Upgrade speakers wires and sub cable?

bevo

I'm sure this type of thread has been done to death, but I've searched and couldn't find this question asked.

I have some 16g panasonic speaker wires I'm using that I got from walmart, and a rca sub cable I got from a second hand store. Is it worth upgrading my speaker wires, and sub cable? And if it is, what is the best bang for the buck wires and cable I can get. I don't have to go with the cheapest out there, but if they are as good as the more expensive ones, then cheap it is.

I'll be running wires 10 feet x3, 15 feet x2 and 30 feet x2. My sub would need about a 25-30 foot cable just to be safe in case I want to move it someday.

thsmith

You are right, cables have been done to death.

I have Monoprice 14 gauge for my rears and center, happy with the results but for my mains I was not in 2 channel mode.

AQ T4s or Kimber's equilivent would be good enough to know if your system is revealing and will benifit from better cables.

I have a 20' Monoprice sub cable and have not felt the need to upgrade, but again I focused on 2 channel with my cables.

Hillbilly61

Based upon just being around Club Polk for less than a year, this is a "dangerous" topic, as controversies easily erupt.

Here's a link that might be useful to you:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

While these are maximum wire length for the stated gauge, the ohms vary by sound frequency being delivered by the amp's delivered electrical current by as much as half of the nominal speaker impedance. Therefore, I use 1/2 the impedance to size my wires.

Shielding, very common in "fancy" speaker wires, is very helpful if running in parallel to household electrical wires. The electric wires need not be visible. A speaker wire run under carpet less than foot away from a similar run from in wall or under floor electric wires will create interference if the parallel runs are long enough.

Hope this helps!

dorokusai

I prefer www.signalcable.com for all my standard rigs and HT.

bevo

thsmith wrote: »

You are right, cables have been done to death.

I have Monoprice 14 gauge for my rears and center, happy with the results but for my mains I was not in 2 channel mode.

AQ T4s or Kimber's equilivent would be good enough to know if your system is revealing and will benifit from better cables.

I have a 20' Monoprice sub cable and have not felt the need to upgrade, but again I focused on 2 channel with my cables.

I know it has been done to death, but all the threads I found were so random, and full of people bickering, that I hoped I might get some simple answers in here. So far, so good. I've also been in a bug upgrade mood for the last couple of weeks(income tax time), so I've made more threads in the last couple weeks, then in the year and a half that I've been a member here.
In truth though, since I started these upgrades and tweaking my system sounds better then I ever thought it could.

Are these the T4s your talking about http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AQT4NF&variation=10SBNSP
They were so much cheaper at this place then anywhere else I wasn't sure.

superjunior

there's a nice set of mit t3's in the fm

NotaSuv

bevo wrote: »

I know it has been done to death, but all the threads I found were so random, and full of people bickering, that I hoped I might get some simple answers in here. So far, so good. I've also been in a bug upgrade mood for the last couple of weeks(income tax time), so I've made more threads in the last couple weeks, then in the year and a half that I've been a member here.
In truth though, since I started these upgrades and tweaking my system sounds better then I ever thought it could.

Are these the T4s your talking about http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=AQT4NF&variation=10SBNSP
They were so much cheaper at this place then anywhere else I wasn't sure.

great start..nice price..let us know what you think.....

WilliamM2

bevo wrote: »

Is it worth upgrading my speaker wires, and sub cable?

There's no such thing as a wire upgrade. Just wire replacement.

dorokusai

I like that phrase William.

Demiurge

I would suggest getting higher quality cables than the ones you have, but its my opinion you don't need to spend a great deal of money to get great sound. The law of diminishing returns comes into play. I like Signal Cable and really like Monoprice's (less expensive) stuff, too. Can't go wrong with either of those two and you won't break the bank.

cstmar01

Demiurge wrote: »

I would suggest getting higher quality cables than the ones you have, but its my opinion you don't need to spend a great deal of money to get great sound. The law of diminishing returns comes into play. I like Signal Cable and really like Monoprice's (less expensive) stuff, too. Can't go wrong with either of those two and you won't break the bank.

agreed. I'm using Signal and love it. Works wonderfully for HT and Frank is more than helpful when doing custom lengths and everything. Only a 10 buck charge for anything to be custom done for lengths ect. Some others but getting more expensive are the intro lines of MIT stuff such as EXP which work well I think but tend to cost a bit more. However Joe Abrams on Audiogon has the EXP1's ( I think) for a 12 ft pair for 128 bucks which is pretty close to cost of Signal (Ultra at that length) and I think they have the Iconn connectors which make things nice for switching between spades, bananas, ect without having to reterminate.

jinjuku

Your other alternative is if you have a Best Buy Magnolia location. The 30 day return policy will let you at least evaluate Monster and Audio Quest cables.

Signal and Blue Jeans Cable have 30 day no hassle return policies. You would simply be out the shipping.

mshan242700

Given speaker wire lengths, sounds like 14G would be appropriate.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2791&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239&cs_id=1023902&p_id=2748&seq=1&format=2
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023601&p_id=621&seq=1&format=2 (probably would work fine as a sub cable)

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/subwoofer/index.htm

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_703142125/AudioQuest-FLX-14-2-14-Gauge-In-Wall-Speaker-Cable-125-feet.html?tp=1432 (I think you may be able to find spools cheaper if you google around)

My top in wall wire for sound quality , actually I have 2 but Audioquest 14-2 is overall fantastic wire. In wall use and external use. Clear , detail , bass , mid's , highs all sound the way they are suppose to. I don't think this speaker wire adds or takes anything. I think it does it's job. Most of the time I feel there is no reason to buy anything else.

Liberty also makes incredible in wall wire. They have a THX series thats as good as the Audioquest. You can argue it's just as good . They also have a 12g version that I would feel good using on any speakers made.

Kimber Kwick series is another one of those cables that just perform. You can't go wrong with Kimber Kable for any wire need. Every single cable they make is top notch and can compete with anything made.

If I had to choose a wire to use forever I might just stick with Audioquest or Kimber but if someone told me I had to choose Liberty I could live with that choice and never feel the need for anything else. When you achieve correct signal transfer , you don't need magic boxes or fancy braiding to make it better. There is no need to overspend on wire. I know this as I have over spent on wire all of my audio life. I learned the hard way and found companies that do it right for a great price. All 3 companies don't silly over charge you for what you get. Sure if you buy there highest offerings , you can question why you are doing so. Like Audioquest there entry level speaker wire isn't far off there top of the line. When you listen , you will learn that once you achieve the goal , your done. http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=90220

http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/whitelightning/moonshine.html

quadzilla

Bottom line in this is that it's what you can hear. Those that believe that cables don't make a difference don't hear a difference for whatever reason. Those that do believe that cables can make a difference, whether large or small, do hear a differance (and again, for whatever reason). I'm squarely on the side that cables can make a difference, and did hear a significant differance as I upgraded the cables and ICs in my system. But again, it comes down to what works for you.

What I use is in my sig, and I'm quite happy with results I got for the money I spent. YMMV. If you know someone with some extra ICs and/or cables, see if they'll loan them to you so you can try them in your environment.