Speaker Cables... where do I go from here?

grimmace19

As I get more and more into this hobby I am finally confident that I will be keeping my current setup for a while. With that in mind I keep looking for upgrades and things to tinker with. My new thoughts are that I want to take the plunge and get a better pair of speaker cables.

I am currently using 12 awg copper speaker wire from Lowe's with banana plugs from monoprice. I know that I can get some fantastic cables for HUGE amounts of money but lets be honest... I don't make a lot of money and with only Monitor 70's and a mid level yamaha receiver I don't need anything fantastic. I suppose I would like to get a pair of bi-wire cables and have been looking at audioquest and MIT so far.

Does anyone have any experience with the low end MIT cables? If possible I would like to stay around the $100 dollar range (idk if that's possible) for an 8 or 10 foot pair.

Any suggestions would be amazing.... or if you have something you would like to sell me, shoot me a PM.

treitz3

I have nothing to sell you but look into scoping out a pair of MIT T2's.

quadzilla

Something else you might look into is a set of anti-cables. A 10 ft. pair will run you 100. I've been very happy with mine.

wutadumsn23

I just finished up a demo on the AudioQuest Type 4's. They were very impressive, Amazon has them (actually sold by Crutchfield) for $200 for a pair of 10 footers. They aren't bi-wire cables and are $100 over your budget, but other than that they are perfect for you, lol. Link below.

-Jeff

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-bIwA3CmqyGk/p_703T410BFS/AudioQuest-Type-4-10-foot-pair.html?tp=1137

domflane

Go to signalcable.com, you can get a brand new eight foot pair of their ultra cables in bi-wire for $151. When I take the cable plunge, I think I'm gonna pick these up.

bigaudiofanatic

treitz3 wrote: »

I have nothing to sell you but look into scoping out a pair of MIT T2's.

X2 for MIT I love mine.

Murray1

Just purchase 20' of Canare 4s11 from Blue Jeans. Simply bare the ends,insert,and you probably have the best connection going. This is bi-wire cable as well. Super cheap and very good quality cable.

vc69

Good used cables can be had for your budget. I would look into some used MIT's as people move up the chain all of the time and you can reap the benefits.

marvda1

here's a great buy on a used 10' pair of gregg straley reality speaker cables. $165
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=75347.msg715172;topicseen#new

BlueFox

Personally, I would work on upgrading my electronics and speakers first, but that's just me.

steveinaz

Audioquest "Slate" is also still on sale at www.audioadvisor.com . It's a nice step-up from Type 4.

halo71

BlueFox wrote: »

Personally, I would work on upgrading my electronics and speakers first, but that's just me.

My vote as well.

concealer404

3rded.

I'm sure you would gain some performance going to some high dollar cables, but the fact of the matter is that M70s are entry level speakers, and going with MITs or the like would be a bit of overkill.

On the flip side, if it sounds good, it sounds good, so go for it! Far be it from me to tell you NOT to spend the money on your system the way you want to.

What i CAN recommend that may be more in line with what you're working with, yet a nice step up from what you're using now, would be this:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=109-064

I recently replaced my Monster XP 14g wire with this stuff, and it's been a huge improvement. There's a couple other people on these forums using this as well, and while it's not the be all end all by any means, it's a great price for some decent cables.

BEWARE: They're GIGANTIC.

grimmace19

Thanks for the parts express recommendation. The 38 dollar price tag is very tempting however I really wish they were half the length causing half the price.

nguyendot

They're already 66% off. I doubt those are priced by foot.

concealer404

grimmace19 wrote: »

Thanks for the parts express recommendation. The 38 dollar price tag is very tempting however I really wish they were half the length causing half the price.

Eh... for $38, if you want them shorter, hack them up and re-terminate them, end up with 2 pairs at 12 feet each or something.

The length bugged me a little bit, but it's easy for me to hide them. I was absolutely floored at the quality for the mere $38 i spent.

I will probably pick up another pair for future use.


While you're there, pick up some speaker spikes. It'll run you $7 to do both speakers. I kid you not, the $50 total for both the cables and the spikes yielded the biggest improvement in my system EVER, over changing sources, amps, preamps, ICs, everything.

grimmace19

Though I realize my speakers and receiver are not the best of the best, I figure a simple low budget improvement like speaker cables would be a better and cheaper investment that revamping a relatively new system.

Plus... it's all so cute that they match and junk

BlueFox

grimmace19 wrote: »

Though I realize my speakers and receiver are not the best of the best, I figure a simple low budget improvement like speaker cables would be a better and cheaper investment that revamping a relatively new system.

The problem is it is very possible you will not hear any improvement. Using budget speaker wires with budget equipment does not necessarily mean there will be any improvement. While anything is possible, the odds are not in your favor.

wutadumsn23

Back before I bought my Polks, I owned an Onkyo HTIB that came with spaghetti thin speaker wire. The first thing I did was replace it with some Rocketfish 14 or 16 AWG speaker wire. Wow, what a difference!! Give it a shot, worst case scenario you are out the cost of the speaker wire. Much cheaper than upgrading everything else, as you said. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

-Jeff

grimmace19

I think in a few days I am going to get the 25 foot set from parts express. Shipping is 2 dollars less if I get them from Amazon through parts express... So for 48 dollars I think it's worth a shot.

I have also decided to take collections from anyone on here... please PM me for my paypal address and you can all make donations for a new receiver/amp/speakers

dustydog

I have been happy with the Dayton Audio speaker cables I bought from Parts Express. They aren't made of fairy dust by elves but they have really improved the sound quality of my admittedly low/mid-fi system. I am also happy with the DA interconnects (particularly the turntable IC) as well. *Very* affordable and well made. I paid right around $50 for a pair of 15' cables.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=181-602

BTW, My system is:

Rotel RX-1050 Reciever
Rotel RCC-1055 CD changer
Paradigm Titan Monitors V.5
Paradigm PDR-10 Subwoofer
Technics SL-DD33 Turntable

Lowell_M

Disclaimer for newbies - Please disregard any comments regarding cables made by xcapri79 as he has never tried the cables that he says don't make a difference and continues to try to spread his ignorance. Those who don't know, don't know they don't know... or whatever.

Best advice for cables - try some and see what you think. I couldn't tell you why the Signal Cable's that I use in my main rig sound better than the home made Canare Star Quad's I used before because they seem pretty similar to me... but the difference is very noticable.

I'm not here to start another endless cable debate... just warning nubes to ignore this guy and just try something. If you don't notice a difference move on.

Lowell_M

Welcome to club Polk by the way...

concealer404

^What he said.

Cables make a difference to my ears. Your results may, but probably won't vary.

concealer404

xcapri79 wrote: »

How do you know what I've tried or haven't tried?
So in addition to having golden ears are you psychic too?
I've never said what I haven't tried or everything I've listened too over the past 35 years.
So please don't go around personally insulting me.
Who elected you anyways?

Probably because the last 87 times you've been asked by about 50-55% of the active posters on this board, you haven't answered the question. So we assume that you haven't tried anything, because it would be a huge point in your favor to have actually tried the product that you call us weak minded sheep for buying.

So.

What HAVE you tried?

Lowell_M

^ What he said

Lowell_M

Plus... I just don't understand why you feel is is so important to discourage people from trying things. I don't care if somebody spends one dime on a pair of speaker cables, why discourage them from letting their ears discover what cables could do in their particular system?

concealer404

He's just passing along the "great service" that Roger Russell did for his listening experience. Hilariously, i am yet again reminded of the expensive Canare wire in the speakers that he did.

pitdogg2

While I'm not trying to hijack this post has anybody out here tried cat5 or cat6 wire as speaker cable? I took and braided 2 white and 2 blue length's together mine were 20' each. I did this on both L-R sides then put banana ends on them used the white for red and the blue for black. My job threw out hundreds of feet of the cat6e as they remodeled and i just tried for kicks. I used 10ga Dayton audio before and to tell the truth I can't tell the difference between them.
just wondering if anyone has experimented with this stuff

by the way I find the 10ga Dayton very good cable at a very good price

KingMeander

I've not tried to use Cat cables, and likely would not. The quality of CAT cables is usually very good due to the information they are required to carry and a high oxygen content would be bad. However, the problem you will run into is listening to anything at high volume as these cables are not designed to carry high voltage/current. Maybe not a bad idea for all those kids out there because then their music will have a lot of static and they will be forced to turn it down .

gavn8r

(disclaimer: I work for MIT Cables)

On the MIT side of things, I'd try the EXp 2's with your equipment. MIT is known for its ultra high-end stuff, but the technology found in the $35K cables is also found in the $100 products... just less of it. The EXp 2 is surprisingly good for the price. Here's a link to MIT's site. I bet you can find a good price from one of the Club Polk members or elsewhere online.

http://www.mitcables.com/available-in-stores/speaker-interfaces/exp-2-speaker-cable.html