Belden 5000UE or Sound King?

[adamrc]

I am looking to buy some new speaker cable and I have done a lot of research on speaker cables and have found that the Belden 5000UE (12 Gauge) is very good speaker wire. It also seems many people choose the Sound King (12 Gauge). They are both pretty close when it comes to price. Which one do you think is the better speaker cable? I am also considering GLS Audio Locking Banana plugs. Anyone have any experience with those?

Thanks

 

[jaxvon]

Neither one is better. I think sound king looks better, but the Belden can be used for in-wall stuff, so you could buy a bunch of it and use it for any future wiring projects. Where were you looking to buy the Belden from?

 

[adamrc]

Thanks for the reply. I am not going to be running any of the wire in-wall so that is not a concern. I just wanted a good quality speaker wire at a decent price. Are these two speaker wire choices the best when it comes to being in this price range? I was going to buy the Sound King from Parts Express and/or the Belden from Westlake Electronic Supply.

 

[Duffinator]

I'm using the Belden and prefer it's looks over the sound king. Both are fine so it's just a matter of which look you like. The rip cord sound king reminds me too much of the cheap stuff I used years ago.

 

[brian32672]

and/or the Belden from Westlake Electronic Supply.

Yep, thats the place

 

[zilla]

I've got some of the Belden from Westlake that you're considering and it works fine for me... was a tad hard to work with when I put it all in Saturday, but it's hard to beat for the price. Cost me like 23 bucks shipped for 100 feet.

 

[adamrc]

Has anyone ever tried any Carol 12 Gauge speaker wire. I found it at Parts Express. The part number is 100-740. How would this compare to the Sound King or Belden? In the DIY Speaker Cable Face-off, It shows the Carol cable getting a lower rating overall. The Carol cable looks very similar to the Belden cable.

 

[jaxvon]

Carol is another high-quality manufacturer like Belden. There's nothing wrong with the wire and it would perform the same as the Belden stuff. Check the shipping prices from Westlake and Parts Express. Whatever you can get a better bottom line at, go with it!

 

[adamrc]

I think I am going to go with the Sound King cables. It got great reviews on the DIY speaker shootout. I like the looks of the Sound King better.

 

[jaxvon]

Good choice. Just be aware that Sound King won't sound any better. But it does have high strand count, making it more flexible, and if you're like me, you'll love the shiny coppery goodness it gives you.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Has anyone ever tried any Carol 12 Gauge speaker wire. I found it at Parts Express. The part number is 100-740. How would this compare to the Sound King or Belden? In the DIY Speaker Cable Face-off, It shows the Carol cable getting a lower rating overall. The Carol cable looks very similar to the Belden cable.

When it comes to speaker cables, and you are not interested in looks, buy by the delivered cost

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I bought the Belden 5000 ue stuff from Westlake electronics. It's hard. Very hard. Speaker cable should be soft and easy to work with. High end stuff is. This stuff is not what you want. I have it wired under carpet and it's too late for me but you can do yourself a favour and buy something else.

 

[jaxvon]

Man...I still feel bad that you were so unsatisfied with that stuff. I know some other users find it plenty flexible, but we all have different expectations. Again, I'm sorry. Next time you'll have to pick up some Sound King

 

[brian32672]

I bought the Belden 5000 ue stuff from Westlake electronics. It's hard. Very hard. Speaker cable should be soft and easy to work with. High end stuff is. This stuff is not what you want. I have it wired under carpet and it's too late for me but you can do yourself a favour and buy something else.

WOW,all I can say is bad batch????
I have posted pics of how easy I can get the stuff to loop around my wrist. I take that back, I had easily looped it around my finger (6 loops and it uncoiled on its own)
For the quality, I find it is way better then spending 100.00 for about 30 feet...
I mean heck, its 10awg wire - this could be used for a 500 foot run with no degredation. And its like 0.18 cents a foot....

 

[brian32672]

Man...I still feel bad that you were so unsatisfied with that stuff. I know some other users find it plenty flexible, but we all have different expectations. Again, I'm sorry.

Hey, to each their own. I know more satisfied people and only 1 unsatisfied person.
Heck, there always has to be 1 person who gives a bad review of anything....
Otherwise everything out there would be 100% a-ok all the time. And then we would have nothing to recommend....

 

[Johnny Canuck]

If I recall, I may have bought the wrong stuff. Mine is white and black wires wrapped in a grey sleeve with a white rip cord. I talked to a guy at Westlake and he said i should have bought this other model #...I already ripped up my carpets and wired my system before I discovered it was VERY hard, oxidizing after a month, and went to high end store and they showed me what $1.00 ft + wire looks and FEELS like. It's firm, yet soft to the touch. This stuff you could seriously draw blood if you scratched hard enough with it. I think I seriously bought the wrong kind. This stuff is used by Microsoft for business applications I was told..

 

[brian32672]

If I recall, I may have bought the wrong stuff. Mine is white and black wires wrapped in a grey sleeve with a white rip cord. I talked to a guy at Westlake and he said i should have bought this other model #...I already ripped up my carpets and wired my system before I discovered it was VERY hard, oxidizing after a month, and went to high end store and they showed me what $1.00 ft + wire looks and FEELS like. It's firm, yet soft to the touch. This stuff you could seriously draw blood if you scratched hard enough with it. I think I seriously bought the wrong kind. This stuff is used by Microsoft for business applications I was told..

Well here is what jaxvon and myself get. It is high strandend. Just click on the pictures to even see the strands, Post # 29 or 39 at this thread,,,
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12693&page=1&pp=30

 

[RichardinIdaho]

Belden 5000UE vs Canare 4S11

My new Pioneer Elite vsx-30 allows for Bi-Amp wiring using the back surround amp.

Can I use the Canare 4S11 to Bi-Amp or does it just work to Bi-wire?

If the answer ti the above is yes, would it be best to use a singe run of the Canare or two runs of the Belden.

The runs are under 10 feet. The cost difference at Blue Jeans is less than $5.00. So that is not an issue.