Best Sounding Speaker Cables?

That is easy, it depends. On your system and values. To my tastes and system the Cardas are a touch too warm, and the Nordost are a touch on the cool side of neutral and lack bass.. I am not that familiar with the other.

I have owned a number of Cardas and have always found them on the warm side of neutral, loosing some high end details, or at least putting it in the background. I have auditioned some Nordost Frey 2… they did not work well at all with my equipment too harsh. I feel that Transparent cables and interconnects in all my systems have been neutral… with my current components a very good thing… something that was not a good thing when I had much lower level components.

@oldaudiophile … From the NYT article: ”So given the assumption that there can only be a truly minor difference with speaker cables and the desire to get something inexpensive (but good) from a recognizable source and from a company I’d heard of, I narrowed to potential picks: AmazonBasics’s 16 gauge ($6.95, $0.14/foot), Monoprice’s 2747 12 gauge ($14.68, $0.29/ft), Monoprice’s 2748 14 gauge ($12.87, $0.26/ft), Pyle’s PSC1250 12 gauge ($14, $0.28/ft), Pyle’s PSC1450 ($11, $0.22/ft), and RCA’s AH1450SR 14 gauge ($11.42, $0.23).”

Sorry but this is not a valuable source. This is simply a review of a bunch of cheap cables with reference to a couple of electrical characteristics. Of no value to someone serious about high quality sound reproduction.

@oldaudiophile... I scanned the article. Yes, I saw that they listened to some high end cables... they used Krell equipment. I also noted the source of the article.

While I try and remain patient and just highlight positive things. This kind of BS reporting really irritates me. It is the kind of thing that is published in popular press. I have the highest regard for the NYT but this kind of stuff is irresponsible.

The differences in cords and cables are easily discernible. The very first high end cable I listened to over 45 years ago made itself instantly obvious. If you want to do a review... then you need to become familiar with the lay of the land of people that can tell, language and values as they apply to music. Then you can present a balanced view... the relatively small differences have a significant impact on the overall musical presentation. This is just more justification why the ignorant masses are really smart in their ignorance and values.

@mahlman

I suppose obsessing about wire would be a bit silly. But the often substantial effect on sound quality of cables and interconnects is pretty counterintuitive. So folks that thought it silly and then hear the difference are likely to be vocal and somewhat evangelistic about it. I remember my first jaw dropping experience. So I guess it is not surprising some people come off as obsessed. Cables, interconnects, placement, and treatments are the bread and butter of creating a great audio system. Without them only a good to very system would be possible.

Why aren’t there more technical articles on the subject? Well I suspect because it involves so many variables that it becomes very esoteric very quickly. You have the complexity of describing the nuances of sound reproduction, the many different variables of the wire, input devices, output devices… it quickly simply becomes more effective and efficient to describe instead of attribute. The lack of technical articles is not just here, but also in all high end periodicals. It’s been that way for 50 years and pretty sure it will continue that way for another fifty.