Help with speaker cables, please

[mcwilson]

OK - I know speaker cables have been discussed forever in these forums, but I'd like to get one more thread started to help me with my decision...

I have fairly high end speakers:

2 JAMO D870s as the front mains
1 JAMO D8CEN for the center channel
4 JAMO D8SURs as my surrounds
1 JAMO D8SUB subwoofer

My pre/pro is the ATI 8500.1. I will be bi-amping the front 3 speakers with an ATI 3006 amp, and driving the surrounds with an ATI 3004 amp. I am using good quality, balanced interconnects with a Y splitter to connect my pre/pro with my amps.

Can I get some opinions on Nordhost cables? I am considering Nordhost Solar Wind pure silver, but these would cost me over $1000 to drive the fronts. I have about 30 feet runs to the front channels. Is that a ridiculous amount of money to spend on speaker cables? Will I see any benefit from using these "better" cables?

I plan on using 14 gauge speaker cable for the surrounds.

Thanks,

Mark

 

[Leprkon]

a better way to make your system sound good for $ 1000

get your cables from Axiom Audio or the Bluejeans guys. Then use the other $ 750 to get 35 new movies (or 37 if you buy out of state). You can get some really good prices from Impact Acoustics. Or if you feel like you really need to spend a thousand bucks for the speaker cables to sound good, send that extra $ 750 to your local philharmonic...

 

[Steve1000]

Hey Mark --

I think $1000 for speaker cables is a ridiculous amount of money. I don't think there is any sonic benefit at all to be had with designer/fancy,specialty speaker wires. It's snake-oil. 30 feet is a bit of a long run... I think I'd be tempted to go 12-gague to your main speakers. I really think you should be able to absolutely max out the sonic benefits for $25 to $50 total for the main speaker wires. But I'll leave it to the experts here to steer you in the right direction. I just wanted to put up the red flags for you. If you're smart enough to ask the question, you're smart enough to avoid getting ripped off.

If you do spend the $1000 enjoy it anyway... we all make much bigger mistakes than that in life. But it's a lotta money for nothing.

Can I get some opinions on Nordhost cables? I am considering Nordhost Solar Wind pure silver, but these would cost me over $1000 to drive the fronts. I have about 30 feet runs to the front channels. Is that a ridiculous amount of money to spend on speaker cables? Will I see any benefit from using these "better" cables?
Mark

 

[gene]

Can I get some opinions on Nordhost cables? I am considering Nordhost Solar Wind pure silver, but these would cost me over $1000 to drive the fronts. I have about 30 feet runs to the front channels. Is that a ridiculous amount of money to spend on speaker cables? Will I see any benefit from using these "better" cables?

The approved cable vendors we have listed all offer excellent speaker cables from low price, modest cosmetics ($1/ft) to reasonable priced, nice cosmetics ($10/ft). These cables do vary slightly in their measurements but are indistinguishable sonically. In fact the only cables that are sonically different are ones that measure badly and ones we do NOT support.

Having said that, be very leary of exotic cable vendors that tout the snake oils we identified in the following article:

Top Ten Signs a Cable Vendor is Selling you Snake Oil

Nordost does promote some of the snake oils I outlined in this article. Given that they also refuse to send us cables to measure and analyze, we certainly cannot recommend their products to consumers.

 

[BluesDaddy]

You do not need to even spend $1 a foot on cable. You can find reasonable cable at HomeDepot, Lowes or an online retailer like PartsExpress.com for well under that. For short runs, 14 gauge or even 16 gauge will work just fine. Paying more would only be for cosmetic purposes - it's not going to "sound" better.

 

[Dan Banquer]

Speaker Cables

There is a DIY article on the website that you may appreciate. It is deliberately written for the non technical person so even if you are a social worker, lawyer, or investment banker, you should be able to follow this.
http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/interconnects/DIY_speaker_cables.html

d.b.

 

[mcwilson]

Thanks for the $1K savings

I assumed that the conclusion would be: not to purchase the "better" cables. I just wanted to hear it from some seasoned veterans who knew what my system is like. Thanks for all the posts.

This is a great place for newbies like me to learn and gather information. I'm about 2 weeks out from being done with the home theatre. I'll try to get some pictures up soon...

 

[Mudcat]

I assumed that the conclusion would be: not to purchase the "better" cables.

Cost has nothing to do with quality. A $1000 pair of speaker cables is not any better than 14 - 10 AWG zip wire for $0.3 to $1.50 per foot.

Maybe Gene will be posting my industrial cable analysis soon (after he and John E. pick themselves up off the floor because they were laughing so hard).

 

[gene]

Mud;

Drop me an email regarding your article, there are some tech issues we need to discuss before publishing. Thanks.

 

[mcwilson]

Hey Mudcat-

Should I be concerned with wire thickness (gauge) for long runs? The runs to my speakers from my amps will be approximately 30 - 35 feet. Is 14 gauge OK? Are banana plugs better or just more convenient?

Thanks to all who have posted here!

 

[Dan Banquer]

Speaker Cables

I would go with either 10AWG or 12 AWG. It doesn't matter weather you use banana plugs, spades, or bare wire. If you need shielded speaker cable try Belden 8718 or Belden 8720. Go here: for more about shielding: http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/audioprinciples/interconnects/bulletproofingsysteminterf.php
I just find it fascinating that this business has made people go crazy over such a trivia. One of these days someboby is going to ask about loudspeaker linearity, and I will jump for joy.
d.b.
P.S. I just love those advertising links that detract from what I am trying to say here. Time for another long vacation on posting here.

 

[Shinerman]

14 ga. will be fine for 35 feet or so.

Banana plugs are mainly for convenience. They are very easy to connect and disconnect. I seriously doubt there is any sonic advantage with Bananas. Actually, bare wire is considered by many to be the best way to connect speakers but Banana just make it so much easier.

Shinerman.

 

[Unregistered]

Speaker cables

Here's a post you might find helpful:
www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/ultralink-CL414-cable-5-2003.html.

It's a DIY speaker cable made from 4 conductor 14 AWG in-wall Monster cable. Braiding together the conductors in sets of two creates 2 conductor effective 11 AWG speaker cable. I have used it on surround runs up to 70 feet. It is flexible and threads through wall easily. It is also quite neat.

 

[Mudcat]

Somewhere over the rainbow Gene's editing my report. I braided a bunch of 10 AWG and enough CAT 5 to make it 10 AWG. Braiding does not make any improvement. I may be wrong because my copy of the report is the office, and I'm home pretending to babysit the kids (that's what DVDs are for). I'll amend this response if necesary tomorrow.

 

[Unregistered]

speaker cable

Braiding 10 AWG together might not make any significant difference for likely residential distances. Braiding 14 AWG cable for distances of 70 ft does make a difference.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I assumed that the conclusion would be: not to purchase the "better" cables. I just wanted to hear it from some seasoned veterans who knew what my system is like. Thanks for all the posts.

This is a great place for newbies like me to learn and gather information. I'm about 2 weeks out from being done with the home theatre. I'll try to get some pictures up soon...

Don't forget, this cable advice you are getting applies to other cables besides speaker cables

Also, silver has only a 6% conductance advantage over copper. That is less than increasing the copper by only 1 gauge size wich would give a 20% benefit in conductance cetrainly at less cost. Silver has no other benefits in audio cable applications unless one is a believer of voodoo and urban legends

 

[Leprkon]

silver

you can, however, use it to strangle any werewolves who invade your house while you were watching Lord of the Rings.... Can;t do that with just plain old MONSTER cable.....

 

[mtrycrafts]

you can, however, use it to strangle any werewolves who invade your house while you were watching Lord of the Rings.... Can;t do that with just plain old MONSTER cable.....

You got me That is line one in the book

 

[tsteves]

Gene and Mudcat could answer this better than me, but I'll throw in my 2c.
I'm anal, so I would only suggest 12 awg, but it really depends on a lot of things.
I still have some of that white monster stuff which is probably 16awg in my setup, but I want to replace it with some THHN 12awg white wire when I get the energy. I'll use a drill to make a twisted pair which will be easy to run and should have lower inductance than the usual parallel wire, with reasonabe capacitance.

 

[archibrat]

Question about banana plugs

I just bought a set of Polk Audio RM6005's and was looking to make my own speaker cables. This leads me to the following question. Can I use a Banana style plug with these speakers or do I need a twist on pin type plug. These particular speakers have a push-tab connector terminal. The manufacture suggests using 16 ga or thicker wire, just twisted and stuck into the tabs. What do you all suggest? Also, is 12 GA for these little speakers an overkill?