Speaker and interconnect cables

Thank you for the suggestion, indeed great prices and what looks to be great quality too. Now If I tell him you sent me does that mean the price goes up ;-)
PS: I feel like I have been welcomed to your house by you posting in this 1001 thread about speaker cables

 

Major thanks to all those who contributed positively and will continue with their great suggestions, I have now a dozen tabs open and reading to select my first nice cables. I appreciate everyone's patience and continued support in what looks to be overall a very nice friendly community

 

Recently I needed a couple 25' lengths of speaker cable, and almost bought normal bulk but went with the Audioquest X2 in 14 guage instead because of misguided HiFi FOMO. I was pretty surprised with the quality (especially as I consider Audioquest kind of shady), just to the naked eye you can see pretty big differences over standard bulk cable. Very thick strands of copper in that pretty spiral just like in their pictures. Made it easier to terminate as well I felt (I also used Audioquest's silver bananas which were excellent/too expensive as well).

So in general, while at the end of the day its still stranded copper wire and I doubt anybody is going to be able to pick out sonic differences vs. a Monoprice spool, I've found there does seem to be audiophile-grade bulk cable, to the extent there is such a thing. I'd say the OP should consider Audioquest's CL2/3 version.

 

I use Blue Jeans Cable and JMShearer/Complete Cable Concepts. Both are No-B.S. companies and can make pretty much anything you'd need. They use wire from long established companies like Belden and Canare, so you can go right to the websites of those companies and download the spec sheets. There is no mystery or fake magic sauce involved, it's exactly what it says it is. Lots of other makers offer similar products made with those companies' wire. If you need something that adheres to Canadian building/fire codes or whatever for in-wall use I would go with a local company and have them make up cables for you that will suit your needs.

 

Hey, relax! Look at any thread on this forum and the conversation drifts away and comes back again, and along the way we are all a bit more knowledgeable! Enjoy the forum for what it is!

JG

 

I use the Belden cable from here..Speaker Cable at Blue Jeans Cable

I use this for some long runs and I really like the performance of these cables.

 

Question for you, and that's the third or fourth mention of this company, does your cable has any marking designating the specs and make ? My horrible in-wall AWG14 cables says "In-wall cable speaker" (sigh)

 

Yes, the jacket indicates Belden 5T00UP new generation.

 

Funny, I just googled JMShearer and got your SH thread ! Canadian regulations (CL2/3) must be very close to US, unsure what the US code is, UL ? I can make and terminate the cables, so its just a matter of now choosing one of those makes mentioned here.

 

I'm not sure, according to BJC cables for in wall use are UL-listed and NEC rated, whatever that means. I don't use my cables in wall, so not a consideration. I'm sure wherever you buy in Canada should be able to help with this.

RE: JMShearer - I use his interconnects only. I use BJC Canare 4S11 right now for speaker cables. This Canare wire is not suitable for in wall use according to BJC.

 

So finally got to it, and for in wall speaker rated cables, and based on above previous suggestions, there is the BJC Belden 5000UE 12AWG at 0.64c/ft and Furez 12AWG for 0.88c/ft. Both are very close in specs, so I’ll just toss a quarter and choose.

I decided I will make my own RCA interconnects but the best and lowest cost is Schmitt cables as suggested by our host. His prices are almost the cost of just the connectors... but it’s fun to make cables.

I will probably use WBT-0144 or KLE Pure Harmony connectors (on sale $80/4) and for cables I will try Van Damme Lo-cap 55 for silver, and make another pair of some “special copper” by Furutech, Cardas,...

 

For speakers cables I use Van Damme Professional Studio Blue Series Grade 2x2.5 mm and I'm very happy about them

 

Speaker cable : Van Damme UP LC-OFC 4mm.
Interconnects :
Turntable to preamp : Supra phono 2rca-cs
Preamp to amplifier : Neotech rca (homemade)
Cd to amplifier : Deskadel (analogue) or RU Connected (digital coax)
Sonos Connect to dac : Real Cable AN99 (digital coax)
dac to amplfier : Real Cable XLR128 (

Imho the Real Cable (French) and RU Connected (Dutch) offer tremendous price/quality ratio.

 

Sound like a good plan.

 

Merci pour tes suggestions, dank u wel I would love nothing but to use Dutch cables, as my my current speakers ProAc Studio 2 were given to me by my Dutch father in law! But the RU cables lacks specs... and look like generic RCA cables which I have many (Monster, AQ entry cables,...)

Can you please spec out your home made RCA ICs? The only ICs I have need for are from my future DAC to integrated tube amp. And I am curious if the general consensus on the type (cable/connector) of IC to use varies with the equi0ment connected..,

 

Hello Aboulfad, unfortunately the Neotech rca cable is an old warhorse that I bought on ebay many years go. I bought them without the plugs from this seller, but he has only terminated Neotech interconnects in his shop now.

Since my cable has a braided sleeve, I have no idea of the specs. Probably an OFC-cable, but it does the job nicely (I tried some expensive ones too, but they all sounded thin and lifeless, so I stick to this one).
I connected my dac with a balanced Real Cable, though I think any decent unbalanced cable will do the job as well as any.

 

With any system that can be considered "revealing" your line level interconnects offer the easiest spot to LOSE fidelity due to wire capacitance.
Capacitors are used in a circuit to cut the treble.
If your interconnects have high capacitance they will ROLL OFF THE TREBLE.
In addition interconnects should also offer good RF rejection (they should be quiet) and reasonable flexibility for wire looms behind your rack using proper techniques such as not running parallel with power lines etc (there are lots of articles on how to wire your rack).
The best interconnect cable I have found that has the above criteria is George L wire which I buy in 250 foot rolls for wiring studios.
Here is a comparison of various popular wire brands showing their treble roll off characteristics:

Guitar Cable Capacitance Chart • Comparison of pF Ratings by SHOOTOUT! Guitar Cables UK

I have rolls of George Ls in different colors and terminate then using Neutrik connectors which also add very low capacitance and are quite robust to boot.
I calculate saving perhaps a few hundred thousand dollars on "wire" simply by making my own connections these last 50 years on hundreds of installs.
After interconnects I would also check you have high quality pure copper speaker leads in a nice fat gauge for the length of your run. I usually err on the side of caution and use 12 gauge for HiFi use.
Power wire can corrode if the wire is cheap and full of metal impurities which rust.
Pure OFC is always a good thing to stave off degradation.
Mogami and Canare both make excellent rolls of this stuff which I buy online at Markertek, a commercial supply company.
George L is available directly from the manufacturer.
Oh and I also buy lots of 12 gauge power cord wired with pure OFC as these are also available commercially for between fifteen and thirty bucks a pop depending on length. It is all ways good to have low voltage drop and good power conduction on your main power inputs.
Once as an installer I won a thousand dollar pair of Monster cable "reference" RCA interconnects in a two meter length.
My home made fifteen dollar pair of George Ls wiped the floor with them.
Just my two cents of course.
Feel free to waste all the money you want to on your hookup methods.
I would prefer to spend it on better speakers, amps and line componentry but that's just me.

 

@aboulfad

This is a very good cable IMO, I have a set that BJ made for me using Belden 5T00UP. Its an all copper cable, 10AWG using ETP copper which is very good quality copper wire. The only thing I don't like is it is unshielded, excellent sounding cable for sure.

 

@Doctor Fine , I think we agree on a common philosophy, spend the $ on more important audio components if limited in budget. Now I was open to ordering from George L but whats with the website... I think Van Damme is also in the same chart that you linked, and I only found an eBay reseller.

 

best thing for SQ would be to buy some really nice active speakers and run balanced interconnects to them thru the walls (or digital WiFi...)

or come as close to that as fits your budget

 

I failed to mention that the in wall speaker cable upgrade is also for my HT 5 speakers. For the separate stereo speakers, my DAC/tube amp will be co-located w the speakers.

But I never explored active speakers! Any makes you used or like?

 

Last time I ordered it was a snap.
George L has been "discovered" by techs that use "kits" to wire up pedalboards for guitar rockstars etc etc.
The main reviews of how good this cable sounds appear to have all been aimed at electric guitarists who have very low output pickups on their guitars and therefore really freaked out at how good George L wire made their ax sound.
So I dunno.
Site seems pretty jammed and it is now complicated with all those pre packed "kits" featuring plugs and the rest of what you DON'T need for HiFi.
I would call them direct and ask about a small order or perhaps a roll of .155 for use making up interconnects.
As I NEVER want to be without this stuff I buy it by the 250 foot roll which was priced at considerably less than 4 bucks per foot back when I loaded up on it five years ago.
Back then it was available without guitar jacks and a display cabinet!
I suppose if you just want to try the stuff you could buy a couple of premade guitar cords, snip off the ends, put on some RCAs and see if it kicks hiney in your system.
I don't work for these guys, just really love how fast and clean their wire sounds.
I use it EVERYWHERE for wiring recording studios or phono preamp leads, or CD player interconnects or or or.

 

@Doctor Fine , it seems using guitar to amp IC cables is a low kept secret to be used for stereo RCA ICs, i stumbled on few DIYers using it and recommending Van Damme Silver lo-cap 55. George L seems to have a big list of retailers in my region, which I will call first. Do you have a strong opinion or bias towards an RCA connectors ? My modest budget is no more than $20 per connector...

PS: haha two of the local stores that were resellers are permanently closed!
PPS: I just called George L, it sounds like they make their cables in their basement She referred me to Online Music Store, Guitars, Amps, Effects Pedals | Megatone Music that ships to Canada.

 

the Kii 3's are remarkable

the kef LS50's are a lot less

it's all about the budget tho