Hi,

I have Just purchased a pair of Quad 12L speakers which are driven by my Nad C350 amp.

I am looking to upgrade my speaker cable any recommendations for a good cable around £6-10 a meter price range.

I am not Bi Wiring so is it worth upgrading the supplied jumper bars? any sugestions?

Many Thanks,

Duncan...........

IMHO, replacing the jumpers with a short length of your cable makes most of the difference available through bi-wiring.

What's your existing cable and why do you think it needs uprgading?

Russell

Hi, my existing Cable is Gale XL160-2 bi wire cable, which I think could be beter.

Duncan.

I'm about to update my QED Silver anniversary cable, the problem is i can't decide which cable i would be better off purchasing.I have decided that it will be either the chord oddesey 2 or van den hul CS-122 Hybrid.The problem with my current set up is that it can sound harsh at times, and with the VDH i read it softens the treble which is certainly something i'm trying to achieve without killing it's detail completely.I have also read alot of good things about the chord cable, but i don't want to repeat the problem with the harsh top.So if any of you guys have actually used these cables and could give me a few pointers on the overall sound, as in performance of each cable in top, mid and bass, i would be most grateful.Cheers.

Okay, I am going to throw down a big gauntlet here:

"Speaker cables make no difference whatsover. Discuss."

If you stick to pure science, a double-blind ABX test of loudspeaker cables (as any good scientist would demand) produces results that suggest cables have no impact on the sound whatsoever. In fact, very few hi-fi and AV components can be recognised as demonstrating a difference in a double blind test. If no difference is determined, then the component cannot be adding or detracting from the sound of the system.

But this is not science, it's engineering. We are more comfortable with blind AB tests, because they produce results. Less statistically confident results, but results nonetheless. Even here, not all engineers are convinced that when we hear differences in cables that we aren't just subscribing to placebo effect.

Are we being duped? Do cables really make a difference, and if so why are these differences not statistically discoverable? Or are we just buying expensive ropes of bling to connect our products together?

I can't help but think you maybe right on the placebo effect.I'm still quite new to this game and i can't say i've had much experience with speaker cables, but it do make you think that maybe when you switch cables you will automatically expect some kind of difference however small.I've been alittle confused regarding cable, many times i've been told it's not that important and there's nothing hugely significant about cables and then told otherwise, with my lack of knowledge there is only one way to find out, because pretty much it's split down the middle, i'll have to be the ultimate judge myself, i just wouldn't want to think i'll be throwing good money away when it could be spent actually benefiting the sound in an area that will without doubt make a difference.

Who here honestly has the facilities to do a double blind test? Does that therefore mean that we must accept the opinions of those very few (probably less than an handful of people in this country) who have?

The double blind methodology isn't viable for what is, for most of us, an hobby.

One thing that I will say is that at the lower end of the market, there isn't much to choose between speaker cable and heavy duty mains wire and that this does give rise to confusion and scepticism in the debate.

My favourite budget wire is Maplin's VB20W Cat5e network cable.

I'm using Chord Signature which is not a subtle improvement in performance.

I have just brought some Supra Rhondo 4x2.5 bi-wire for £4.50 per metre from www.cablesdirect2u.co.uk and am very happy. I did have the same issue regarding bi-wire or not, but have just done a test with my old Kimber PR single wire and the new Supra and there is no contest. The Supra also won some awards for this cable and it is very flexable.

Good Luck,
Stefan.