Decent, Budget Speaker Cables

[muzika]

Hi guys,

 

New to the forums and have recently purchased a pair of Usher S520s off a fellow member. I’m now in the process of ‘completing’ the system with an amplifier and some cables. My interest for this thread is cables. I’ve been doing some reading, trying to find out what I need and how much I should spend (and where I should buy). To put it lightly, finding answers has not been all too obvious or straightforward.

 

Aspects to consider seem to include:

• Gauge
• Interconnects
• Material: Copper/silver (other?)
• Purity (of material): 99.9999%, polished, oxygen free etc.
• Braids?
• Insulation (FEP, PVC …)
• DIY?

 

Seems mighty complicated… I'm hoping someone can simplify this for me and recommend some decent, budget cable.

 

My needs: I believe all I need is 2x2m of speaker cable and some interconnects (banana plugs, preferably) which do not significantly detract from my sound quality. I don’t want to spend any more than $100. If I could get the cable pre-cut to length with the plugs connected, that would be sweet. Otherwise I’ll do it myself.

 

Current thinking: From my reading, I should only need 18, or maximum 16AWG. Banana plugs would be ideal. Copper is fine. Extreme purity would be nice, but not essential. Braids and insulation are probably not too relevant for non-DIY cable. DIY cabling looks promosing but I'm still not certain about it, and don't really like the idea of buying CAT5/6 cables and pulling them apart to make more cables - as opposed to buying purpose-built cables already completely formed and ready to plug in - seems somewhat inefficient and wasteful. If I have some CAT5 cable laying around at home, I might give this a shot though.

 

So far, decent sellers appear to be:

Bluejeanscable

Selby Acoustics

Custom HT?

Space Hi Fi?

 

Based on what I've mentioned above, could anyone recommend me some specific cable, or at least point me in the right direction?

 

Thanks in advance...

[kczar01]

Aurealis are a well respected brand going around that wont break the budget.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/gmdb/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

[Guest Muon]

+1 on Aurealis

[Guest Willow]

OP's spend is only $100.00 boy's , it's Bluejeans or DIY.

[Cafad]

Hi again Muzika.  I wouldn't worry too much about your cables unless you already have everything else done and dusted.  Cables really are the last 5% of system tweaking that you can get.  You will get more of a noticeable change from moving your speakers 8 inches to the left than you will out of changing your interconnects so unless you have already treated the room and obtained a high end source all you will need are a budget pair of ICs. 

 

If your budget is limited to $100 then one pair of Aurealis will stretch it tightly, I would suggest a pair of Redgum ICs ($29 from ebay delivered to your door) and buy the lengths of copper that you will need (anything that is Oxygen free copper will do the trick) by the meter and get some banana plugs from Jaycar (or ebay) and clamp them on yourself.  You should get out of that having spent about $50 to $60 depending on the banana plugs you decided on.

 

Cheers mate!

[avalon]

Aurealis are a well respected brand going around that wont break the budget.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/gmdb/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

+1. Geoff is a pleasure to deal with. He can tailor to your budget and system. I was able to trial two sets of his cables without obligation - I won't be giving the second set back...

[Upfront]

A WTB ad maybe? Plenty of second hand bargains around at the moment. Fleabay maybe?

[davewantsmoore]

BJC

[Winter]

2nd hand kimber 4tc/8tc

[Phantom]

There is one very easy answer.

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/classifieds/item/2035-tellurium-q-2m-blue-cables/

[Luc]

There is one very easy answer.

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/classifieds/item/2035-tellurium-q-2m-blue-cables/

Jump on these OP, if they were a bit longer they'd be mine

[pete_mac]

An option slightly out of left-field... Peter Graves (manufacturer of Grave Science cables) is now manufacturing exclusively under the name Audio Principe, and I've long been a fan of his cables. They sound great and represent excellent bang for buck.

Peter can be contacted on SNA (username 'Audio Principe') or on ebay if you search for 'Audio Principe'. As far as I know, Peter offers the 'Grave Science' geometries in either solid core copper, silver plated stranded copper, or a hybrid biwire arrangement, and is offering manufacturer-direct pricing at present (ie. within your price bracket )

[muzika]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I love how willing and eager everyone is to offer advice here.

 

Aurealis are a well respected brand going around that wont break the budget.

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/gmdb/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

 

I'd read of these and had taken a look at Aurealis a few times. I think Willow is on the money in re-stating my budget. They look nice though.

 

OP's spend is only $100.00 boy's , it's Bluejeans or DIY.

 

Mmm, those options seemed most likely to me at this point.

 

Hi again Muzika.  I wouldn't worry too much about your cables unless you already have everything else done and dusted.  Cables really are the last 5% of system tweaking that you can get.  You will get more of a noticeable change from moving your speakers 8 inches to the left than you will out of changing your interconnects so unless you have already treated the room and obtained a high end source all you will need are a budget pair of ICs. 

 

If your budget is limited to $100 then one pair of Aurealis will stretch it tightly, I would suggest a pair of Redgum ICs ($29 from ebay delivered to your door) and buy the lengths of copper that you will need (anything that is Oxygen free copper will do the trick) by the meter and get some banana plugs from Jaycar (or ebay) and clamp them on yourself.  You should get out of that having spent about $50 to $60 depending on the banana plugs you decided on.

 

Cheers mate!

 

Hi again Cafad :-) I'm trying not to worry too much - I just don't know what to buy! I'm not actually doing any tweaking with cables at this point - just trying to buy some which work :-P Is this the Redgum ebay store you meant? If so, I can't see much on offer at the moment. Also, [n00b alert!] what is an interconnect (IC)? I thought they were the things which connect to the end of the cables and connect two devices (e.g. banana plugs), but if I need both ICs and banana plugs, that's obviously not the case.

 

I like the sound of your solution though, and it definitely simplifies things. Cheers!

 

A WTB ad maybe? Plenty of second hand bargains around at the moment. Fleabay maybe?

 

This is another good option. I may go ahead and put one up and if I don't get a suitable response, I'll move onto other solutions.

 

There is one very easy answer.

 

http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/index.php?/classifieds/item/2035-tellurium-q-2m-blue-cables/

 

Jump on these OP, if they were a bit longer they'd be mine

 

 

I was onto these pretty early on but missed out by an hour! :-( Finding the ad and taking a closer look was actually what instigated my current search.

 

An option slightly out of left-field... Peter Graves (manufacturer of Grave Science cables) is now manufacturing exclusively under the name Audio Principe, and I've long been a fan of his cables. They sound great and represent excellent bang for buck.

Peter can be contacted on SNA (username 'Audio Principe') or on ebay if you search for 'Audio Principe'. As far as I know, Peter offers the 'Grave Science' geometries in either solid core copper, silver plated stranded copper, or a hybrid biwire arrangement, and is offering manufacturer-direct pricing at present (ie. within your price bracket )

 

Sounds interesting - I'll take a look into this.

[betty boop]

for budget and excellent locally made speaker cable, well worth checking out linear crystal by tycab. and the cable connection sell by the meter

 

http://www.thecableconnection.com.au/By-the-metre---Professional-Home-Theatre-in-Wall-Speaker-Cable-2-Core-16-AWG.html

 

I use myself in my ht setup and have no qualms suggesting it to family friends etc when needed for their systems.

 

re banana plugs, take your pick

 

http://www.thecableconnection.com.au/Banana-Plug

 

either way all up should be well within budget

Edited August 24, 2013 by :) al

[Monk]

I bought some Van Damme UP-LCOFC cable on Ebay from the UK which seems to do the job and would be well within your price range.  Although I've got nothing to compare it to, so can't say whether it's good or bad.  

[kczar01]

Ok, I remember at some point, that this cable was a topic (cant find sorry, maybee some help). And during this topic Mr Lehnman himself, made mention that this was the best budget speaker cable you could buy. It is from Jaycar.

 

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=WB1735

 

Hope this helps

[Guest Willow]

 

 

Also, [n00b alert!] what is an interconnect (IC)? I thought they were the things which connect to the end of the cables and connect two devices (e.g. banana plugs), but if I need both ICs and banana plugs, that's obviously not the case.

 

 

G'day Muzika , interconnects are the two cables connecting your source ( turntable / cd ) to the amp , these will more than likely have rca plugs attached each end in your price bracket , colour coded generally white or black / red.

 

The speaker cables have the banana plugs , some guy's prefer spades , in your case these aren't a must have as bare wires onto the speaker & amp terminals are satisfactory.

 

Bananas & spades are more a convenience item particularly if you are swapping gear in and out.   

Edited August 24, 2013 by Willow

[Cafad]

Yep, that's the redgum store (looks like my prices are out of date, they have gone up).  There usually isn't much there but sometimes they have 2nd hand trade in items listed and they are always interesting to check out.

 

The Redgum Interconnect is a good, solid performer and is well made.  There are other, more sturdy designs out there but if you are unlikely to attach and detach the cable more than, say, a hundred times, then it will last you many years. 

 

Once you have updated your speakers, room, amp and source (generally, but not always, in that order) then you can start looking for something more upmarket.

[muzika]

Hehe, here I was thinking there may be a few speaker cable 'standards' for budget buys and a couple of 'go-to' shops, and ultimately I'd be choosing between 2-3 options, but I'm still seeing heaps of possibilities put forth here. I decided to just visit a few online stores and create orders for 3-4m of 16AWG, OFC Copper cable and 4 banana plugs and compare prices/products. I came up with the following, in rough order of preference (all prices include delivery):

 

Space Hi-Fi

3m 16 AWG Speaker Cable - Space HyperStream Gamma - 161 strands x 0.10mm in Each Core, 99.99%Cu

4 banana plugs, 24k gold plated

Total: $17.30

 

Selby Acoustics

3m 16 AWG Speaker Cable - 252 Strands x 0.10mm

4 banana plugs, 24k gold plated (not sure if these are sold in pairs or not)

Total: $35.65 (less, if plugs are sold in pairs)

 

Jaycar

3m Flat OFC Speaker Speaker Cable - 112 strands of 0.12mm OFC wire

4 gold Banana plugs

Total: $35.65

 

Blue Jeans Cable

5ft Belden 5000 series Cable (12AWG)

4 gold-plated banana plugs

Total: $34.55USD

Or, pre-made (banana plugs attached) cable = $51.70USD

 

The Cable Connection (decided against because the only 16AWG cable 'by the meter' was only 30 strand, which seems rather low)

3m Professional Home Theatre in Wall Speaker Cable 2 Core 16 AWG

4 TCC Premium Gold Banana Plugs

Total: $26.13

 

I liked the look of Selby Acoustics the most and will most likely end up placing my order with them unless someone strongly thinks I'd be better off with a different solution.

 

Ok, I remember at some point, that this cable was a topic (cant find sorry, maybee some help). And during this topic Mr Lehnman himself, made mention that this was the best budget speaker cable you could buy. It is from Jaycar.

 

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=WB1735

 

Hope this helps

 

Is this the post you're talking about? I came across that post before posting this thread but couldn't find the item Mike mentioned (doesn't seem to exist) and was pretty annoyed! lol. Glad to see you found the correct item - unfortunately it's out of stock of Jaycar... Otherwise I might well go for that.

 

G'day Muzika , interconnects are the two cables connecting your source ( turntable / cd ) to the amp , these will more than likely have rca plugs attached each end in your price bracket , colour coded generally white or black / red.

 

The speaker cables have the banana plugs , some guy's prefer spades , in your case these aren't a must have as bare wires onto the speaker & amp terminals are satisfactory.

 

Bananas & spades are more a convenience item particularly if you are swapping gear in and out.   

 

Ah, wonderful. Thank you :-) I was planning to have my source as my PC for most of the time (I don't have a dedicated CD player/turntable). Depending on what kind of amp I get, I guess I may need a dedicated DAC...? I have a Schiit Modi (and Magni) for my headphones, could I use that to send the signal via RCA into the amp? Otherwise, I was thinking optical straight from PC into amp (if I got a new digital one).

 

The Redgum Interconnect is a good, solid performer and is well made.  There are other, more sturdy designs out there but if you are unlikely to attach and detach the cable more than, say, a hundred times, then it will last you many years. 

 

Once you have updated your speakers, room, amp and source (generally, but not always, in that order) then you can start looking for something more upmarket.

 

As touched on above, I don't think I need ICs just yet but I'll keep Redgum in mind. Indeed, I'll keep that order of upgrade in mind also. Ta.

Edited August 24, 2013 by muzika

[kczar01]

Hehe, here I was thinking there may be a few speaker cable 'standards' for budget buys and a couple of 'go-to' shops, and ultimately I'd be choosing between 2-3 options, but I'm still seeing heaps of possibilities put forth here. I decided to just visit a few online stores and create orders for 3-4m of 16AWG, OFC Copper cable and 4 banana plugs and compare prices/products. I came up with the following, in rough order of preference (all prices include delivery):

 

Space Hi-Fi

3m 16 AWG Speaker Cable - Space HyperStream Gamma - 161 strands x 0.10mm in Each Core, 99.99%Cu

4 banana plugs, 24k gold plated

Total: $17.30

 

Selby Acoustics

3m 16 AWG Speaker Cable - 252 Strands x 0.10mm

4 banana plugs, 24k gold plated (not sure if these are sold in pairs or not)

Total: $35.65 (less, if plugs are sold in pairs)

 

Jaycar

3m Flat OFC Speaker Speaker Cable - 112 strands of 0.12mm OFC wire

4 gold Banana plugs

Total: $35.65

 

Blue Jeans Cable

5ft Belden 5000 series Cable (12AWG)

4 gold-plated banana plugs

Total: $34.55USD

Or, pre-made (banana plugs attached) cable = $51.70USD

 

The Cable Connection (decided against because the only 16AWG cable 'by the meter' was only 30 strand, which seems rather low)

3m Professional Home Theatre in Wall Speaker Cable 2 Core 16 AWG

4 TCC Premium Gold Banana Plugs

Total: $26.13

 

I liked the look of Selby Acoustics the most and will most likely end up placing my order with them unless someone strongly thinks I'd be better off with a different solution.

 

 

Is this the post you're talking about? I came across that post before posting this thread but couldn't find the item Mike mentioned (doesn't seem to exist) and was pretty annoyed! lol. Glad to see you found the correct item - unfortunately it's out of stock of Jaycar... Otherwise I might well go for that.

 

 

Ah, wonderful. Thank you :-) I was planning to have my source as my PC for most of the time (I don't have a dedicated CD player/turntable). Depending on what kind of amp I get, I guess I may need a dedicated DAC...? I have a Schiit Modi (and Magni) for my headphones, could I use that to send the signal via RCA into the amp? Otherwise, I was thinking optical straight from PC into amp (if I got a new digital one).

 

 

As touched on above, I don't think I need ICs just yet but I'll keep Redgum in mind. Indeed, I'll keep that order of upgrade in mind also. Ta.

 

that's the one, might be worth the wait, plus at this price, would be worth getting some anyway

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

The importance of speaker cable will depend on the impedance characteristics of your speakers and the length of the cables. Longer cables and more difficult impedance speaker will demand that low inductance, low resistance cables be used.

 

Inductance is controlled by the geometry of the cables. Figure 8 type cables are all pretty much the same in this regard. Cables like Goertz, Kimber, DIY Cat5 and other woven cables possess varying degrees of low inductance. Goertz is the lowest.

 

DIY Cat 5 is just daft. It's OK if you have nothing better to do with your life, but there are MUCH easier ways of obtaining low inductance cable at a modest cost. I use and recommend RG213/U, transmission coax. Cheap and very good. Not as good as Goertz, of course, but at a minute fraction of the cost, it works well.

 

Honestly, for a 2 Metre run, you should not loose too much sleep over your choice.

[Art Vandelay]

To calculate the inductance of the cable, where a = spacing, b = radius 

 

 L = 0.9 * log (b / a) uH/m

 

An average cable will give you < 1uH  per metre 

 

As Zaph says, a cable length of less than 2-3 metres is a trivial addition of inductance into the signal path.   

 

[muzika]

Thanks for the little lesson on impedance/inductance/resistance, guys. Electronics has always seemed like magic to me and mostly boggled my mind in Physics at high school; I should revisit it and learn some of this stuff properly.

 

Yar, I kinda know I'm taking things a bit far for some basic speaker cable. I like to be thorough and don't know where to draw the line sometimes. My intent for this thread was to put an end to all the complexity I was reading elsewhere and just buy something, but it's dragged on a bit.

 

Zaph, I've seen you recommend RG213/U elsewhere. When I first looked, I semi-decided against it because I thought coaxial was pretty stiff stuff, and also I might have a harder time getting plugs onto the end of it. Is it not too bad in this regard? For 2m, it sounds like it won't make any difference whether I go for speaker or coaxial cable, so if prices are comparable I think I'll just go for the simpler (to work with) and cheaper option.

[Cafad]

How do you go about terminating that coax cable Zaphod?  Do you have to do anything fancy like earth the shield?

[Art Vandelay]

How do you go about terminating that coax cable Zaphod?  Do you have to do anything fancy like earth the shield?

 

 

If you really want to terminate it, the ideal network is one 50R resistor. If you like, you can add 0.1uF in series with the resistor. 

Edited August 25, 2013 by Art Vandelay