How to Buy Speaker Cables

The cables you choose to connect your speakers to your receiver make more of a difference than you might think. Cheap cables impair the sound, but good cables can be expensive. Consider your budget and try to audition some cables to see the differences.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Selecting a Cable Type

1. Set your budget.
2. Consider models from AudioQuest, Cardas Audio, Kimber Kable, NBS, Nordost, Straight Wire, Tara Labs, Transparent Audio, Wire World and XLO for high-fidelity audio reproduction.
3. Buy 16-gauge lamp cord if on a limited budget.
4. Twist the leads of a double run of 16-gauge lamp cord together and solder them for an inexpensive upgrade.
5. Determine the lengths you need. Buy the shortest possible length of cable for each speaker, but buy the same length for each.
6. Check your speaker manual to see if the manufacturer recommends specific brands or models of cable. Product literature and reviews sometimes tell what the manufacturer used for internal wiring, and matching that usually works very well.
7. Check the Recommended Components lists in the most recent issue of "Stereophile" for both prices and suggestions of models worthy of auditioning.
8. Make a list of candidates.
9. Read reviews in audiophile magazines and on the "Audio Review" Web site to help narrow the list.

Auditioning Cables

10. Check the selection at your local consumer electronics and high-fidelity audio specialty stores.
11. Make sure the cables you select fit into the binding posts on your receiver or amplifier and speakers.
12. Buy or borrow several pairs of cables.
13. Connect a pair of cables from your receiver or amplifier to your speakers and play a song. Make sure the amplifier is turned off.
14. Immediately repeat the process with another pair of cables.
15. Compare the sound by listening to the same recordings using each of the cables. Listen to each for at least an hour.
16. If a clear winner emerges, buy those cables. If you can't find satisfactory cables in your area, consider mail order.

Tips & Warnings

• Speaker cables range in price from a few dollars to thousands of dollars.
• Monster cable, sold by most consumer electronics stores, rarely provides better sound quality than comparably priced cables made by other manufacturers.
• Some cables terminate, usually with spade lugs or banana plugs, while others come without termination.
• Most experts agree that spade lugs are the best form of termination.
• If you use bare wire, you will get a better connection by soldering the exposed ends of the wires. Silver solder is best and helps prevent oxidation.
• How and why cables work the way they do is a science in its infancy. While all cables have resistance, inductance and capacitance, each metal has a different degree of conductivity. Be wary of other claims made by cable manufacturers.
• Call the Cable Company, a mail-order provider of cables, at (800) FAT-WYRE for recommendations on the most compatible cables for your equipment. Pay the rental fee, which will be credited toward your final purchase, and two-way shipping charges with a credit card. Audition several pairs of cables at a time.

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