Please help me with my semi-audiophile speaker cable setup

[rrpalma]

Hello,

Perhaps some of you might remember my trying to set up a nice semi audiophile set of components
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68148

I ended up buying a McCormack DNA 250 amp, LD 2 preamp, PSB Speakers, and an Oppo 83 SE player. Obviously, I went over budget

Now that the components are all here, I'm only missing speaker and component cables. I've used Monster before, but my last installation had Silversonic, and I was quite pleased. So now I intend to use Silversonic again, but when checking our their prices, there's almost a 3X increase when going with terminated cables vs bare wire.

So my question is: since I already spent a lot of money, is it worth the effort to buy terminated cables, or bare wire should be OK?

What do the audiophiles within our community think? Thanks for reading!

 

[its phillip]

These are all you need.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2747&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?spcDB=10236&spcWord=Audio+Cables+-+Digital+Coaxial+Audio&keyword=rca

 

[rrpalma]

These are all you need.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023901&p_id=2747&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?spcDB=10236&spcWord=Audio+Cables+-+Digital+Coaxial+Audio&keyword=rca

Thanks for the links! So, no spade or banana plugs on the speaker cables?

 

[its phillip]

Well banana plugs aren't necessary - just super convenient. Monoprice does carry various kinds of those as well:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10401&cs_id=1040115

 

[jostenmeat]

I ran searches under your name, OP. You got the Syncrony's?
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68148

Buy the monoprice 12awg. Just add some bananas, but I don't recommend the Monoprice ones, because I prefer the locking bananas. I use "Unique" locking plugs, but I do believe the GLS are the more popularly known of such things.

All you need is a tiny flat head screwdriver.

 

[rrpalma]

Thanks for reading, and replying. Yes, I got the PSB Syncrony Ones -- they should be here next week.

What's the GLS and the Unique locking plugs?

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for reading, and replying. Yes, I got the PSB Syncrony Ones -- they should be here next week.

What's the GLS and the Unique locking plugs?

They are just terminations. FWIW, nothing beats bare speaker wire. The convenience with having the spade/banana as you put it is no worry of corrosion over time (but you can snip new wire once/twice a year, and even that's prolly overkill).

The "locking" bananas have a termination that has a sheath of sorts that goes over it. All that happens is you twist the "sheath", and the plug will simply stay put; won't come loose. (The inner part expands.)

We are talking small fries here. As with your other thread, you are too worried about whether your salt is kosher or not, how well the grinder works, and not how prime the steak is, or the grille, temperature, etc. Actually, that's probably unfair; processor and amp will have much more impact than choice of wire.

wire is wire is wire, as long as it's not a POS construction. And no, money has almost nothing to do with it. Google the 50 HDMI cable shootout at AH for instance. $15 HDMI cables are outperforming $400 cables. It's all a sham, outside of having a reputable honest company. Yeah, I know, what the hell is that . . .

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I may suggest to OP in the future to balance the speakers to be 60-65% of the cost and only %30-35 electronics as I we AHers can pretty much guarantee you - you wont hear any difference between two decent amps ether it's cost is $4000 or $800, however you'll notice a lot of difference with better speakers ( or just keep the great speakers you got and use the money for sub

 

[3db]

Thanks for reading, and replying. Yes, I got the PSB Syncrony Ones -- they should be here next week.

What's the GLS and the Unique locking plugs?

Damm I hate you .....J/K Let us know how they work out. I would really love to get my mits on Synchrony HT setup based on the T1 towers but I have 2 kids that i'm about to push thru univeristy.

The cables that its phiilip suggested are a good quality cable at a good price.

 

[JerryLove]

I may suggest to OP in the future to balance the speakers to be 60-65% of the cost and only %30-35 electronics as I we AHers can pretty much guarantee you - you wont hear any difference between two decent amps ether it's cost is $4000 or $800, however you'll notice a lot of difference with better speakers ( or just keep the great speakers you got and use the money for sub

Actually, I'd say "pick the speakers then determine what amps you need to drive them".

 

[rrpalma]

Actually, I'd say "pick the speakers then determine what amps you need to drive them".

Thnaks, but it's really early, and I'm on my dumb mode ....

so you think it's too much amp for those speakers? or the other way around?

 

[3db]

What models are you getting? From a quick check thru the line's spec sheets, these speakers are a 4 ohm speaker: meaning that the nominal and the minimum values are the same. Their impedance will rise with frequency but never drop below the 4ohms. These speakers are not very efficient either so a stout amplifier is needed to drive them. They have gotten nothing but stellar reviews from the audio industry. I don't put alot of stock in individual reviews but when the industry as a whole as nothing but good things to say, its worth investigating.

As far as amps go, on the upper but cheaper end, there is Bryston which comes with a 20 yr warranty. You can also go as low as $500 to $800 for Emotiva power amps which also gets good reviews.

 

[JerryLove]

so you think it's too much amp for those speakers? or the other way around?

No. I was responding to the person who recommended a specific dollar split between speakers and amps for future purchases. I think that is the wrong way to go.

You have 3-way 4-ohm 300W speakers with 88db sensitivity that you are driving with a 400x2 @4ohm amp. It looks fine to me; though I'm still learning myself in regards to some of the nuances of amp-speaker matching (as my recent experience proves).

 

[rrpalma]

Thanks for all the comments. Got a good deal on Silversonic, which I also used in my car with great results.