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Advice on speaker cables.

Hello. First time post here and I understand there’s no definitive answer, just looking for advice. I have a midrange system to me anyway and most of it was purchased new recently after giving up on repair of vintage gear. I’ve been using the same 12 gauge Apature copper speaker wire since 1982 and figured I would upgrade. I didn’t realize the hole I was going down. I’ve tried Blue Jean 10 white sounded dull, as well as WBC 7 gauge which I somewhat liked except bass seemed boomy at the expense of treble and midrange. Cables I’ve been advised to try are Kimber 4pr or 8pr as well as Audio Analysis oval 12. I’ve only used bare wire in the past not sure if that matters. My system is Yamaha as1200, Cxn100 streamer, Rotel 1572 mkii cd, Nakamichi oms1a cd. Speakers are Polk monitor 10a I bought new in 1982 with recently upgraded clarity cap crossovers. All interconnects are WBC. Appreciate any advice on speaker cables. Thank you.

kmm84
jmalen123
246 posts
 

To save coin and get lengths exactly as I wanted, making my own was the way to go. Canare 4S11 in bulk is reasonably priced and good cable. Another plus is you can try out any terminations you want. Even if you are just reasonably handy this is doable. I love what it does in my system.

jjss49's avatar
jjss49
6,920 posts
 

op - yes you should keep the lengths the same

seems like you have plenty of ’advice’ here, maybe more than you need

i would reiterate the comments of those that say get a decent tonally balanced cable of sufficient gauge to allow for bass control from the amp, prioritize getting your setup dialed in optimally (e,g, room, placement, isolation and so on) before you go hog wild spending on cables, it is low return on investment until you have other higher priority bases covered 

davidchampa's avatar
davidchampa
24 posts
 

Check out this DIY configuration: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/diy-helix-geometry-cabling?highlight=helix    

quincy
474 posts
 

I've been very happy with Audioquest cables.  Both interconnect and speaker.  They have a plethora of selections and price ranges!  Good luck on your quest!!

genomeip
25 posts
 

On the cheaper end of the spectrum, you can just make your own.

I bi-wire my speakers (not bi-amp), and had purchased a couple hundred feet of 14 gauge OFC cable from Crutchfield, and braided 4 strands of identical length for each terminal,  and bought high quality banana plugs.  Sounds great in my mid-tier, revealing, system 

The quad braid with 14 gauge wire is the same as going with a single 7 gauge wire.

But, you only want to use that quad braided wire for your bass and midrange terminals...use a single 14 gauge wire,  or smaller, for your treble terminals. 

Good luck.   

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