Speaker wires - what's not the worst

[wealreadyhaveamember]

<font color='#000000'>I've enjoyed this website's information on high end cabling. &nbsp;I know that I will not end up wasting my money on cabling that I don't need. &nbsp;However, from a strictly budget point of view, what are the cheapest brand of cables that is acceptable?

I noticed that this website suggests www.partsexpress.com in its DIY speaker cables section. &nbsp;Parts Express has its own line of cabling (Dayton Audio), whoose speaker cable seems to be just fine for me (12 gauge Oxygen free). &nbsp;Anybody try their audio/digital coax/or subwoofer cables? &nbsp;They are much cheaper than Monster Cables.</font>

 

[Rip Van Woofer]

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wealreadyhaveamember : <font color='#000000'>...They are much cheaper than Monster Cables.</font>

<font color='#000000'>That's because Monster Cables are a rip-off. They contract with Belden, etc. to put their own name on wire, build in a hefty dealer markup so the dealer will hype it for quick and easy profit, and you pay.

There was a good article about their business model in Forbes a few years back called &quot;Selling Sizzle with Sizzle&quot; that told the story. Of course, Forbes considered it a success story. Capitalist peegs! &nbsp;

Parts Express is fine. So is Radio Shack. For that matter, so is Target or K-mart.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>You may wish to read this article that's posted on the audioholics web site for more information on cables.
http://www.audioholics.com/techtip....ing.php
  d.b.</font>

 

[Guest]

<font color='#000000'>Here's another article from Audioholics. &nbsp;Their conclusion is that speaker wire do make a difference (is the difference audible? Well that's a subjective topic) in terms of measuring the inductance, capacitance, resistance and interference...but you actually pay more for build quality and reliability. &nbsp; The most expensive cable in the test came out last. &nbsp;The cable you find from Partsexpress (Sound King came ahead of it):

http://www.audioholics.com/techtip....fp3.htm

Top three choices in order of preference were:

1) Cobalt Cables
2) Monster Cable Navajo
3) Sound King 12AWG (see the Audioholics DIY Speaker Cable Recipe )</font>