Good but cheap speaker cables.

Lee · Jun 29, 2012

Some here know of my love of the Black Cat line. I've posted in the past on the Black Cat Firefly cables at $160 a pair.

Today I took receipt of the Black Cat Morpheus speaker cable to go with my Morpheus interconnects. These go for $350 or so a 3 meter pair.

Very nice detail, good imaging, and wonderful bass and HF. A very open and musical set of cables.

I thought it might be good to have a thread on good cable bargains and this is my entry.

Here is the site if you want to try some affordable cables or need something cheap for a second system.

http://www.stereolab-hifi.com/?page_id=484

Bruce B · Jun 29, 2012

I always liked the DH Labs silver sonics. Also loved the Harmonic Tech cables.

LL21 · Jun 30, 2012

Sablon Audio sells direct. I know the owner well, and he is a truly passionate, hard working audiophile. No affiliation, but he does have his customers do shoot outs and they often use Jorma Prime, Nordost Valhalla/Odin and the ilk. And his stuff runs from $750 for ICs/PCs to $2K-$3K for SCs.

Johnny Vinyl · Jun 30, 2012

Rich (naturephoto1) was kind enough to send me some VALAB/King Cable speaker cables, IC's and a PC some years back. The 8' pair of terminated speaker cables cost around $200, and when I installed them in my then HT I couldn't believe the improvement I was hearing.

flez007 · Jun 30, 2012

I had Kimber 8TC in shutgun configuration for somebyears, a little "thick" sounding but above average performance.

Lee · Jun 30, 2012

Bruce B said:
I always liked the DH Labs silver sonics. Also loved the Harmonic Tech cables.

I like those as well. Really impressed with the Harmonic Technology line.

Lee · Jun 30, 2012

flez007 said:
I had Kimber 8TC in shutgun configuration for somebyears, a little "thick" sounding but above average performance.

I have an internal biwire pair of 8TC for my old Maggie 1.6s. But the Black Cat stuff is better. The Morpheus line smokes it for less money imho.

NorthStar · Jun 30, 2012

---Methinks that when it comes to speaker wires, a good match with your loudspeaker's characteristics (tonal attributes) is KEY. :b

Many good value speaker wires out there, and they come in various flavors: KimberKable, AudioQuest, Esoteric, UltraLink, Canare, Nordost, JPS Labs, ...

Lee · Jun 30, 2012

NorthStar said:
---Methinks that when it comes to speaker wires, a good match with your loudspeaker's characteristics (tonal attributes) is KEY. :b

I agree with this but I have also found that some designs are more open than others.

NorthStar · Jun 30, 2012

--- I just edited my post above (I added). :b

Mosin · Jul 1, 2012

The obvious reply is, "Define cheap." I will make the assumption that Tel-Wire is cheap enough. That's what I like, anyway.

They aren't really that cheap, but you can spend a lot more, and get a lot less performance, in my opinion. They don't glitter or anything; they just sit back and let the music through.

JackD201 · Jul 1, 2012

My favorite budget cable is still the Townshend Maxwire (copper litz, air insulated in a pvc tube) ran for less than $200. I actually found it more balanced than the more expensive Isolda ribbons. Too bad they were discontinued. I hoarded a bunch for personal use before they stopped making them. These cables are NOT for sale.

MylesBAstor · Jul 1, 2012

JackD201 said:
My favorite budget cable is still the Townshend Maxwire (copper litz, air insulated in a pvc tube) ran for less than $200. I actually found it more balanced than the more expensive Isolda ribbons. Too bad they were discontinued. I hoarded a bunch for personal use before they stopped making them. These cables are NOT for sale.

The best inexpensive cable I ever heard was the Phoenix Gold A320x. IC and speaker cables were around 10-20 dollars and made great tone arm wire. Alas no longer in production and replacement not the same. Jed Hacker tried copying it with mixed success.

DonH50 · Jul 1, 2012

Curious: How many have compared e.g. 12 AWG stranded from a hardware store, and/or low-priced cable like Blue Jeans, to more expensive cables? I participated in a number of tests ages ago but have no recent experience to speak of, and the supporting documents I have for those long-ago tests is nil. I remember the conclusions but that would be just my opinion. Do any of those fit the "good but cheap" definition? I would certainly think so, but have not tried the cables listed in this thread.

I do agree with the opinion that system/cable interaction is a significant contributing factor.

JackD201 · Jul 1, 2012

DonH50 said:
Curious: How many have compared e.g. 12 AWG stranded from a hardware store, and/or low-priced cable like Blue Jeans, to more expensive cables? I participated in a number of tests ages ago but have no recent experience to speak of, and the supporting documents I have for those long-ago tests is nil. I remember the conclusions but that would be just my opinion. Do any of those fit the "good but cheap" definition? I would certainly think so, but have not tried the cables listed in this thread.

I do agree with the opinion that system/cable interaction is a significant contributing factor.

Me

Many different off the spool 12 gauges in fact. I found that tonal balance differed from type to type. Some had dull top ends, some had skinny bass and everything in between. Some also sounded louder than others. Funny thing is that I found the same type of differences between branded 12 gauge cables.

I have the same way of looking at cables as Gary (see his website) where the sound of a cable is not additive but subtractive. A bright cable is one that doesn't let the bass information through etcetera. The cable I mentioned isn't even 12 gauge. Eyeballing 'em peaking through the clear PVC tube my guess would be 16. I know it doesn't conduct as well as my 6 gauge reference because to get to the same SPL I have to up the volume. However I do find that unlike most other wire I've tried it is balanced from top to bottom with no nasty peaks or dips. For me the right recipe for a good cable, regardless of price.

Lee · Jul 1, 2012

DonH50 said:
Curious: How many have compared e.g. 12 AWG stranded from a hardware store, and/or low-priced cable like Blue Jeans, to more expensive cables? I participated in a number of tests ages ago but have no recent experience to speak of, and the supporting documents I have for those long-ago tests is nil. I remember the conclusions but that would be just my opinion. Do any of those fit the "good but cheap" definition? I would certainly think so, but have not tried the cables listed in this thread.

I do agree with the opinion that system/cable interaction is a significant contributing factor.

I have and I have never been impressed with hardware store wire or BlueJeans cable. There is value in metal quality and cable geometry,

Lee · Jul 1, 2012

JackD201 said:
I have the same way of looking at cables as Gary (see his website) where the sound of a cable is not additive but subtractive.

Ditto.

NorthStar · Jul 2, 2012

Mosin said:
The obvious reply is, "Define cheap." I will make the assumption that Tel-Wire is cheap enough. That's what I like, anyway.

They aren't really that cheap, but you can spend a lot more, and get a lot less performance, in my opinion. They don't glitter or anything; they just sit back and let the music through.

-----Roughly 15-20% of your entire audio system setup. ...For some people it's less than 10%, and for others it's more than 25%.

NorthStar · Jul 2, 2012

MylesBAstor said:
The best inexpensive cable I ever heard was the Phoenix Gold A320x. IC and speaker cables were around 10-20 dollars and made great tone arm wire. Alas no longer in production and replacement not the same. Jed Hacker tried copying it with mixed success.

-----I got some Phoenix Gold interconnects and "Y" connectors. Extremely affordable.
And their speaker wires were in custom use for car stereo installs.

NorthStar · Jul 2, 2012

Lee said:
I have and I have never been impressed with hardware store wire or BlueJeans cable.
There is value in metal quality and cable geometry,

Yes there is; in the copper purity, silver, and in the geometry of the cables (wires); braided, solid core, flat, round, etc.
Plus the covering (insulation); like teflon, etc.

But system matching is primordial because some components requires double, or even triple shielding (subwoofers, some power amplifiers), and others love barenaked wires!

Good but cheap speaker cables.

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