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Opinion on Speaker Cables?

S

SpyderTracks

Super Member
Hi all

Firstly, I’m very new to all this, I’m just finishing off my system with some new bookshelf speakers and am looking for opinions on speaker cables.

I’ve narrowed it down to 2 contenders and wondered if anyone had any experience with them?

1/. Kimber Cable 8PR 2.5m terminated with gold spades or bananas

2/. Audioquest Rocket 33 2 x 2m terminated with gold spades or bananas

From the reviews I’ve seen so far, the Kimber seems to be more overall balanced. I’ve seen the Audioquest can be considered perhaps a bit bright?

I’m running a PrimaLuna Evo 100 Integrated Tube amp, looking for as much warmth as possible. Speakers are Buchardt S300s which are rated down to 35Hz.

It’s a full analogue system purely for vinyl playback.
 
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Welcome to AudioKarma!

Man, first post and you dive into a rabbit hole head first......

Speaker cables are one of those things that there are half a million opinions on, and lots of discussion back and forth (often going nowhere).

Both cables will work fine. Make sure the connections are solid and clean them once in a while, should last you the rest of your life. Pick the one you like the looks of.

Or you can do what I do, buy some nice copper 14 gauge twin conductor wire (aka zip cord), tin the ends with solder, and listen you your music. 12 gauge if you have a big amp driving power hungry speakers. I like marine grade wire, it has very good insulation and is red/black so it's easy to connect properly.

I don't believe there is a measurable difference between ANY cable six feet long. Couple hundred feet, might need to check resistance and capacitance, but six feet, not going to be able to measure it without very expensive equipment.
 
Seriously, the only time I really noticed a difference was when I put together a temporary system using "Audioquest Type 2+ Spread Spectrum Hyperlitz." It was solid core and sounded very bright. I replaced with some no-name (Radio Shack I suspect) multi-stranded zip, and the brightness was corrected.
 
Spyder, you have some pretty cool speakers and gear. I would live to hear a pair. I am a Dynaudio fan so appreciate Danish speakers.

Either would fit the bill along with a list of others. Nothing wrong with cabling quality gear with quality cables. I only have experience with Kimber and AQ ICs but both are decent MFGs and choices.

Good luck and enjoy your system.
 
HPMguy said:
Welcome to AudioKarma!

Man, first post and you dive into a rabbit hole head first......

Speaker cables are one of those things that there are half a million opinions on, and lots of discussion back and forth (often going nowhere).

Both cables will work fine. Make sure the connections are solid and clean them once in a while, should last you the rest of your life. Pick the one you like the looks of.

Or you can do what I do, buy some nice copper 14 gauge twin conductor wire (aka zip cord), tin the ends with solder, and listen you your music. 12 gauge if you have a big amp driving power hungry speakers. I like marine grade wire, it has very good insulation and is red/black so it's easy to connect properly.

I don't believe there is a measurable difference between ANY cable six feet long. Couple hundred feet, might need to check resistance and capacitance, but six feet, not going to be able to measure it without very expensive equipment.
Click to expand...

Splatter Pak said:
Seriously, the only time I really noticed a difference was when I put together a temporary system using "Audioquest Type 2+ Spread Spectrum Hyperlitz." It was solid core and sounded very bright. I replaced with some no-name (Radio Shack I suspect) multi-stranded zip, and the brightness was corrected.
Click to expand...

Hyfi said:
Spyder, you have some pretty cool speakers and gear. I would live to hear a pair. I am a Dynaudio fan so appreciate Danish speakers.

Either would fit the bill along with a list of others. Nothing wrong with cabling quality gear with quality cables. I only have experience with Kimber and AQ ICs but both are decent MFGs and choices.

Good luck and enjoy your system.
Click to expand...

Wow! What balanced feedback, how supremely calming after some other forums reactions!!! On the PSAudio forum they were all recommending 1m lengths that were over £1000, I was like "thanks, but erm, no".

That's really great of you all, really appreciate it. I'm not sure my ears would be sensitive enough to pick up the changes in interconnects or speaker wire, so yes, the aesthetic and build quality approach is probably going to be more important for my requirements.

Thank you all so much, very appreciated!
 
I forgot to mention: Avoid like the proverbial plague, CCA wire/cable. "CCA" stands for "Copper-Clad Aluminum," and it sounds awful. I know, having bought a spool of it, thinking it was copper. The light weight is a big clue, as is the sound coming from your speakers if you do use it.
 
This is a good place, only reason I'm here. Lots of good advice, very helpful people with lots of experience that can walk you through repairs or configuration if you need assistance.

And remember that the point is to enjoy your sound system, not engage in a contest to see who has the "best" one!
 
I'm a fan of reasonably priced, well-made cable. Kimber makes great cable. As does Audioquest.

I use more expensive cable (Avanti) on my ModWright>Krell>B&W system because it is more revealing than my vintage Marantz system. On the vintage system (Marantz>B&W) and my "entry level" beach house system (Yamaha>KEF) I use the all copper Audioquest spools that cost about $30 on Amazon. It's possible that cable would sound better on the Krell...
 
SpyderTracks said:
I'm not sure my ears would be sensitive enough to pick up the changes in interconnects or speaker wire
Click to expand...
Maybe. Maybe not. :dunno:

I have terrible hearing. Starts dropping off at 3K and is completely gone by 9K (or so), where the tinnitus takes over. And yet, I can hear differences between (some) speaker cables and IC's. However, what I like might drive others out of the room. It all comes down to what your ears like. As to interconnects, if you can solder, they're easy to make and cheap enough to find out if you can hear any differences. It does take a good system (which you have) to hear those differences though.
 
FWIW and only IMO and IME, and YMMV (fortunately I’m an engineer, so can converse in just acronyms :)) … I’ve used everything from Home Depot 14ga spools thru semi-ridiculous fire hoses, and a dozen brands. While I HAVE heard differences, they’re typically subtle, dependent on amp/speaker pairs, and not always for the better. Also, if I can upgrade a component for anywhere close to cost of a cable, I get more noticeable and consistently positive improvement with the component upgrade.
I bought a lot of Kimber Kwik-12 a while ago doing some in-wall runs, and keep coming back to that as well-made, versatile, and pretty neutral. With some good terminations, seems to be a pretty good value, if you want something beyond the Home Depot spool scenario. And if you don’t like the look of the PVC sheath, you can snazz it up with some braid and heat shrink.
 
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