Speaker Cable-The Best of the Cheap?

Since you have 12ga and want an improvement then by all means go to 10ga wires. This will have lower overall resistance than your monster cables by about 30%....although 30% improvement on a very small number is still a small number and of only incremental benefit - hardly worth it. (Compare this to the fact that 12ga is more than twice as conductive as 16 ga, arguably a worthwhile improvement for longer wire runs)

The comments above are according to electrical engineering and ABX blind testing, which say that the differences are likely to be imperceptable in almost all cases - call this the rational view.

Testimonials from many audiophiles, cable manufacturers and Hi-Fi shop floor salesman often tend to contradict science and blind tests; call this the irrational or anecdotal view ( a view which makes people worry that what they have is not good enough). Going for big or better speaker wires would remove the irrational fear of degradation in sound from lesser quality "cheap" cables.

I don't think it matters which view, rational or irrational, is correct (who knows, there will always be debate), but it certainly matters if the irrational fear affects your listening enjoyment even when you know you have what should be rationally good enough cables, in which case it is probably worthwhile addressing. (This is akin to the sports athlete who carries Mom's letter in his sock and wins....it doesn't matter that the letter has no scientific basis for improvement if it works)

However, if you bring yourself to accept the rational view then you can save some money and put it towards an improvement elsewhere.

Understood Shadorne, I agree, and there must be a point in which there are diminishing returns.

Just like audio gear, a $1,000 Speaker Cable will no doubt NOT sound 10 times better than a $100 one.

Yep, I've seen the Garden Hose sized varieties from the likes of Transparent, Cardas, Synergistic, etc and then almost have a heart attack when I learn of the price per a very short 6'-8' pair.

Sure, I understand the shielding added, sheaths,pretty shrink wrap, high grade connectors, even read about the water cables once!, but there must be a point where very little is gained with these very typical short runs of 6'.

Although Monster is probably the biggest name in Cabling, I have really never read much good about them, and they no doubt invest quite a bit more money into advertising, rather than into the quality of the products they sell.

The Canare sounds like a good way to go. Unfortunately, the terminations I would like (Cardas Spades both ends) will actually wind up costing more than the bare cable itself.

Still, with a little care, and patience on assembly, and good terminations, I would be willing to bet I'll see an improvement with the Canare 4s11-Cardas, versus Monster 12ga and Monster terminations. Thanks all, Mark

Sorry, that should've read "hear an improvement" lol
Mark

if anyone can spare 10' total of the canare 4s11, please email me privately as i really don't need enough wire to justify an order.

Thx
rc

Markd51 you said, "Just like audio gear, a $1,000 Speaker Cable will no doubt NOT sound 10 times better than a $100 one."

Don't believe everything you hear.

The performance of a $100 pair of Paul Speltz Anti-ics made my $3500 ics sound quite veiled in the highs and bloated in the bass. But then a $600 pair of ics that I currently own provide a very good performance improvement over the Anti-ICs not to mention a bit of added musicality.

There simply is no hard and fast rule when it comes to cost v. performance. In fact the best adage to start clinging to is, "One must spend a lot of money to realize one doesn't have to spend a lot of money."

That's true of any hobby and this one being no exception.

I still say the Paul Speltz cables may be the best buy of this decade in high-end audio.

-IMO