eBay several sellers will terminate and sell by the foot for a higher cost.   I have read others who turn their nose up at Canare, but I have been very satisfied.  

I have used several “budget” cables including Monster XP-Ci, Blue Jeans Belden and Canare, Transparent, Kimber 8VS, and Audioquest including X-2, FLX/SLiP 14/4, Type 4, Type 6, Rocket 33 and Rocket 44. The last two may not be some people’s idea of budget at over $15/ft, but if this qualifies as “budget speaker cable” +1 for creekmaster’s Rocket 44 suggestion because the Rocket line to me sounds very neutral with good tone and soundstage definition.  And AQ FLX/SLiP 14/4 used as a double internal run (two wires per each terminal) was pretty good for applications where I needed long runs of wire on a budget.  No major shortcomings.

None of the other cables sound “bad” persay but they lack the detail, clarity, tone and soundstage of better and more expensive wires.  The Monster cable listed above has lovely tone and midrange, but roles off highs in direct proportion to length.  The Signal cable suggestion in this thread is interesting because I think they use decent connectors.

Also speaking of speaker cable connectors, +1 to the suggestion from @terry9 to skip terminations altogether if you can.  Why put another connection in your line if you don’t have to?  If you must use connectors, Pangea from Audio Advisor make some nice sounding copper/gold plated banana plugs.

You generally get what you pay for, but as others have said here, you need to try some different wires to see what works in your system.  You may find a $.50/ft cable sounds better than, or at least as good to you in your system as a $50/ft cable. Or not.

good luck,

kn

In my forever changing systems at this point today my favorite speaker cables are:
Kimber kable tc-12.
LAT International SS-3000 Signature bi-wire.
Analysis plus oval 12.
(I have oval 9 I haven't tried yet)
All my interconnects are diy shielded silver plated copper Aviation wire and shielded canary (shield grounded on sending end only).
I've tried a bunch, transparent, MIT, audioquest, monster, ECT, ECT.
When I got my analysis ovals I was pretty happy until I borrowed a couple pair of LAT INTERNATIONAL cables from a friend (a blue pair and the ss-3000 Signature).
Holy shot what a difference between the oval 12 and the signatures. I insisted on buying the LAT signatures and been loving them since. 
Last month I bought some Kimber tc-12 cables (beautiful) thinking I would step up to another level in sound. Although they sound different I'm not sure it's better. I'm really happy with both and don't think I will part with either pair anytime soon. 
That's just my honest opinion on this subject. Although I'm forever changing and trying new stuff and open to whatever. It's just a fun hobby. 

One more for Clear Day double shotguns. Paul is a great guy to deal with, and his cables are amazing for the money. 

I use JW Audio, which are 12 gauge OFC pure copper. They sound strong and clear and I think I payed around $80 for an 8' pair. Super performance at real world prices, if your not one who has to have silver in their set up. They are a bit stiff and stubborn to install so you probably wouldn't want any woman or children around when doing so.

All the best
JP:)

Kimber 12TC

To me the best speaker cables and interconnects are Straightwire Crescendo. I upgraded from Strightwire Virtuoso and definitely hear a difference. 

My Acer Racing 600 strand silver plated 12awg copper just arrived. Very nice wire. It will make awesome hook up wire, never mind for speaker cable. I have solid silver spades I made from a 99.999 1oz. flat bar. I'll make up some cables and report back. You can check this wire out at acerracing.com. It's called silver worm.

Clearday Double Shotguns seemed to be getting alot of happy customers. As do Signal Cables (I had tried them in the past and did like them). They are moved to my bedroom system. 
Has anyone tried these guys?
http://www.knukonceptz.com/

+1 to Canare 4S11. Replaced Nordost "flat" speaker cable and I think they are better (at least not worse).
All my power cables replace with Signal Cable - not sure I can hear the difference, but they are well made and not pricey. For long runs to my GE Triton 1s I got Pangea from Audioadvisor - good looking and 69 bucks for 4 meter cord, not bad!
All my other cables are Blue Jeans, good stuff.

After trying many Straightwire lower end speaker cables i found that the Crescendos were the absolute best also use there Crescendo XLR and RCA interconnects. To me you will never ever want to upgrade from these. 

Straightwire Crescendos cost thousand of dollars. If they are "budget" then what is not ))).

Would never use anything but Crescendos , compare them to cables as much as no dollar limit and you will agree that they are budget

Rivercable.com has great sounding speaker cables with built-in banana plug twist locks. They matched my magnepan 3.7/1.7 speakers the best with ATI 6005 amplifier. They are made really well, come with a cool birth certificate with a 30 day return policy. Their performance exceeded other budget cables (blue jean, emotiva) and matched any 2K cables I have tried in my system (Nordost, Synergistic research, wire world) 
Flexigy 8 model is a thick flat cable, which I run under the area rug for my 1.7 surrounds. 
http://www.rivercable.com/flexygy8.asp

I second Dueland from PartsConnexion.com
2. Supra Cables
3. audioquest
4. Kimber Kables
5. Canare
however having spent thousands on IC and speaker cables nothing really beats Dueland cables from from Parts Connexion

The Schmitt cables sold on here are excellent in tone and resolution AND, bring a lower noise level to the party than any other I've heard , A revelation at low price .

Call me a HiFi pleb, but try "Ugly Cable:  https://www.uglycable.com.au/ and go for a reel of 16AWG OFC cable and you then you can spent big on the connectors.

Tunis' silver plated copper cables.  They sell here on Audiogon, are very reasonable pricewise and sound superb.

My most recent experiments with speaker cables have been with Virtue Audio Nirvana's. Right out of the box  they sounded better than the Blue Jeans Belden I was using- and over the course of about 100 hours the Nirvana cable steadily improved.  Jason Terpstra is the fellow who assembles the cables, which include IC's and more. His cables are easy to handle and look quite nice.

Great customer service and return policy.

MIT has expertise at the extreme high end that allows them to make very high value introductory models. 

Ordinary basic cable is good enough. The rest is a rip off.