ANCOR Primary Wire, 10 Gauge, by the Foot | West Marine makes very nice speaker wire. Can be had in 10/2 format as well.
After much consideration, your thoughtful and cogent writing contributions and experiences with unterminated Duelund 16wga speaker wire has me sold. I've ordered two 3-meter runs at a negligible cost over similarly lengthened banana-plugged Belden 9497's (which I'm sure are also quite good). I also like the aesthetics of the black cotton wrap over the orange-and-black coils. Parts Connexion has just shipped it from Canada. I'm looking forward to hearing the Duelunds for myself. Thanks, Russ! Happy holidays, Bill
Thanks. I don't think you'll be disappointed and they do look nice and are really easy to route. Happy holidays to you.
I've had them hooked up since yesterday. So far, so impressive. I'll get back on my impressions after a few days of burning my ears in some LPs.
Beavis thanks for the kind words, appreciate it. Oh and what Shindo are you running just curious? Thanks again
You are very welcome! I have a Shindo Montille amp and a Monbrison preamp, along with a McIntosh MC 225 and MC 250. The 9497 works well on everything and is unbeatable for the price (and easy to work with)!
So, how could I order 50 feet of the Duelund DCA16ga speaker cable on Parts Connection? What do I put in the quantity box? Thanks for the help.
You can request your order to be cut into equal runs in the comment section on your order page, if needed. They will obliged my request for four equal runs of 3 meters. Remember to order four runs—two for each speaker.
But I dont *have to*, right? I could just order the total length I need in meters and cut it to size myself, right?
Googlymoogly thanks for the kind words glad the wire worked out for you. Always good to hear positive feedback. Just curious what speakers are you running?
I just received a pair of Belden 8042 Tuneful Interconnects to connect from my turntable to my MoFi Phono Preamp. Can anyone explain the directionality of these cables? I was assuming that the direction of the writing on the Tuneful label and the Belden printing on the cable would be the direction for the cables. In other words, the direction should be going away from the source or my turntable and into the preamp. Whatever direction the writing is headed is the direction (arrow) for the cables, correct? I contacted Tuneful through ebay where I purchased them and I got some really confusing answers. Also, the purple Tuneful heat shrink label/wrap is closest to where I plug them into my turntable. Does this sound all correct?
Not every cable manufacturer believes in directionality. If it's not specified, go with whatever sounds best to you.
Going in the direction of the writing is generally a safe bet. Does Tuneful connect the shield at both ends?
I have no idea if they do. I am assuming yes. All of my cables I have always connected the way you stated (going in the direction of the writing). I had some conversation with the seller/company and it was confusing me, but I think possibly they didn't understand that I was connecting these interconnects from my turntable to my phono preamp.`
Seancito, I can’t help you with the cables’ directionality, but I have been terribly interested in their affect on the sound, connectivity, value, quality, etc. If you wouldn’t mind posting some observations after some use, I’d be quite interested in hearing them as I’ve considered the purchase myself (I’m assuming these are the $64.95 ones on that big auction site). Thanks, Bill
Hi Bill, I have only about an hour use on them, so it's a bit early to tell now, but my first impressions are positive for these cables. The build quality is nice and the rca connectors are solid. I had a pair of Luminous Audio Monarch cables that were too long for my setup, and I needed and preferred something shorter from my turntable to my phono preamp. I'm also at the tail end of breaking in some Morrow MA3 interconnects which are connected from my phono preamp to my integrated amplifier, so once everything settles in it might be the best for me to give a clear observation. There is one blog that did a review of the cables (they weren't from Tuneful, but same Belden cables) and it was positive.
I just checked, and Tuneful does connect the shield at both ends. Many find this cable sounds best when wired up this way. @Seancito, this means you should be good to go with following the direction of the writing. @Bill Why Man, I have a set of 8402's from a different source and am surprised how nice they sound. I've tried them after both of my phono units, and after my DAC with nice results. I want to do a comparison against my shielded Duelund 16 gauge, also a very nice inexpensive cable, but have some house projects to take care of first.
And by that you mean the direction of the writing would replace an arrow on the cable? Like the label has "Tuneful" printed on them and writing is in the direction from my turntable to phono preamp?
Shot you a PM. Basically having the shield terminated at both ends is a more unusual style of terminated the cables, it can make them more prone to noise. If you do have that style, made popular by Jeff Day, then it shouldn't really matter. Try them both ways for piece of mind. If the shield is only terminated on one side most people have been connecting that side to they're preamp. In your case I would definitely try both ways, one way might provide you with a quieter connection. Personally I really like the 8402, it's inexpensive, flexible and easy on the gear, sounds great. If you try the cable with the shield terminated at both ends and have any noise issues just get one that is only terminated on one end. That said going from your turntable to phono preamp you might want to try a lower capacitance cable. KAB USA actually has a pretty good deal on a low capacitance Mogami cable, their "Art Pop" cable and some good Litz cables. I'd get a pair of the Art Pop cables and compare them. They are around 20 bucks I think. They are the best inexpensive IC around.
Shoot...now you have me thinking about capacitance. I have my Belden 8402's connected to my MoFi phono preamp and then the preamp connected with a pair of Morrow MA3 interconnects to a Rogue Audio Sphinx. I have a Shure V15V-mr cartridge. Is this a correct capacitance measure?