Speaker Cables? (1 Viewer)

[Aron]

After much debating between the B&W N802, ML Odyssey and Revel Studio I finally decide on the Revel Studio. Now the next step is what kind of speaker cables should I get, should I bi-wire the Revel Studio? I'll probably just gonna run the Studios with my Marantz SR-7200 for a couple month before I'll have enough money to get some good quality amps for them. So much brainstorming and headaches, but loving every minute of it . Any advice on what kind of cables will do these speakers justice will be appreciated.

 

[Alex Prosak]

Assuming that you upgrade to a nice amp, I recommend Transparent Cable MusicWave Ultra or Reference cables.

 

[Joe-T]

I second the vote for Transparent cables. They are definitely some of the best. Wish I could afford them, but since you're getting almost the Revel flagship speakers, you might as well get the best cables too. You can start with a more affordable pair and upgrade later. I believe they have a good upgrade policy.

 

[Frank_S]

Aron, congratulations on your speaker purchase! I would strongly suggest you break your speakers in first before auditioning cables. Your dealer should be able to lend you different cables to try out on your system at home, that is key. These cables are very expensive(Transparent)so be sure you can return them for full value within a reasonable period of time but I would break your speakers in with whatever cable you are using now before purchasing new ones, IMO. Good luck!

 

[Thad_C]

You probably aren't going to believe this (I'm not sure I do), but the audio dealer where I bought my Paradigms recommends a simple $.50/foot 14 gauge wire that he sells over the fancy stuff or the more expensive 12 gauge. He recommends connections using bare wire over plugs. I'm not sure I buy it, but he swears by it, and claims the particular 14 (generic looking) gauge wire he sells is superior to other similar wire. The only reason I believe him is that (1) he's an audiophile, (2) he's a salesman/owner of the store, and (3) he's trying to sell me on CHEAPER speaker wire over the (much) more expensive stuff he also sells.

Any thoughts?

 

[Anthony_Gomez]

IMO, Cables can make a difference,....but a very slight difference. I woul only spend atmax $5/ft for the raw cable. ..and I would only do this after I have everything else where I want. You can cain a larger improvement on spending the few hundred dollard for botique cables on bringing your say 500 reciever to the 800 reciever level.

I would check into DIY cables first as they are the cheapest.

Look into:

Gomer Cable

Chris HV cables

John Risch Cables

...and some others at TNT-audio, but I have never tried them

 

[Adil M]

Hey Thad,

I'm curious. Where do you live b/c my Paradigm dealer is the same. He says he'll give away the Transparent wire, but is not too keen on selling it separately.

 

[Thad_C]

Adil,

I'm in Chicago. I'm going to try out my new Paradigm monitors with the 14 gauge, and decide later whether it's worth it to move up to higher gauge/boutique wire. I've got monster cables from my last set-up that I'll use to compare the two sets.

My dealer also claims that he dislikes bi-wiring the Paradigms. I intend to test out his theory as well. I'm an admitted philistine when it comes to audio equipment, but I've got an open mind...

 

[jason celaya]

Price to performance ratio I hear that silversonics Q-10 are hard to beat...check out what people say about them on audioreview.com

 

[chris c]

Well, speaking from experience cables can and will make a difference, but are very system dependent. For my money, there is no better cable in the still reasonable price range than JPS Labs Ultraconductors. They are definitively better than DH Labs T14 (my former favorite in this price range, although they are a little cheaper) in my system. Take a look at audioreview.com or search out some reviews.

 

[Justin Doring]

I'd stick with generic 12 ga. OFC until you get your amp, preamp, and source. Once they've all broken in and you know what the system sounds like, you can start seriously auditioning speaker cables, interconnects, and powercords. Cables make a difference, but they should be used to finetune your system after all the major components have been decided.