What speaker cable and interconnects should I use? (apologies to Grover)

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Aquateen, Dec 20, 2004.

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  1. Aquateen

    Aquateen Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Austin, TX
    With my Tannoys arrriving shortly I am in need of some speakerwire. As much as I would love to get Groverwire I simply cannot afford it at this time. I know many use Cat-5 cable, which seems like an affordable alternative, but is there any decent intro-level wire out there? Also I am in need of some interconnects for my Thorens TD160. One end will have to be soldered into the table so I need interconnects with connectors that are easy to remove. Thanks!
     
  2. fjhuerta

    fjhuerta New Member

    Location:
    México City
    I believe CAT-5 should be better than most affordable speaker cables out there. In my system, they beat the AudioQuest Type 4+.
     
  3. Vinyl-Addict

    Vinyl-Addict Groovetracer Manufacturer

    Location:
    USA
    Check out Home Depot 12 gauge lamp cord. I use it for my surround speakers in my Home Theater system, very inexpensive too.:)
     
  4. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    You don't list what equipment you have.

    Try some cheap lamp cord first. Then some Cat5. And pick what you like best.

    I think that investing in Monster or Audioquest is a waste of money as I was never very impressed with them. And save that money for some Grovers... :)
     
  5. Metralla

    Metralla Joined Jan 13, 2002

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    How long do the cables have to be? Braiding Cat 5 wires will drive you nuts - and mine were 5 feet long.
     
  6. Ken D

    Ken D New Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Next to Grover the next best buy is Lowes / Home Depot 6 AWG 19 strand. Read the information on this link to Bound for Sound http://www.boundforsound.com/ReadWrit.html on which cable to buy and how to use it.

    - Ken
     
  7. antonkk

    antonkk Senior Member

    Location:
    moscow
    While waiting for Grovers I was using Canare speaker cable and it's damn good and really, really cheap!. Sound very comfortable and natural. Sure it's no match for Grovers (get them when you can afford it!) but meanwhile I think it's a good variant for your system. It killed that piece of garbage called Audioquest type 4...
     
  8. BradOlson

    BradOlson Country/Christian Music Maven

    Aquateen, our Audiopipe speaker wire is actually decent for the price we at NorthernLightFX charge. Go to the front page of SH.tv and click "Northern Light FX." The ultimate test for if your speaker wire is good or not is if your vacuum cleaner isn't likely to eat it. If you use the K-Mart type of speaker wire, the vacuum will very likely eat it.
     
  9. fjhuerta

    fjhuerta New Member

    Location:
    México City
    I'm pretty sure my vaccum cleaner wouldn't eat my high voltage 6GA 6 strand power cables, but I'd never use them as speaker wire... ;)
     
  10. -=Rudy=-

    -=Rudy=- ♪♫♪♫♫♪♪♫♪♪ Staff

    Location:
    US
    Ken--have you tried it yourself? I'm just curious if this cable is rigid (stiff) or more flexible like other wire. I know some of that larger AWG cable can be stiff. Where I have speakers, it would be almost impossible to run that kind of wire, short of having my living room look like Dexter's Laboratory. :D
     
  11. fjhuerta

    fjhuerta New Member

    Location:
    México City
    You rang? :D

    Metralla is very right - Cat5 IS a pain in the... hand to build. You'll end up hating the darn thing - until you listen to it. Wow.

    One thing I love about it is that you can build thicker or thinner strands. Apparently, this helps with certain speakers (I think my electrostats loved the thicker strands, while speakers like the Omega TS3 like Cat-5 in thinner gauge).

    The possibilities are endless, and the price is right, too!
     
  12. Ken D

    Ken D New Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Yes, I used it for about 8 months until I found this website and bought Grover's wire. It's relatively rigid but can be bent into shape if needed. It's 19 strands of solid copper. $0.27 per foot. Amazingly good. Marty ( Bound for Sound ) gave us all a great and inexpensive speaker cable option. Follow Marty's directions about how to make up a pair. Grover SR is noticeably better and well worth the $'s. Go to Lowes or Home Depot and pull some off the reel. See if it might work for you.

    - Ken
     
  13. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    A few years ago, a friend gave me two 6ft Transparent "The Wave" speaker cables that I believe are 10 years old. I've never used them. Does anyone know anything about them? They're probably too short for my use, so I want to look into trading for something longer but don't know a thing about them.
     
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