How to Buy Speaker Cables

By eHow Electronics Editor

Rate: (4 Ratings)

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

Step1
Set your budget.
Step2
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.
Step3
Buy 16-gauge lamp cord if on a limited budget.
Step4
Twist the leads of a double run of 16-gauge lamp cord together and solder them for an inexpensive upgrade.
Step5
Determine the lengths you need. Buy the shortest possible length of cable for each speaker, but buy the same length for each.
Step6
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.
Step7
Check the Recommended Components lists in the most recent issue of "Stereophile" for both prices and suggestions of models worthy of auditioning.
Step8
Make a list of candidates.
Step9
Read reviews in audiophile magazines and on the "Audio Review" Web site to help narrow the list.

Auditioning Cables

Step1
Check the selection at your local consumer electronics and high-fidelity audio specialty stores.
Step2
Make sure the cables you select fit into the binding posts on your receiver or amplifier and speakers.
Step3
Buy or borrow several pairs of cables.
Step4
Connect a pair of cables from your receiver or amplifier to your speakers and play a song. Make sure the amplifier is turned off.
Step5
Immediately repeat the process with another pair of cables.
Step6
Compare the sound by listening to the same recordings using each of the cables. Listen to each for at least an hour.
Step7
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.

Comments

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naudio said

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on 5/2/2008 like to think there is a differance because they want to think they have the best

do some research,

its the same as the difference between a £1000 cd player, and one in a pc with a decent sound card for £100 or less, there is NO difference

naudio said

Flag This Comment

on 5/2/2008 like to think there is a differance because they want to think they have the best

do some research,

its the same as the difference between a £1000 cd player, and one in a pc with a decent sound card for £100 or less, there is NO difference

naudio said

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on 5/2/2008 i agree, lamp cord is the way to go, i would prefer to spend that (thousands of dollars on better speakers and get some lamp cord, anyway is the inside of your amp made of oxygen free gold plated this and that, pr is it just a normal electric circuit, all using shorter or thicker cables does is make the resistance in the cable lower, but when the audio signal reaches the voice coil in the speaker that wastes 95% of the signal as heat, then it doesn't make a differance.

do a blind listening test, use lamp cord and some fancy cable for retards with big wallets and see if u can hear the differance, it will me to tiny to be audible

sales people in electronic stores are trying to make more money out of people by claiming that your crappy £400 hifi system with cheap little 10mm chipboard speakers will sound better with a £100 cable. some people never learn.

and i think some would just

Anonymous

Anonymous said

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on 8/8/2006 Technically, there's not much difference between a normal speaker wire and thousand dollar speaker wire. The differences are not audible, meaning we can't tell the difference in audio quality at all except for lab instruments. If the amplifiers and speakers are good, a cheap pair of wires will still produce good sound.

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eHow Article:  How to Buy Speaker Cables

eHow Electronics Editor

eHow Electronics Editor

Category: Electronics

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