The Right Speaker Cables

Hey havocman ,

I go by my ears, not OFC vs OCC or by measurements , and for low level Acoustic Zen has been my favorite for a very long time, running Absolutes between my DAC and preamp and Matrix Reference preamp to amp... also Krakatoa power cords on most stuff which are amazing...

The AU24’s I used to have years back were very good and thin which I liked, but I bought the Anti Cables which were very cheap and had the risk free trial just for a lark and I ended up liking them better, much more and very very tight bass, I ended up selling the Audience AU24’s here on Audiogon and made back I think over a grand... the new Flex 4.2 is a big upgrade and pretty inexpensive... Maybe you should give them a shot, you might be surprised, I think they do a 30 day risk free trial still but I’m not sure

@derfman66

Another thought, call Audio Adviser. They buy Audioquest cable in bulk. They have a guy there and all he does is terminate speaker cables for them. They call it their No Frills cables. A pair of AQ Type 8 cables, 8’ long goes for @$340. They uses several different AQ cables. I’ve been using their No Frills AQ Rocket 88 cables for a few years now and have been very happy.

Give them a call and see what they suggest. Even if you don’t buy, you might get a better idea of what’s out there.

All the best.

In the last year I build a new no 1 sound system with Raidho X3 and upgraded another one with Q Concept 500. In the process, I tried various speaker AND power cords. The latter have a big influence on the sound balance, i.e more or less open . Here are my findings for power cords. I will talk about speaker after

Audioquest NRG, Blizzard and Dragon: sowhwhat darker sound

Luna Mauve:  also dark, but with a lot of oumph in the bass. More solid low bass.

DR Red Fire Ultra: great highs , cristal clear, but thinner bass, less free flowing.

Siltech Classic:  Bingo the ideal solution: higs as good as DR and strong bass like Luna.

Same conclusions on both systems.

Speaker wires now:

For the Raidhos, I tried Transparent Super and Luna Red. The latter is kind of smoother, more liquid or organic sound. I kept those.

For the Q concepts, I got Tranaparent Ultra, biterminated to replace the Supers. I was stunned by the difference. Suddenly I had the feeling to be in the mixing room of a friend's studio years ago, listenning to a band playing in the studio , the sound going from the microphones to the mixing table to the monitor speakers. Wow. These cable brought me closer to the sound of live music , a lot.

My advice: experiment, borrow cables and try them. You will learn a lot and have fun doing it. There is no better cable. You just need to find a good match.

I bought, and currently run 16 strand cables from GR Researech. A little bit on the large diameter side, but flexible, and feed through my Dynaudio Contour S 1.4 stands without any trouble. I have no desire to replace them. Length dependning, could be under your budget. You can buy them assembled, or DIY.

The silversmith Fidelium speaker cables are excellent. There is a no obligation free trial. Google for reviews