Best "Giant Killer" Value Cables For...

What do you consider "a King's Ransom" to be?

Nothing wrong with Blue Jeans IC's or the Belden or Canare speaker cable. Its benchmark for inexpensive cable as far as I'm concerned and fairly neutral so far as I can tell.

I have had excellent results with Triode Wire Labs power cables for my phono stage, tube preamp, and solid state amplifier. High value-to-cost ratio product and excellent product service and support from Pete. Check it out.

I understand what you are asking but I don't know if you are going about it the right way. The first thing you need to consider is what type of components you own. If you have an entry level system that doesn't have the highest resolution, it wouldn't make sense to buy really high end cables. Your system won't be able to take full advantage of them. If you list your components, you may be able to get some better recommendations.

That said, I can recommend one cable that is definitely worth looking into. If you are willing to buy used, you can probably get a very price on a pair of Audioquest Jaguars. I own several pairs and even at its list price, they will hold their own with other cables that cost a lot more. The best part is that if you look at the cable that replaced it, (Columbia) its almost the same cable. The upgrades are very small. I have those, as well, and I really can't hear much of a difference, if any. Jaguars sell for very low prices. They are true high end cables that match well with just about everything.

Have all Morrow cables in my system, and have had in the past some very overly prices cables and the Morrow stuff is as good or better than any that I have heard, go to their website as they run sales, specials, closeouts to suit all budgets.

I would add Grover Huffman cables to your list. I tried a set of the interconnect and heavily preferred it to a cable at 10X it's price. He got a couple reviews that basically said the same thing, his cables compete with cables at any price.

My vote is for Analysis Plus Oval 9 speaker cable, Solo Crystal Oval interconnects, and Lat AC-2 MkII power cable.

My vote is for Analysis Plus Oval 9 speaker cable, Solo Crystal Oval interconnects, and Lat AC-2 MkII power cable. I think that Signal Cable Magic Power Cable is also a good power cable for the money.

I am also exploring a similar road with a small 2nd system. Wireworld has entry level cables that are suppose to be quite good. For instance, their Equinox 6 interconnects are $200/meter. Again, I am only giving this some thought, and have yet to hear them. I agree w/ Zd542 about knowing your system and $ range. This would best help others help you.

I have blue jeans speaker cables and rcas. IMO they are the best value for money. Custom lengths, nuetral, low cost, fast shipping and they have a new machine that welds the wire directly to the termination to ensure tight fit that will never come loose.

I also own audioquest type 4 which are IMO also an excellent value. They are a little bit better than the blue jeans, but a little more expensive too.

I second Ejlif's recommendation of Grover Huffman's cables. I have tried the cables you suggest along with some other higher priced offerings. It wasn't until I put his speaker cables and interconnects into my system that I appreciated a cable could do more than just sound different from whatever it replaced. His cables placed the music and the listening experience way beyond the sound. Greater emotional engagement, more toe tapping and chair dancing, and longer listening sessions. Power cables next. Grover seems like a really nice guy to boot.

For class D amp you might look at cables that have a little fuller lower midrange such as Acoustic Zen Satori that I use with class D Rowland 102 amp. They are about $350 used for standard non-biwire 8 feet pair.

Reality cables from Gregg Straley are very much as their name implies: delivering an impressively natural and complete sound picture.
And, if you can find Auricle Audio Design from Joe Mazzaglia, another truly high value brand.
These each have consistently enhanced enjoyment in a variety of my systems. Plus, each have been able to provide "wow" experiences.with favorite recordings.

Silver Resolution from SignalCable are very good. XLR, RCA, Speaker or Powercord, these are very good ones.

I also like Triode Wire Labs for power cables. They work well, are extremely well made and do what they're supposed to. And you cant get any better than Pete for service.
Oh yeah, made in USA.
Good luck, John

I too recommend Triode Wire Labs. You can't go wrong with Pete's in home trial. Great value!

I have had great luck with Blue Jeans IC's in my HT system and with My Audio Cables (MAC)silver IC's in my 2 channel system. The latter was obtained through Audiogon's auction for a good price. Check it out. Cheers.

Cullen Cable PCs and Clear Day ICs and speaker cables. Cullen's Gold Series PC's in my system replaced Shunyata Diamondbacks and made them sound like cheap stock cords. And I replaced Morrow sp4 speaker cables with Clear Day Double Shotguns and it was a TKO. And Clear Day ICs bested Audioquest King Cobras in my system by a wide margin. Both of these companies offer money back refunds, and are fabulous to work with. Heck, Paul at Clear Day will probably send you some for trial. Contact him. You will not regret it!

I have a lower powered Class D amp and the power cords I've used with them with good results were DH Labs Power Plus power cords and Pangea AC9. For ICs I liked using Morrow Audio 1.1. Speaker wire was real budget. I used White Lighting Moonshine cords (14AWG Patio Cord extension cable from China) Locking Banana plugs on the amp side and bare wire on the speaker side.

My go-to lower price cable seller is Audio Art. I have one pair of ICs and just bought a power chord from Rob Fritz of Audio Art. Very easy fellow to work with, good sounding cables - very smooth and detailed - well made and they have a good return policy.

Cullen Power Cords are on the wish list (sorry Patrick, I am going to buy your p.c.'s at some point, I promise)
Paul at clear day makes some great cables and is a true gentleman!!
Frank at signal cables makes great cables and is a great guy to work with also! I run silver res. xlr's and speaker cables and love them. They bring out details that were just not there with blue jeans. Blue jeans is better than monster cable (of course) and way better than the audioquest rocket 44's, just not of the same caliber as clear day or signal cable :-)
Also have tried tara labs rsc prime 500. Good creamy mids, but lacked high end sparkle and bass articulation. Almost kept the tara's though. Go figure.

Well, I am happy with my Cabledyne power cords. FWIW.

Sonic, did you get copper or silver?

RJA: I bought the Cabledyne Copper power cords. At $160 it was a no brainer.

Giant killer , is from fairy tail books, it doesn't exist in audio.

Maybe there aren't many true "giant killers" but cables that perform above their price do exist. Stop being such a curmudgeon.

( Rja ) name calling usually denotes lack of intelligence .

I see this discussion has started to take the typical cable thread route. Maybe that was the OP's intention?

Tmsorok, I never made any claims to "intelligence" even though I spell fairy "tale" rather than "tail".

Curmudgeon you are sir! There are folks here trying to have a discussion and you have dismissed the entire thread like some emperor, just on your say so. I'm sorry but I choose not to comply!

High end audio has had many products over the years that swing beyond their weight class. I think the original post was asking about cables in this category.

Master Built Purple Line. Incredible value.

Did Bassdude ever get his question anwsered???

I have had Gregg Straleys' Reality Cables in my system for years, both the interconnects and speaker cables. These cables are so refined and realistic that the notion of getting another brand of cable does not even enter my mind.

Check out Increcable Diamond list $180 meter. Great cable

I also agree ,that the Analysis Plus Oval 9 is an exceptional loudspeaker cable ,and the Solo a Crystal Copper interconnect is a steal at it's price
If you need more air and sparkle on top the more expensive Silver over Copper In- Connect is the way to go ,if you want a bit more focus on a meatier midrange stick with the Solo Crystal . I Strongly advise
Keeping with same brand Oval as a cable system ,interconnects,
And Loudspeaker cables to get the most out of your system impedance
Inductance matching is very important, and 300 hour breakin may seem extreme ,but true it sounds much better after 150 hours,but at over 300 hours even better low level detail and focus. I would recommend the
Purist audio breakin cd , or the Isotek cd is very good and track 3 is a full system tuneup 5 minute set of sonic sweep signals done daily or weekly you can hear the difference ,in a sence demagnetizes the whole electronic system.

I'm not sure how they do with Class D, but in my system Level 2 Performance Series Bi-Wire Anti-Cables performed equally* to Audioquest Sky. $2,500 a meter or $46 a meter? You choose.

*Caveat: the Anti-Cables need to be reenergized for 30-45 minutes after any week long vacation. The Sky doesn't.

This is somewhat of a "late entry". Almost didn't bother. WHY??? Because you can talk to 50 different people and get 50 different opinions, the majority of which may not even be relevant.

I did notice (above), two or three entries pertaining to REALITY CABLES.
I have known Greg Straley for a number of years now, since he started his boutique cable business. At that time, he was either President or Vice President of the "CHICAGO AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY".
Resultantly, he had an entire panel of "extreme" audio enthusiasts and engineers at his disposal, that provided significant assistance in his product R and D. 
The first time he got me to try them I thought, "are you kidding". These things look like red rattlesnakes, which I have fondly called them ever since.
At that time, he left a set of IC's and speaker cables with me to evaluate for many months. During that period, I went through a number of pieces of tech Including PRIMA LUNA, and AYON. Also, MUSICAL FIDELITY, plus a couple of other custom pieces. At that point in time I had already accumulated about 30 different brands of cables, including ANTICABLES, MORROW, and HARMONIC TECHNOLOGY, to name a few.
So, what's my point here; - - - With all of my component swapping during that period, I have to state that in every case, and components combinations I put together, it was always the  REALITY CABLES that shone the most brightly in the audio reproduction path.
To this day, and many pieces of tech later, I am still an avid fan of REALITY CABLES. GRES STRALEY has made several upgrades to his designs since the time I bought mine. One of these days I intend to try his latest offerings, though truthfully I don't know how they could be improved significantly over my old and current ones. 
Well, perhaps making them more flexible, but that just doesn't fit the design equation unfortunately.

Bassdude:

 

I always add this link

I have a couple of them & the guy is right