different cable for front and surrounds? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Spurgeon]

I am finally on the verge of completing my first surround sound system. The receiver is arriving on Friday (a Marantz 7200.. the S&V article came out the day after I ordered it), and I already have my Paradimg Titan surrounds bracketed and wired with 30-foot runs of 16-gauge Radio Shack zipwire (cheap stuff, I know). I have Mini Monitors for fronts and the matching CC370 as a center channel. Now, I don't have tons of money to spend on speaker wire (approx $80-$100, including terminations), but I was thinking about getting Audioquest Type 4 for my fronts and center.
My question is this: In your opinions, do you think I should just get matching zipwire for the front, or blow the extra XX amount on the Audioquest or some other comparable brand? Also, are banana plugs worth the extra $36 or so they'll cost me, or should I just stick with spades?

 

[Michael BC]

I believe good wire does make a difference-especially for music. I use Kimber 4TC to wire my KEF Q15 front speakers and center, however I am using cheaper Monster cable for the KEF Cresta 2 rear speakers. This setup sounds good for DD and great for 2 channel stereo.

 

[andy_brehm]

What kind of differnces do you hear in higher grade speaker wire? I am just running whatever free stuff my supplier gave me when I bought my speakers.

 

[Jon_R]

If your free stuff is the tiny tiny stuff, don't run that. Like 18 gauge or something crazy. I don't have an elaborate setup but it gets me by. When someone doesn't have a lot of money or equipment usually that equipment will quickly be tweaked and retweaked until the sound is as good as its going to get. You people with lots of equipment do this too, but it takes longer, since you have more equipment. Anyway a friend of mine gave me some 12 ga. Monster cable, nothing special just better wire than what I was using. It made a complete difference, 100%. The bass was deeper, the imaging fuller, and the highs seemed maybe a tad better. I'm not advocating using crazy expensive wire but all wire is not the same.
Of course, if your supplier gives you 12 ga. Monster cable, then disregard this post.
That's all I've got to say about that,
Jon

 

[Michael BC]

IMHO, the Kimber 4TC, as well as for example DH Labs T-14 speaker wire tends to lift a veil from music that is present with typical zipcord. Highs are cleaner and more detailed while bass is tighter, less muddy. Vocals are much clearer as well. Depending on the system, the difference can range from quite subtle to downright startling. This is a hotly debated topic amongst the audiophile community. Check out Audio Asylum and do a search. http://www.audioasylum.com/index.html

 

[Marty M]

About a year ago I had a retroactive pay raise, so I had some disposable income for an upgrade. I purchased the Nordost Super-flat biwired Speaker cables for my front mains, Paradigm Monitor 7's, and I heard a tremendous improvement in music. While re-listening to my CD's I was hearing things I had not previously heard.
My wife commented that it sounded cleaner. I was relieved that she noticed an improvement. It made it easier to justify the $225 cost for the 3 meter pair of cables.