Suggestions for Speaker Cables

M

MacCali

Full Audioholic
Hmmmm I see what you got, those cables actually have lower capacitance as well.. the ones I ordered are 30.6/ft and those are 24/ft. But the thing is I want them terminated, 8 ft is $36 on BJC and 8 ft terminated from the place im ordering is $24. The Gotham's are a shielded and the beldens are unshielded. Not debating which is better, just presenting what I see, just going by price and im trying to go the cheapest and terminated

So if I buy 22 ft, so I can knock out the center channel as well with shipping and tax it's ~24, now I need to buy banana plugs $4 a pair, wire striper, and the effort. So 24 plus banana plugs just jumped up to 40 and that's just enough banana plugs for two speakers. if I got terminations for the center channel it would be 48.

wire stripers 4? DIY Effort?

Only way to do this for value is DIY and purchase the length for every speaker I will have in my system as displayed above, and for the effort i'd rather just pay 48. No shipping

it's 12 dollars cheaper per cable with terminations.
 
NINaudio

NINaudio

Audioholic Samurai
You're really over thinking this too much. Anything above and beyond a standard 12 or 14 awg copper cable is just eye candy. The effort to DIY is pretty minimal, a few minutes at worst per cable. If you want no effort, ready to go stuff, you've got some options already posted here. There's also:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L37VMR/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A2IHZFOHOQ0WG8&psc=1 which comes in multiple lengths.

And you can get 12 pairs of banana plugs for $25 and 100 feet of 12 AWG cable for $43 if you want to go DIY:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072KOHQ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Enhanced-Oxygen-Free-Copper-Speaker/dp/B003L14ZAQ/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8A6GECZA465N43T9ZT08

Then you'll be set to do an entire 5.1 system.
 
M

Movie2099

Audioholic General
Hey guys, back at it again. So caught up in my research I forgot about speaker cables

Any thoughts on some cheap beginner cables?

I found the cables I want to purchase but they are telling me 6-8 weeks. I’m not trying to wait that long and maybe looking for something temporary as my speakers should arrive in 5-7 days.

I will just wait until Black Friday to get my entire cable set up and speakers.

Only purchased two speakers so I don’t need a 100 ft of cable.

very open to DIY, but which cable?

I saw the parts express suggestion. Open to that and just seeking your opinion.

I was thinking audioquest rocket 11, just purchase 12 feet for 42 dollars.

I dont own any equipment prior to this, just bought my receiver.
Synergistic Research is all you need to know. Their website is your first and last stop for cables and everything audio. Worth every penny!
 
M

MacCali

Full Audioholic
You're really over thinking this too much. Anything above and beyond a standard 12 or 14 awg copper cable is just eye candy. The effort to DIY is pretty minimal, a few minutes at worst per cable. If you want no effort, ready to go stuff, you've got some options already posted here. There's also:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L37VMR/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_9?smid=A2IHZFOHOQ0WG8&psc=1 which comes in multiple lengths.

And you can get 12 pairs of banana plugs for $25 and 100 feet of 12 AWG cable for $43 if you want to go DIY:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0072KOHQ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Enhanced-Oxygen-Free-Copper-Speaker/dp/B003L14ZAQ/ref=pd_ybh_a_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8A6GECZA465N43T9ZT08

Then you'll be set to do an entire 5.1 system.
I was mentioning I would prefer someone to do it for me before I burn my house down. I recall someone had mentioned those Gotham cables before to me on a headphones forum for interconnect.

This is the second person, I called an audio shop that was going to do the terminations for me. The guy said he can do it, but I’m going to basically pay more all around and it’s overkill for the system I’m setting up. He told me I can get any length and terminated for free from this place.

Low and behold this place is 1.5 mi away from where I live. So now I can have them do it for me and have it ready by the time my speakers arrive. My speakers should arrive Thursday or Friday.

So I don’t think I’m getting robbed to the extent you guys are calculating. I only need two cables for 2 speakers. That’s all I have right now until Black Friday, I already spent a killing vs my budget. Which stated I shouldn’t even get a home theater sound system at this time.
 
M

MacCali

Full Audioholic
Synergistic Research is all you need to know. Their website is your first and last stop for cables and everything audio. Worth every penny!
I agree, but look at post #42. I’m doing my best to research.

I very much appreciate everyones advice, but I am taking into consideration multiple factors.

After the amount of money I’ve invested, 20 30 dollars isn’t a factor. I saved 500 dollars on my receiver.

I was going to pay a 100 dollars more for receiver that was weaker topology wise than the one I got when it went on sale for Black Friday.

So now I didn’t have to wait which is savings in itself. I’ve been holding off since May when I wanted to already make these purchases and it was out of reach.

So I got way more than what I can ask for by having patience.

I don’t want to have contemplation for 30 or 40 dollars, when I’m waist deep already
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
Are those Salk cables?

Don't forget your Risers or the Cables are Useless

Cable+Risers.jpg
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
How is speaker cable going to burn your house down? o_O
Using a thin unrated cable in-wall to for high spl might get the amperes/heat high enough that we find out what the ratings ARE good for.
 
M

MacCali

Full Audioholic
Lol I’m just saying, not literally. But who knows, anything is possible.

I already purchased risers, don’t won’t my floorboards acting up on me
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
Make sure your cables run North to South. The Signal from the receiver runs easier downhill without any Distortion. And NEVER run your cables East to West. The magnetic pull of the Moon will Fuc the Magnets up inside your Subwoofers.
 
M

Movie2099

Audioholic General
Make sure your cables run North to South. The Signal from the receiver runs easier downhill without any Distortion. And NEVER run your cables East to West. The magnetic pull of the Moon will Fuc the Magnets up inside your Subwoofers.
For $10k per 3m cable, Synergistic Research let you run your cables East to west.
 
T

txbonds

Full Audioholic
Here you go for easy and cheap speaker cables cut to length and rated for in-wall use:

WIRE

BANANA CONNECTORS


or if you want pre-made and pretty there are these.
 
Speedskater

Speedskater

Audioholic General
OK, but to what extent does this RF affect the audible performance? Assuming power "conditioner" companies take this on an absolute level, how well do they suppress RF if they use semiconductors in their designs?
Interference impact is a case by case situation. Sometimes it's intermittent and sometimes it's just added background noise.
Power conditioners have nothing to do with interference entering thru the speaker cables or interconnect cables.
Most power conditioners won't do a good job on power line interference either. (but again that's a case by case situation)
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
Well man I’m not here to debate, you are apparently more than knowledgeable.

my question would just lead to what do you think the best cables would be for my Elac Unifi 2.0?

I’m not talking about Home Depot, right now I’m just purchasing temporary. That’s why I’m going cheap. Only currently ordered 2 bookshelves.

Later I wish to buy whatever it is that will be precisely what the speakers need.

Crossover frequency: 200 / 2,000 Hz
Frequency response: 46 to 35,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 85 dB at 2.83 v/1m
Recommended amplifier power: 40 to 140 wpc
Peak power handling: 140 wpc
Nominal impedance: 6 Ω
On the graph hits 5.6 ohms

Towers
Crossover frequency: 200 / 2,000 Hz
Frequency response: 42 to 35,000 Hz
Sensitivity: 85 dB at 2.83 v/1m
Recommended amplifier power: 40 to 140 wpc
Peak power handling: 140 wpc
Nominal impedance: 6 Ω

Believe those are both the same, and the towers nominal impedance is 5.6 lowest.
I'm going to guess that a few million miles of non-audiophile speaker cable has been used for installations over the decades and nobody ever complained about the sound quality because A) it works just fine and B) there's no easy way to compare it with something else.

Most people would never recognize the brand names of speaker wire used in commercial/industrial installations and many of those systems are designed by actual engineers. Try telling them about special wire and they'll look at you like you're on TV and they're a dog- they see and hear something but don't understand it because what is being described has no basis in science. If it needs shielding, it's best to move it and if not, leave it be. Necessary wire gauge is determined by knowing the power output, speaker impedance, ambient temperature, distance and really, that's about all that matters. Feelings about how it sounds don't matter. Rule of thumb- if the speakers are in a normal sized house and especially if they're in the same room as the amplifier (or near it), 14ga is probably heavier than necessary but it will work fine. 12ga is overkill, but it makes people feel they have hedged their bets. Heavier than that and if it's some esoteric brand, money is being wasted. Wire splices? Just fine, if they're done right. Seriously.

Don't overthink this- you're not using extremely expensive equipment and a huge amplifier with power hungry speakers in a room that has been acoustically treated by respected professionals.

Not long after I started selling audio equipment, the magazines started filling peoples' heads with BS, specs they didn't understand and marketing buzzwords. People would come in and ask about an amplifier's slew rate, even though it might have been a cheap 20W receiver and they didn't have a clue what it is or why it might be important. The response to them was usually "How does it sound?" and "Can you hear the difference between these receivers?". Some would come in with their new copy of Audio, Consumer Reports or Stereo Review under their arm and ask "How many Amps (Amperes) does this put out?" as if we needed to pass their test. When we would do a rough calculation and tell them it would be around 2.5 Amperes, they were confused and would then say "But this says it's 100 Watts!" and we would tell them that Watts aren't the same as Amperes.

Critical listening is learned- we don't spring from the womb knowing what to listen for but we should accept that not everything makes enough difference that an exhorbitant cost is justified. If someone wants to justify it and it won't cause financial harm, they can go ahead, but I have a problem when they almost demand that others hear the same or try to make others feel like they're lepers if they can't.

Listen to the damn music!
 
M

MacCali

Full Audioholic
Here you go for easy and cheap speaker cables cut to length and rated for in-wall use:

WIRE

BANANA CONNECTORS


or if you want pre-made and pretty there are these.
Thanks bud, I don’t need in walls. Not that deep into the game yet. This is my first sound system/home theater.

I saw those SVS, but it’s pricy, I’m just trying to get garbage for the moment.

found local, cheap, and terminated to length for an outstanding price. I’m not expecting anything beyond sound.
 

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