I'm a Yank camped out in Germany and also having a hard time tracking it down, especially from what I'd consider ''reliable sources.'' So far, I've found this: Canare - 4S11G 100M GRAY - 4-COND. SPEAKER CABLE- OFC . They ship worldwide, BUT they only sell in 100-meter rolls. The price works out to about $5.50 per meter. I've also seen a few eBay offers in the same price range, though I haven't yet attempted to vet any of these guys. I've had a couple of burns over the years, so I'm always a bit leery of possible counterfeits, or of people who don't know what the hell they're talking about. Would love to try some Neotech bulk stuff but the prices make me swoon. Maybe it'll be possible one of these days when I finally go balanced active crossover with the system and will have speakers and amps sitting side-by-side and a one meter length works for everything. I'm using the regular Canare 4S11 now and have no gripes with it at all. It just tells the truth. But naturally, like many of the rest of us nut cases, I'll keepa lookin'.
VanDamme Blue 2*4mm vs Canare 4s11g I started this thread some time ago. To be honest, I previously didn't consider the cable topic to be anything important in creating the right sound. But my experiments showed the great importance of cables, so I was spending up to a thousand dollars per cable. Subconsciously my voice kept telling me "stop, this is just crazy". Thanks to the reviews and opinions of various respected people, I learned about cables with good value for money, these cables became my goal. I can say that at the moment among speaker cables the Canare 4s11g and VanDamme are leading in these criteria. So I decided to compare these two giants, and I must say that these are two very worthy cables. I'll note right away that I didn't pick a winner, each has a lot of merit and can be part of your stereo system without looking back at thick hoses for hundreds of dollars. I involved my wife in the testing. Despite her complete lack of interest in audiophilia, she has excellent hearing. So our overall conclusions are as follows.Canare 4s11g and VanDamme Blue 2*4mm have a full bass range, the tonality is smooth, there are no strong colorations. Both cables do not accentuate the HF range. That said, the Canare 4s11g gives more detail throughout the frequency range. If I were choosing a cable for my recording studio, I would choose the Canare. But, the VanDamme seemed a little faster than its rival, it gave a kind of drive. The VanDamme simplifies the sounds a bit, but it's also easier to listen to, perhaps more melodic. Unlike the VanDamme Canare has a nice emphasis on the lower part of the midrange, this makes the male vocals stand out a bit and gives it a warmth. The Canare serves the music in a more measured, sedate, and orderly manner, and it makes your ears less tired. Perhaps he smoothes out the peaks a bit, I would call this quality coloring. VanDamme, on the contrary, gives an explosion and drive, he stitches together the music into a single musical canvas, without trying to accentuate any part of the music. That said, his timbres seem cleaner. I could compare them as speakers: Canare is a Harbeth and VanDamme is a Klipsch. In a lengthy comparison, my wife chose the VanDamme. She said the music sounded more fun with it. I couldn't pick a winner for me. These cables are relatively cheap, and I'll just switch them out occasionally to enjoy the variety. Any one of them will really surprise you.
Maplesjade double helix. Free trial. Nothing to lose. You'll feel duped once they arrive but you might change your opinion once you listen.
No way! I tried VDH SCS6, it was a one-way game. Maybe when I can't hear the high frequencies at all, I'll look towards the VDH. The timbre balance of these cables is unacceptable.
Yes, 4S11G is bulk buy only with Blue Jeans Cable refusing to carry G I believe because the spec for conductors for standard version and G are exactly the same. There is a similar thread on Audiogon where the idea was floated that they are identical, standard and G, except sleeve labeling?
I had the Canare 4s11 version, now I have the Canare 4s11g version. There are differences in sound, the 4s11g version has a cleaner and more transparent sound. But either way, the 4s11 is also a great cable. I'm surprised that Canare in some countries is hard to buy retail in the right length.
Compared to Canare?! You’re claiming the virtues of different cables so you must be using some fairly high end gear. What is your amplification and speakers?
Recently I have bought, burned and tested the Canare 4S11 in several system and was surprised and disappointed that they didn’t moved me at all, it lacked resolution, clarity and the ability of making the music interesting. On the other hand, the VanDamme LC-OHC 4.0mm were the opposite, far superior in all those gear combinations, although not perfectly ideal in a couple of them, making the bass a little too hot. This is a cheap reference cable. I use both the Belden 9497 and 8471 in some gear combinations and they are simply amazing, with a natural balance and transparent sound. In this cases they are the best I ever had in my system. Again, in a couple of combinations they were the wrong partner. For exemple: the Kef LS50 doesn’t go along with them. I tend to like tinned copper speaker cables, and I will also intend to try the following: - Triangle Opera OS100C 4.0mm - Van Den Hul The Clearwater (silvered copper) Have anybody tried these?
Found also that the van Damme hifi 4mm2 lc-ofc to be a great cable to have around, compared to beldwn 5tooup, canare 4s8, 4s11.
Haven't heard Canare cables, but looking at their construction breakdown, they use good quality components (though with the cotton spacer, I would expect them to be a touch "soft"). Depending on what you are looking to "better" about the Canare / what you prefer sonic-ly, I would suggest listening to Tara Labs RSC (Rectangular Solid Core) interconnects and speaker cables if you get a chance (in the US you can arrange in home audition direct from TL if there is no dealer in your area). To my ear, TL RSC cables have a very neutral balance with room listening position of sitting in the front couple rows of a live show. I also "locked into" the voicing of TL's RSC cables 25 years ago and invested in "The One" level interconnects and spkr cables ~ I don't expect to ever have to purchase another set of either in my lifetime. While they will play all types of music well, I find they excel at revealing the inner details, micro dynamics of acoustic, small ensemble (jazz, classical), singer song-writer recordings. For what it's worth, I hope this is of use... Happy listening!
Same here. Got a 10 foot pair of 3103 from Perfomance and had them dressed up with the Techflex jackets and "pants". Neutrik bananas. About $120 all in. They have excellent clarity and deep bass response. Look nice too. Bought a few feet of bulk too for making jumpers with the same wire. Replaced more expensive Transparent Musicwave and not missing them.
Like I planned I am now trying the TRIANGLE OPERA OS100C 4mm speaker cables. They are inexpensive and do sound very good. This is a multi-strand tinned copper, well built and flexible allowing a balanced and spacious sound, with the Vincent SV237MK integrated and Totem Model 1 speakers. My initial impression is that they are a bit more refined than the VanDamme LC-OFC 4mm, one of my favorite speaker cables. The Triangle are less heavy on bass and more airy on the highs... but the burn-in will continue and I must listen more.
Canare 4S11 Star Quad Speaker Cable Dual Banana to CA4S112B2B6 (bhphotovideo.com) Can these Quad speaker cables be used for speakers with a single set of binding posts? Judging from the fact that the cables in the link above have 2 banana clips on each end the answer is yes but what's the benefit of 4 core cable compared to the standard 2 core cable in that scenario?
It looks like you can configure your order for single-wiring (2 connectors at each end), bi-wiring (4 connectors into 2 connectors), or bi-amping (4 connectors into 4 connectors), depending on your selections. The subject is somewhat controversial (as a forum search will reveal), but in my personal experience bi-wiring sounds quite a lot better than single-wiring. I have no experience with bi-amping.
The star quad configuration was developed for routing low level microphone signals and reduces susceptibility to electromagnetically induced (EMI) noise. It provides some of that same benefit in speaker cables.
