Best Wire and Interconnects

Violator · November 2003

http://www.monstercable.com/home_av/audio_cables/stereo_speakers.asp

there is three different qualities of Monstercables highest end speaker wire... They have thx speaker cables which arent as good

http://www.monstercable.com/thx/speaker_cables.asp

but mostly made for movies.

The top link is for the best monster cable has. But my question is that monstercable is so much money for the good stuff. Can someone post some links of high quality speaker wires and audio interconnect. If you want to look at coax or optical cables they are on that site. I just want to get the best for the buck... ANd if i paid what monstercable wants i have a really amazing stuff. I just dont think monster is worth the money.

Can someone help me out here. thanks

Scott

Violator · November 2003

Its me again. one more thing... the reason i dont want to get monster cable is because of time winding technology. I talked to this man and i will post his email in a sec. but he was telling me that monster cable is that good because of this technology. Even on the website is stay that this technology makes the sounds from bass, mids and highs reach the speaker at the same time. The man told me that recording studios create music at different speeds. He said monster cable is slow because of this technology. He claims his speaker wire is fast which allows different instances of music and sounds to arrive at the speaker when they are supposed to.. NOT IN UNISON. this is a hard concept to understand. But the faster the speaker wire the better.
His email is finalnote@adelphia.net Email him for comments or if you are interest in purchasing some wire. Hes got the top of the line. Hes even told me that he has speakerwire as thin as your hair. It will appear thicker because its magnitacaly shielded. But he says its the material that makes the wire. and hes using the top of the line stuff. Keep updating this post. If somone emails him post it in here so we all can be updated

thanks

Scott

F1nut · November 2003

The best wire??? In what price range are you looking at? Is this for 2 channel or HT? What kind of gear are you going to hook it up to?

pjdami · November 2003

Depending on which speakers you own and your sources, wire can help fine tune your system and bring out the best in your components. Not like getting all new speakers per say... but fine tuning.

Some companies to look into (in no particular order):

Monster cable (you already did that .. good start)
Signal Cable (good value and used by many members)
MIT
Nordost
Audioquest
Transparent
Kimber Kable
Analysis Plus
Tributaries

The list goes on and on. The sky is the limit too for what you can pay for wire. Most of the companies listed above make affordable entry level wire and high end wire that costs a lot more. Depending on your system though, there is a point of diminishing return. A $200 speaker wire is not going to make a $150 speaker sound like a $1,000 speaker just because you are using an expensive wire.

Paul

Violator · November 2003

this is my hookup

Harman kardon avr 225
2 polk audio rti70
2 polk audio rti 38 bookshelf
2 Paragon Pro series Speakers (250 watts)
Cerwin Vega 12 sub

and im using radio shack speaker wires. 14 guage.

dorokusai · November 2003

Sounds like your "guy" is blowing smoke in your butt, much like every other cable manufacturer. Theory is theory, some are more convincing than others. There are also some that don't think what you are doing is even neccesary, do whatever you want. The only way to find out is to buy and try....all the talking in the world means nothing if you can't hear it.

Since this is your first foray into wires, Signal Cable brand offers the best value out of the above bunch....for new.

Try www.usedcables.com , or www.audiogon.com ...for great prices on used cables. This is really the way to go, when you want to experiment with higher end brands.

criverajr · November 2003

Violator,

Another vote for Signalcable, use it all the way around on my Rotel gear and polks could not be happier. For your system you could not go wrong.

CRj:)

Turbota · November 2003

Want some great audio interconnects at a cheap price? You may want to try making some of these:
These cables will sound just as good as any you can buy, and look first class!

Belden 89259 Cable (Excellent audio cable)
jboehle@redcobracable.com

Dayton Audio Locking RCA Plug, 6.5 mm cable entry, Part Number 091-1265 (Parts Express)

Techflex or Bentley-Harris 1/4 Sleeving

(this nice picture is from "Wardsweb" over at the AudioKarma message board - hope he don't mind)

dcarlson · November 2003

These cables will sound just as good as any you can buy, and look first class!

That's a pretty big statement.

F1nut · November 2003

Violator,

Based on your gear list I think you'd do well with any of the entry level wire from the Paul's list. There are better entry level cables than what Monster offers.

quote:

These cables will sound just as good as any you can buy, and look first class!

You mean in their price range, right? Otherwise, I'd think again about making that statement.

Turbota · November 2003

These cables will sound just as good as any you can buy

Originally posted by dcarlson
That's a pretty big statement.

Ya, your right .... after reading it, I can say that the statement is a little over the top, to say the least

Anyway, they will sound as good or better than you average Monster cables, and you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself ... Got to admit, they do look pretty sexy. That Belden 89259 is really great for [audio] cable at a reasonable price. There have been many good reviews of that cable for audio use.

Ron,

polkatese · November 2003

There is more similarity than differences between these generic cables (Blue Jean, Signal Cable, Red Cobra Cable, etc.) even pricing is very comparable, since they are all based on Belden 89259. The difference is more on the terminations choice. Personally, I have been very happy with Signal's products and services.

ezc · November 2003

My 2 cents! I had a similar system Onkyo 595 & rt800i, cs400i & rt38i rears. Used Monster Z1 for the 3 front main speakers & monster xp for the rears. We later upgraded the rear to Z1 speaker wire & there was a slight improvement in rear sound in 5 chanel stereo. With movies it was hard to tell between Z1 & XP in the rears. The cables matched well with the gear we had & was not very expensive too!

Turbota · November 2003

I have seen audio cables, sub-woofer cables, ect that can approach the $1,000 range. For all I know, maybe even more!

What in God's name could they be made of that would cost THAT much money?

Element 115 maybe?

How could the individuals / companies that attempt to sell these cables for that kind of price even do it with a straight face?

It's way beyond my comprehension, to say the least ....

F1nut · November 2003

LOL.....as someone who owns cables that cost more than that, all I can say is you don't know what you're missing.

dcarlson · November 2003

LOL...

That is pretty pricy IMO, but if you buy $1000 cables you probably have some high quality equipment to boot. There is a middle ground and matching cables and equipment to your liking is an art in itself and not based on price alone. Personally, I'd start with better components then get into better cables. As I'm sure F1 has done.

F1nut · November 2003

It is all relative, there are cables that cost over $10,000.00 that I wouldn't ever dream of owning, but lots of folks do buy them. I don't go by this, but it's suggested that spending 15-20% of the value of your gear is a good guide for buying cables. More importantly, buy what sounds good to your ears and not go by how much it costs.

Mike Reeter · November 2003

Violator,You will find as many different types of speak wire and interconnects as there is members on this board...I was led to Accessories4less.com. to find some very good starter speaker wire by IXOS,IXOS banana plugs,and they also offer some good, affordable IXOS interconnect cables...ac4less is a very good on-line store with guick shipping and a good product selection...

Loud & Clear · November 2003

I'll toss "Clarity Labs" cables into the ring. I run the "emberglow" interconnect pictured below. It cost $80.00 for 1 meter. It's the cheapest of their three offerings and is well reviewed.

Violator · November 2003

A bunch of you guys recommend the Signal cable saying its good. What i like about it is that its not that expensive

But how good is the quality compaired to this wire by monster cable

http://www.monstercable.com/productPage.asp?pin=19

this is monster cables highest end M series cable. I want the highest end stuff... even if i have to pay the price. Well not highest end cuz i dont want the retro sigma which is monsters top end. But im getting the stuff in the middle... Or i should say i want the stuff in the middle. Has anyone had the chance to compair both... Or does anyone know where there is a review of the two cables head to head. If anyone knows anytihng about this please reply

Violator · November 2003

Its me again... I just found out anohter competetor for my money

I think im gonna go with thtis one. the reviews ive read are amazing.

www.kimber.com

They ahve reviews on the site that u can read. Compaired to the monster cable M2.2 these are way better. I just found out in my research. Also they are like half the price. So im going KIMBER!!!!

pjdami · November 2003

For the setup that you have, Signal Cable will probably be good enough. Also entry level MIT, Kimber, Nordost, etc. The interconnects are probably the most important as far as influencing the sound the most.

You will not have to get into more expensive wire until you get into speakers / seperates that have higher resolution than the gear you own now. Just my opinion of course. I tried some Transparent Musiclinks vs. some signal cable ICs on my brothers RTi70s and he couldn't hear a difference. I probably couldn't hear much of a difference either. But I could hear some differences on my LSis between the two interconnects.

Violator · November 2003

first of all.. Im getting my system in steps. This is my final plans for a stereo.

Im going to get the harman kardon avr 7200. But i am waiting for the new model to come out wiht the 32 bit dacs. then im going to get an amp from rotel. the best amp they sell
Then im going to get a pair of polk lsi25''s for the front... Then im going to get 4 polk rti12's with an svs sub not sure which one yet tho. So this is going to be an amazing hookup. lol. So thats why i think i need those kimber wires.

F1nut · November 2003

Troll :rolleyes:

Best Wire and Interconnects

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