Please recommend loudspeaker cable... Professional but not extreme audiophile type

[jonwb]

Hi... my 25 yr old Monster cable (yes I fell for it) seems to have turned green on both edges. Not sure if this is oxidation or mold . Monster sold these as HiFi cables meant to separate high and low frequencies (yeah I bought that too) so there are two strands of wire for each + and - connection. Anyway, I'd like to build new cables. They'll terminate with gold-plated banana plugs on both ends.

I'm running from a Adcom GFA-545 amp (2x100w) to some JBL 4412 monitors, so I'll need a pair of 12' lengths. Any suggestions on what to buy? (gauge, manufacturer)

Thanks

 

[Steven Holt]

I strongly suggest that you visit Blue Jeans Cable, search for Speaker Cable. From my observation, it's the cable of choice of our membership. IT'S NOT CHEAP, but it should be the last cable that you will ever buy. I'm personally placing an order at end of month.

 

[Ordin Aryguy]

Would you consider simply adding a cosmetic covering over your current cables?
That oxidation won't significantly change the resistance of the wires. It's just "less nice looking."

 

[brunes]

Mogami or canare DIY?
Mogami
Canare
Mogami 3104

 

[Wolf]

Allied/Carol/ProCo/Royal Electric/JSC/Audtek/Belden direct-burial SJ 300V or SO 600V is great for speaker cable, and inexpensive. Carol/Belden I have used lot.
EDIT: Canare, agreed! Good stuff.
Mogami is a standard for a lot of places and companies.
GearIt brand on Amazon is pretty nice, and i have used and recommend the marine cable as it's already tinned for soldering or corrosion resistance.
If you want more flexibility, there are such things for mechanized machinery or RC cars, think wet noodle limp.

Edit: a good 14-10 awg range is just fine for speaker cable. I tend to use 16awg inside speakers, and never 18awg due to lower current capacity of 3A.

CMC BFA-Z bananas are my choice of termination, or SpeakOns.

 

[Wolf]

The green stuff is corrosion. A lot of the clear jacketed or PVC jacketed wires end up this way, and it will eventually no longer conduct. Teflon jackets will not do this.

 

[rdenney]

For applications that are not routinely moved around, copper zip cord of the appropriate gauge is as effective as any more expensive alternative, and is used in professional applications. They do not all have to have clear insulation--I've used 12-gauge zip cord that has a white jacket and looks good when exposed in a residential environment. I sandwiched mine between a carpet and an area rug, so a fat, thick, jes-fo-sho insulation jacket would have been too thick.

Connectors on each end that use properly crimped terminals give it a professional look, especially if dressed with heat-shrink tubing. Properly crimped terminals are preferred even over soldered connections, as long as they are properly crimped with the appropriate tool.

The cables like those made by Mogami have the type of jacket and reinforcement in the cable package that improves their durability in professional use, but the definition of "professional" there is in commercial sound that gets set up and torn down repeatedly.

Sizes in residential applications will rarely exceed 12-gauge, but often 14 or 16-gauge may also be sufficient for short runs.

Here's Roger Russel's page on speaker wire:

Speaker Wire

Rick "Roger Russell was in charge of loudspeaker design during McIntosh's heyday" Denney

 

[Wolf]

To dress it up:

sleeve sheath cotton | eBay

 

[Sal1950]

Hi... my 25 yr old Monster cable (yes I fell for it) seems to have turned green on both edges. Not sure if this is oxidation or mold . Monster sold these as HiFi cables meant to separate high and low frequencies (yeah I bought that too) so there are two strands of wire for each + and - connection. Anyway, I'd like to build new cables.

There was nothing really wrong with the original Monster cables except for turning green with age, something to do with a reaction between their copper and the insulation used. My original ones did the same. But they were mostly an improvement over the super thin 18 or 16g wire being given away by the dealers back then.
I'm running the same Adcom amps and JBL HDI speakers and can very much recommend the Sky High wire sold on ebay very inexpensively. Sold in a variety of gauges from 8 and up, OFC or not, different colors, etc.
This is just a sample, scroll down for links to the many other options. You won't find anything that sounds any better and if you want purdy they offer some different types of sleeving to fancy things up.

25 ft TRUE 8 Gauge AWG BL/BK Sky High Car Audio Speaker Wire Car Home Audio 7426928101149 | eBay

Fuses and Fuse Holders. Speaker Wire CCA. Sky High Apparel. Speaker Wire OFC. Sky High Car Audio 8 ga AWG speaker wire. Copper Lugs w/ Heat Shrink. Limitless Lithium Batteries. Subwoofer Boxes.

www.ebay.com

 

[Tangband]

Hi... my 25 yr old Monster cable (yes I fell for it) seems to have turned green on both edges. Not sure if this is oxidation or mold . Monster sold these as HiFi cables meant to separate high and low frequencies (yeah I bought that too) so there are two strands of wire for each + and - connection. Anyway, I'd like to build new cables. They'll terminate with gold-plated banana plugs on both ends.

I'm running from a Adcom GFA-545 amp (2x100w) to some JBL 4412 monitors, so I'll need a pair of 12' lengths. Any suggestions on what to buy? (gauge, manufacturer)

Thanks

I recommend Linn k20 and use a single cable, not biwiring . This is a cable that came out 1982, and still in production. I havent found a better cable regardless of price , and I have tried many cables.

 

[kemmler3D]

Canare is pretty affordable per foot and quite robust. Add your own connectors and if you really want to, heat shrink and some kind of sleeve. But I've even found Amazon Basics stuff to be pretty adequate if you don't need a satisfyingly thick cable that looks nice.

 

[Robin L]

I strongly suggest that you visit Blue Jeans Cable, search for Speaker Cable. From my observation, it's the cable of choice of our membership. IT'S NOT CHEAP, but it should be the last cable that you will ever buy. I'm personally placing an order at end of month.

Agree. And let them do the termination, they do a very clean job. unless you have a long set of runs, 12 gauge should do.

 

[jonwb]

Would you consider simply adding a cosmetic covering over your current cables?
That oxidation won't significantly change the resistance of the wires. It's just "less nice looking."

Thanks but no... these are old cables and I think it's time to change them out.

 

[jonwb]

Thank you everyone for such quick and detailed replies! I'm pretty adapt at soldering so building them shouldn't be a problem. I'll have a look at my options today based on this thread. I use Mogami mic cables and have never had a problem. Glad to see that Canare offers a star-quad option in speaker cables... didn't know that. Blue Jeans uses the same cable so that's a plus.

I'll update the connectors I have too. It looks like there are better options for banana plugs. A friend gave me some but they're screw-on type and the wire is exposed. That doesn't seem right for this application.

 

[brunes]

Just FYI, the mogami cable is pretty thick and its 4 core so you need some terminations that can accept the cable (2 cores twisted together).

 

[jonwb]

Just FYI, the mogami cable is pretty thick and its 4 core so you need some terminations that can accept the cable (2 cores twisted together).

Good advice... thanks

 

[Purité Audio]

I just bought some of their 3103 which is just dual core, very easy to construct .
Keith

 

[Ze Frog]

Just use anything that's decent. I use 12 gauge 99.9% copper stranded cable bought on a roll from Farnell/CPC, then some brass banana plugs.

 

[Speedskater]

There are countless high quality 2 conductor, bulk cables available. Note that twisted pair can be better than zip-cord in some interference situations.
The important thing is the proper, high quality terminals, properly installed.

 

[AlfaNovember]

Ancor marine audio cable is tinned the entire length for corrosion resistance, is flexible and lays well:

Super Flex Audio Cable, 14/2 AWG (2 x 2mm²), Clear - 100ft

Super flex audio cable is made of premium tinned copper. It is super flexible and easy to run.

ancorproducts.com