Thoughts on what speaker cable to buy? Bananas plugs or not...?

[geol]

The last cable I bought was a 10m length (0.75mm)—nicely transparent with a red marker on one side—for less than $2 a pack.
Otherwise, I have some old wire that came with a pair of used speakers; it’s very thin, and I strongly suspect it’s just standard electrical wire. It has a black marker on one side, so you have to be careful not to mix up the polarity; otherwise, the sound goes completely out of phase and the soundstage collapses.
The sound is, of course, extraordinary.

 

[Proud Audiophile]

How is that fun?

Personally, I'm going to leave my old speaker wire alone and listen to some music instead. I find that to be much more satisfying.

People are different. It may not be fun for you to ensure you have the best electrical connection between your devices but it is to others.

Making speaker wires and connectors that last forever does not take time away from listening to music. One doesn't have to be more satisfying than the other If anything it increases the time you spend listening to your system because you think it is nicer and that makes it more fun. And it is nicer.

One funny thing I have noticed is that during a product review people love to look inside a product and comment about perfectly placed and secured wiring and layout but once outside the device they are OK with their wiring being a mess with excess wire laying haphazardly all over the floor. Custom professional wiring outside the components is just good workmanship. You always want to ensure good proper professional connections between your components because you love audio. Having pride in your equipment selection and it's installation is just one of those things that non scientists audiophiles enjoy. Speaker wires are all part of that. I think many scientists enjoy it as well. In fact I have seen some of the wiring jobs on some of the systems here that show an awful lot of pride in workmanship. Hey, some people have a clean house and some have a dirty house. It's all good.

Quality wiring and solid connections will never hurt the sound. It will always increase reliability and robustness of the system. I think that is a good feature.

Cheers.

 

[Speedskater]

If you find a 12 or 14 gauge power cord on sale, a lot of people use that. Just cut off the ends...

All AC power cords with a safety sticker (like UL) will be high grade, close tolerance copper.

 

[stuartkohl]

components is just good workmanship. You always want to ensure good proper professional connections between your components because you love audio. Having pride in your equipment selection and it's installation is just one of those things that non scientists audiophiles enjoy. Speaker wires are all part of that. I think many scientists enjoy it as well. In fact I have seen some of the wiring jobs on some of the systems here that show an awful lot of pride in workmanship. Hey, some people

Are you saying you're a non-science audiophile?

 

[Proud Audiophile]

Are you saying you're a non-science audiophile?

No not at all. Just the opposite. That's why I recommend solid electrical connections and professional wiring. Science tells me that solid electrical wiring and connections are more reliable and robust.

I'm also saying that science tells me that If I love my system and am proud of what I have put together I am more likely to think it sounds good and therefore more likely to enjoy it. Isn't that the whole reason for blind testing? If you can see the cool piece of gear you are more likely to select it as sounding better? Its really just a conformation on the importance of blind testing in reverse. Cheers.

 

[Karl_in_Chicago]

Are you saying you're a non-science audiophile?

. . . or that science audiophiles *don't* take pride in their equipment and installation . . .

 

[HalSF]

I've always used inexpensive but robust speaker wire, and once I figured out what banana plugs were and how they work I fell in love with them and how they stay put and how easy they are to insert and remove.

What the wires look like is a minor consideration but with those suckers snaking around the listening room I want them to be visually pleasant and unobtrusive.

I'm totally on board with everyone who says you can use almost anything within reason as speaker wire and it will sound fine, and that fancy pricey audiophile wire is like setting $100 bills on fire. On the other hand, the hi-fi ascetics who declare that even the smallest concession to aesthetics and niceness represents profound foolishness are the voice of silliness and probably no fun at parties.

 

[Proud Audiophile]

. . . or that science audiophiles *don't* take pride in their equipment and installation . . .

There was a recent thread something like "show me your wiring" where the poster asked the people here to photograph and share the back of their system. Some showed a complete wiring mess with cables two or three times the required length and no reasonable cable management with cables all over the floor . Others had complex home theater systems beautifully wired and secured looking like a real professional installation. Scientists are different and audiophiles are different. In both camps, if it's even fair to put people in camps" some like a clean and tidy house and some like a messy house. I feel good about a clean house. I find there are lots of advantages to a clean house so that is what I recommend.

So no, I generally I try not to categorize people and then assigned them a belief system based on their assigned category. The social sciences tell me this is a highly unreliable and this is consistent with my observations. I am a follower of the physical sciences as well as the social sciences. Remember it is the social sciences that dictate the need for blind testing not the physical sciences. Have a nice day.

 

[Riggs88]

I recently upgraded to a Luxman L505Z amplifier paired to my Focal Aria 926's, I'm still using the same old generic 16awg ofc that I picked up for 1 pound a meter, terminated with screw compression type plugs.

It makes me chuckle when some YouTube Audiophile talks about expensive cable, because there's nothing fancy in the speakers themselves!

You can always dress the cables for a cleaner look, which i might do

 

[Flaesh]

Making speaker wires and connectors that last forever does not take time away from listening to music.

There, a craftsman weaves cables while sitting in the main listening armchair. Of course, the stereo system plays music all the time. Nearby, on a small sofa, his wife weaves cotton braiding for the cables. They then sell the finished product—and not cheaply, either.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

My approach to extremely high-end audiophile cables involves two steps: the base wire and a special additive to increase the enjoyment level:

Base wire:

Personally, I tend to use Monoprice speaker cable (choose your gauge). It is no better than other stuff recommended (such as power cord), but I like having the individual wires wrapped in Red and Black sheathing that will extend up to the connector point (whether bare wire terminated on the speaker or a banana plug) since it looks cleaner and helps reduce any risk of polarity errors.​

Special additive:

PET Expandable Braid. Any of the brands available from Amazon or wherever — Techflex, Alex Tech, Electriduct, etc.​

​

Adding the outer brain has key benefits:​

1. Makes the cable itself look "professional" and high quality — (and also proven to significantly improve sound quality on nearly all sighted A/B tests )
2. Allows you to choose a cable color that aesthetically blends in with the color palate of the room instead of just looking like ugly cheap wire.

 

[Proud Audiophile]

There, a craftsman weaves cables while sitting in the main listening armchair. Of course, the stereo system plays music all the time. Nearby, on a small sofa, his wife weaves cotton braiding for the cables. They then sell the finished product—and not cheaply, either.

Science tells us that those fancy cable designs produce no measurable benefit in electrical transmission of an audio signel and that any change in the audio signal is a degradation in actual transmission quality. Over and over again my old ears have told me the same thing.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

Science tells us that those fancy cable designs produce no measurable benefit in electrical transmission of an audio signel and that any change in the audio signal is a degradation in actual transmission quality. Over and over again my old ears have told me the same thing.

I think the original comment was parody. Though useful to have the clarification that homespun twisted cables are (surprisingly) lower audio quality.

 

[Flaesh]

But he’s a real guy, and that’s his wife. He stated in the ads himself that his wife does the braiding. To be honest, though, I’m not sure if they weave speaker cables, may be (predominantly) line level. I think he wrote himself that he could braid speaker cables too, but it would take a long time and be really expensive.

original comment was parody

I would define the genre as a xiǎoshuō in the sense of "short story [about something (not entirely) unusual]".

 

[Midwest Blade]

My go to - Mogami W3103 @ $4.09/ft from Performance Audio, they also have a good selection of connectors to chose from, just strip the end and attach. Price has gone up a bit as this cable used to be below $3.00/ft pre tariffs.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

But he’s a real guy, and that’s his wife. He stated in the ads himself that his wife does the braiding.

Wow, I just assumed that was a made up scenario!

And agree, parody wasn't the right term, if if my assumption was correct. Thanks for introducing a genre term.

 

[rcstevensonaz]

My go to - Mogami W3103 @ $4.09/ft from Performance Audio

You can never go wrong with Mogami. I use them for all of my other cables... but speaker wire is the only case where I can't bring myself to make that jump.

And huge +1 for Performance Audio — they are also my source for all wire and connectors. And in the future, I'm just having them make the cables for me.