Best speaker wire for the RS 2.5s

Sound Armour

New Member
What is the best speaker wire for the price, for the Infinity RS 2.5s? I am currently looking at getting the Audioquest Rocket 44s. Is that a good choice or is there something better for cheaper?
 
Welcome to another Pacific Northwest'er. Portland seems to be a popular place for Infinity. I have a good friend forum member down there who I'm rebuilding a set of 2.5's for.

I've owned a few sets of Audioquest speaker cables, and have used Type 8's for a number of years now. I can just say one thing about them....ditch their stock Audioquest plastic-bodied spades or bananas and re-terminate with something better. I re-terminated the Type 8's with these: https://www.zavfino1877.com/spadeconnector and I am so much happier with the cables. I was never fond of the internal mechanical connection that the Audioquest stock connectors made with the individual wires that comprise the cable. The 1877's, on the other hand, have a solid double screw down, and lots of space to solder internally. Far superior.

I've also used the Rocket 88's. I think the only difference between the 44s and the 88s is that the 88 has the dielectric bias system, whereby a battery exerts a constant voltage on the dielectric with no current flow. Audioquest produces a ton of dbs cables in both speaker cables and interconnects. The idea behind it is to keep the cable "broken in". Much like breaking in new capacitors in a crossover network, listeners -including me- feel that they often sound better after having an electrical voltage (the audio signal voltage) applied to them over some time, usually 1 or 2 hundred hours. As a side note, this suggests something interesting to me- that the dielectric has far more influence on the sound of cables than we generally think. There seems to be a growing trend in high-end audio that favors cables with less and less (or no) dielectric. Morrow Audio, AntiCables, Audio Envy, etc. I'm trying some Audio Envy interconnects and really like them.

I also have a set of Audioquest Slate's with old-style narrow spades on one end that are for my Audio Research Classic 120's. I can't see that there is any real difference between the construction of the Slate's and the Rocket 44's.

So I guess you could say that ALL my speaker cables are Audioquest. I have no complaints at all, except those stock spades & bananas. If you get them online from Audio Advisor, though, you can get them terminated by one of AA's techs, and those terminations are much better.
G~
 
Another thing is, the 44's/88's/Slate's can be easily set up for bi-wire. I've tried bi-wiring different things, and I can't honestly say that it left a lasting impression on me. Others may feel differently, though, since so much of this stuff is system dependent. My 88's are set up for bi-wire now, and I'm leaning toward selling them. The Type 8's I'm using are a set of 4 used in an active tri-amp on Magnepans.
G~
 
Thanks for all of the information everyone! I ordered a pair of Audioquest Rocket 44s. I will let you guys know what I think of them!
 
Audioquest solid-core cables and Infinity speakers go together very nicely in my experience.
 
I just ordered the rocket 44’s too, in a bi wire set up from the factory. I’ll give my impressions when they arrive.

I really like the solid core approach, it just sounds better in my system.
 
I bought some Audioquest Type 4+ solid core and I think it sounds great. The one thing I noticed is a 'cleaner' sound. That's about the best way I can describe it.

Larry D.
 
The Type 4's were great for me too, and what I'm hearing now with the Rocket 44 reminds me a little of them. The vocals in music is centered very precisely. It's immediately better than my Wireworld Oasis 7 cables, which have the vocal there as well, but it seems wider somehow, more inexact. Like the vocal is coming from an 18 " spot in the center, and with the 44's, it's coming from a single point as it should.

I'm getting better detail too from top to bottom. It's more of a subtle improvement, but very notable. The bass is defined better, and is more impactful too which surprised me since I've got the subwoofer taking everything below 80 Hz. But I also replaced the cable that connects the iphone to dac. I went from a cheap generic cable to the Audioquest Cinnamon USB cable. When I listened to it with the old speaker cables, the bass and more detail in highs was evident. Vocals were cleaner, when the singer pronounced an "s" or a "t" it was more exact.

But back to the 44's. There is a more defined soundstage. When I went back for a second listening session, the sound got laid back, warmer as I listened. As the cables are brand new, I was expecting a break in period, so it'll take some time. I'll look around for how long this break in should take, but even right out of the box, the Rocket 44's are better than the Type 4 and better than the Wireworld Oasis 7.

I'm going now to pick up the Audioquest NRG-4 power cable that came in for me. My dac has no upgraded power cable and I thought I'd upgrade that as well. Breaking them all in at once is my intention and hopefully it won't take near as long as the Morrow cables.
 
Yes, I am getting a more 'precise' sound from the Type 4+ also. When I listened to Roger Waters 'Three Wishes' Roger's voice seemed to be projected from dead center, just as if he were sitting between the two speakers. I kinda jumped on the inside because I wasn't ready for the realism when he started speaking. Seemed like he was there in my living room. I imagine the 44's are even better.

Larry D.
 
I would like to get a set of Neotech speaker cables (their top of the line ones), but they're cost prohibitive at the moment, for me. They are a higher gauge than the Audioquest and are made up of many smaller gauge wires which are supposed to be better than just a single wire or stranded. You'd have to read up on them to understand the benefits. I don't remember all the hows and whys of their design. Something to do with skin effect and noise cancellation.
I just know I hear a cleaner and more precise sound with the smaller gauge Audioquest over my stranded 11gauge Canares.
LD
 
I went the opposite way this week, replaced my AudioQuest Type 4 with Radio Shack (Auvio?) wire.
Went from solid to stranded, 17 gauge to 12, 100% copper to 50% copper/50% silver coated copper.
Haven't done enough listening to know what if any changes have been made.
Been happy with the AQ wire, bought the RS wire on sale a couple years ago and finally decided to try it out.
 
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The Type 4 is the cable that proved to me cables affect the sound. I sat almost in shock as I heard my same music with this new clarity and focus. I was also somewhat crestfallen at the nonsense I had accepted previously, that all cables sound the same.

The idea that cables degrade the signal before it gets to your speakers, changed my approach completely. I almost feel sorry for those stuck in the snake oil mind set. Almost!
 
The Type 4 is the cable that proved to me cables affect the sound. I sat almost in shock as I heard my same music with this new clarity and focus. I was also somewhat crestfallen at the nonsense I had accepted previously, that all cables sound the same.

The idea that cables degrade the signal before it gets to your speakers, changed my approach completely. I almost feel sorry for those stuck in the snake oil mind set. Almost!

++++1 Could not agree more!!!!!
 
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