"Below Entry-Level"

[Zuman]

My brother is not an audiophile. He likes good sound, but is more inclined to invest in home theater than in 2-channel gear. Nevertheless, he's attended Capital Audiofest with me and he's also heard my system, and he has at least a vague idea of what's possible.
When I bought my Von Schweikert speakers, I gave him my previous pair, a very good-sounding pair of two-way towers with ScanSpeak and Morel drivers, high-quality crossovers, excellent cabinets, IsoAcoustics feet, etc. But they are connected to his Marantz SR5015 receiver with lamp cord.
The speakers in his system sound nothing like they did in mine. Obviously there are a lot of factors in play, but I have to believe that his speaker wires play a role in limiting his system's overall performance (I don't believe that his room is the primary problem). I'd describe the core difference in sound between the speakers in his room and system and in mine (with Tidal as a source in both) as being a restriction in dynamic range, with a muddiness in the lower mids and attenuated highs.
I'm not going to be able to get him to make a multi-thousand dollar investment in cables, but I'd like him to get something better than his lamp cord. Can you recommend speaker cables that are worthwhile for no more than $500 a pair?

 

[spiritofmusic]

What makes you think he won't consider $500 as crazy pricing?
You should be asking $50-100 tops.

 

[Synaxis]

My brother is not an audiophile. He likes good sound, but is more inclined to invest in home theater than in 2-channel gear. Nevertheless, he's attended Capital Audiofest with me and he's also heard my system, and he has at least a vague idea of what's possible.
When I bought my Von Schweikert speakers, I gave him my previous pair, a very good-sounding pair of two-way towers with ScanSpeak and Morel drivers, high-quality crossovers, excellent cabinets, IsoAcoustics feet, etc. But they are connected to his Marantz SR5015 receiver with lamp cord.
The speakers in his system sound nothing like they did in mine. Obviously there are a lot of factors in play, but I have to believe that his speaker wires play a role in limiting his system's overall performance (I don't believe that his room is the primary problem). I'd describe the core difference in sound between the speakers in his room and system and in mine (with Tidal as a source in both) as being a restriction in dynamic range, with a muddiness in the lower mids and attenuated highs.
I'm not going to be able to get him to make a multi-thousand dollar investment in cables, but I'd like him to get something better than his lamp cord. Can you recommend speaker cables that are worthwhile for no more than $500 a pair?

Without knowing any of the details of the set up, if he has the speakers up against the wall or in a terrible location as most HT people do, I'm not sure spending any money on cables will be worth it beyond maybe a decent pair of Blue Jeans cables or something like that.

My bet would be he should first try and position the speakers better (assuming they are not already).

If he ha a giant TV and cabinet between the speakers and the couch in the wrong position, will it make much of a difference?

 

[Zuman]

What makes you think he won't consider $500 as crazy pricing?
You should be asking $50-100 tops.

I chose $500 as the limit:
1) Because I’ll be buying them.
2) Because I want to maximize the chance of new cables making an audible improvement, and I’m guessing that there’s a better chance of that with $500 as a limit rather than $50-100.
3) Because I’m asking the question on WhatsBestForum, and I suspect there may not be much experience here in trying to parse the differences between cables in the $50-100 range.

 

[KPC]

Audio Envy.
However, the effectiveness of the cable upgrades depends on the transparency of the audio chain, so not sure if upgrade is worth it

 

[Al M.]

Without knowing any of the details of the set up, if he has the speakers up against the wall or in a terrible location as most HT people do, I'm not sure spending any money on cables will be worth it beyond maybe a decent pair of Blue Jeans cables or something like that.

Blue Jeans cables sound like a decent option. You can get them at Amazon too.

 

[Zuman]

My bet would be he should first try and position the speakers better (assuming they are not already).

If he ha a giant TV and cabinet between the speakers and the couch in the wrong position, will it make much of a difference?

Thanks. I spent a fair amount of time positioning the speakers, and they're about three feet from the front wall and three feet from both side walls. I also worked on toe-in for a while, especially since I think the highs are weak.
He has a projector and screen for TV and the screen retracts when he's not watching TV.
I'm going to check out the Blue Jeans cable options, though!

 

[flowcharts]

If DIY is an option, pick the Neotech option that best fits the budget + some connectors.

 

[tima]

Can you recommend speaker cables that are worthwhile for no more than $500 a pair?

There are several well performing low cost 'industrial' wires for speaker cables and interconnects that are not 'audiophile' cables. The Blue Jean cable company uses several of these and turns them into audiophile cables.

I'l suggest Gotham 50150 as an example. I don't know what length or termination you need. You can buy in 10 foot increments for $16/per on ebay. So inexpensive to try bare wire as shown in the Marantz SR5015 manual.

Alternatives include Mogami, Belden, Canare.

 

[christoph]

I chose $500 as the limit:
1) Because I’ll be buying them.
2) Because I want to maximize the chance of new cables making an audible improvement, and I’m guessing that there’s a better chance of that with $500 as a limit rather than $50-100.
3) Because I’m asking the question on WhatsBestForum, and I suspect there may not be much experience here in trying to parse the differences between cables in the $50-100 range.

I really like Goertz Foil cables very much.
IMHO absolutely worth a try.

 

[kswanson27]

Thanks. I spent a fair amount of time positioning the speakers, and they're about three feet from the front wall and three feet from both side walls. I also worked on toe-in for a while, especially since I think the highs are weak.
He has a projector and screen for TV and the screen retracts when he's not watching TV.
I'm going to check out the Blue Jeans cable options, though!

I'm running Blue Jeans Canare with locking bananas and speakons from my Benchmark to my Quads. I'm very pleased with the sound. I've trialed three "audiophile" cables from the Cable Company and have no desire to change. Not saying there isn't anything better out there but for the money there might not be.

 

[Republicoftexas69]

Take a look at DH Labs or Signal Audio Cable.

 

[Zuman]

Thanks for the very helpful suggestions! He's agreed to trial three pairs from the suggestions made here, and I'm pretty sure he'll hear differences (at least compared with what he's using now). I'll let you know...