# Upgrading Speaker wire does it make a difference?



## MarkH (Dec 10, 2006)

I know little about AV and believe there is a big debate if decent speaker wires make a difference to a system, I have just bought a denon dm38 with mission MX1 speakers and I am blown away by the sound, and I am wondering if I could improve with some decent cable?


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## Colt Man (Dec 3, 2008)

ive always been a firm believer that true sound quality comes from the cable, not the speaker.

did a few experiments along my time and thats my theory and im sticking to it


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## bigmc (Mar 22, 2010)

Yes it does, I'm not a proper audiophile but I like my music and films clear and crisp through my 7:1 system, it was great when I bought it but when I replaced the original cable with oxygen free stuff and reduced the gauge to the longer runs (reduces capacitance) and made all the runs to paired channels equal length I could tell the difference.


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## DesertDog (May 15, 2011)

If your speakers are bi-wireable then also consider that option.


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## Ninja59 (Feb 17, 2009)

spend on analog cables not on digital for example RCA cables and speaker but dont on a HDMI. think i spent about 100 -150 on mine considering i have 7 speakers on 2 systems....they are linked together but they work better sep. my B & E's are on QED Silver anniversaryhope to possibly nordost these at some point just its longer than i would like 0.5m is £££ 

RCA cables lots of money if i mention nordost i only have 1 or 2 in mine because they are eye watering tbh (mine are Wyrewizard Enchantess)....you might want to look at them one of the best in my op! if thats to pricey Chord, Van Del Hul, Graham Slee (yes he has a cable range) or QED...are all other good makes i have used/listened to the quick connecters QED have are also decent but dam pricey and decided not to tbh

bigmc has another top tip always use the same length to speakers no matter if you have to past the other to the other for routing like me


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## GlynRS2 (Jan 21, 2006)

Expensive speaker wire is a good way to waste money that is better spent on componants IMO.
There is a good article here: the truth about speaker wire
If you need a conversion for American wire gauage you can use this one here

Of course that is not to say I use bell wire. You can get "good quality" speaker cables without spending a lot of money, just get Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) of the appropriate guage/strand.


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

As long as this is analog signal it alwas make difference when You use good quality cable.
I do have Onkyo tx-nr808 connected to linn speakers, front is bi-wire using qed anniversary xt and rear is single wired qed anniversary xt. 

When I first connected front ones using single wire no name brand cable sound was not like it should be after long reading on AV forums I decide to buy QED cables and I have to say quality is MUCH better.

If You want to buy a good cables go for QED as price and quality is second to none 

Just my few pences lol 

Do not waste You money for quality HDMI leads as this is digital signal


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

DesertDog said:


> If your speakers are bi-wireable then also consider that option.


NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,dont fall for the "biwireable" ********,it does nothing.i had 3x3m lengths of QED Silver Anniversary-XT biwired and terminated and they cost a fortune,biggest pile of ****e i wasted money on.did absolutely nothing to improve sound quality.this is all my opinion obviously.


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## X-Man (Jan 3, 2011)

You should consider the state and quality of the connectors before you waste money on upgrading the cable...how many times I've seen people spend £fortunes on _professional_ quality cable and then use poor connections is amazing.

When you do get cable, as long as you buy branded OFC, of decent guage then you won't go too far wrong...

As for _wasting_ money on HDMI cables, I agree to a point but as with all stuff, cheap is cheap for a reason


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## Sypher (Jul 16, 2008)

There is definitely a difference between cables but it's diminishing returns. £10/metre will be better than £1/metre. £100/metre will be better than £10/metre but the difference will be less noticeable than £1 - £10 and so on. Good cable really comes into its own over distance.


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## Alzak (Aug 31, 2010)

silverback said:


> NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,dont fall for the "biwireable" ********,it does nothing.i had 3x3m lengths of QED Silver Anniversary-XT biwired and terminated and they cost a fortune,biggest pile of ****e i wasted money on.did absolutely nothing to improve sound quality.this is all my opinion obviously.


Using what kind of equipment You came into this conclusion??


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## Gruffs (Dec 10, 2007)

Yes and No.

The better quality of cable the better quality of signal you will get (for analogue systems). But, given that the cable is continuous, the signal transfer should be pretty good whatever grade speaker cable you use. 

Oxygen free cable just stops the copper oxidising inside the insulation. Though it will do this over time anyway as the ends are open. So if the are BRAND NEW there should be negligable difference between Oxygen-free and standard wire. Over time, the standard will degrade faster 

It is the terminations that introduce noise, bounce degrade the signal etc.

If your speaker wires are not fully and correctly connected the bit of speaker cable carrying the signal is worthless.

Don't fall for the gold plated to XYZ thickness rubbish either. Copper is the better conductor. The only reason gold plating is used is that it doesn't oxidise and it is shiny. I would solder my connections properly where i could and use copper terminals and silicon dielectric grease to prevent oxidisation on the physical terminations where soldering is impractical.

The best cable in the world will not overcome bad termination.


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*noise*



GlynRS2 said:


> Expensive speaker wire is a good way to waste money that is better spent on componants IMO.
> There is a good article here: the truth about speaker wire
> If you need a conversion for American wire gauage you can use this one here
> 
> Of course that is not to say I use bell wire. You can get "good quality" speaker cables without spending a lot of money, just get Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) of the appropriate guage/strand.


Very true
I have spent more money on cables for my home than most people spend on hifi and im sorry but imho cables will never replace a good source (i.e. turntable/cd player). if you can remove all the road/traffic noise from inside the car and then I might agree with spending more than £10 per metre. But then again if you have the cash why not spend more


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*tri-wired*



silverback said:


> NO,NO,NO,NO,NO,dont fall for the "biwireable" ********,it does nothing.i had 3x3m lengths of QED Silver Anniversary-XT biwired and terminated and they cost a fortune,biggest pile of ****e i wasted money on.did absolutely nothing to improve sound quality.this is all my opinion obviously.


I have also tri-wired and bi-wired speakers and im sorry but a side by side and I couldnt tell the difference but then maybe its my age


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*whoooooppppssss!!!!*



nicks500 said:


> Very true
> I have spent more money on cables for my home than most people spend on hifi and im sorry but imho cables will never replace a good source (i.e. head unit). if you can remove all the road/traffic noise from inside the car and then I might agree with spending more than £10 per metre. But then again if you have the cash why not spend more


I thought this was about car hifi....sooorrrrryyyyyyyy!!!!


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*a ratio*

I think that if you are going to upgrade your speaker cable it should be a sensible ratio of how much you have spent on your hifi, maybe 10 to 20% of the value


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## Phil H (May 14, 2006)

Good quality cable makes a hell of a difference. I tired a few different types on my speakers and it does make a difference. They also did this test at a home cinema show 2 years ago from cable that costs £20 a metre to £1000 a metre!! and you could hear the difference in clarity. 

I'm running QED XT400 X tube cable, not the most expensive but its worth it!!


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## nicks500 (May 12, 2011)

*but...*

I never said speaker cable doesnt make a difference but as someone said in a previous post there is a law of diminishing returns and if I spent a £2000 on a hifi I wouldnt spend a £1000 on cables. I would see a bigger difference with £200 pounds worth of cables and spend £800 more on my front end


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## silverback (Jun 18, 2008)

Alzak said:


> Using what kind of equipment You came into this conclusion??


I had the following equipment
B&W 603 s2 as left and right speakers,B&W 601 s2 as rears an a B&W centre speaker [can't remember model no] but it was about £300. The amp was a yamaha 863se. Total cash spent was about 2k.i also changed speakers to kef eggs 3005se and they still didnt sound any different,bi wired or standard.

but to answer the OP`s question,i do think better speaker cable results in better sound.


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## andystuff1971 (Jan 16, 2011)

Van Damme blue is all you need, copper is copper, plastic is plastic and rubber is rubber. Paying over £5 per meter is utter madness imo. My cable is £16 per meter, I paid nowt for it, does it sound any different to the van damme it replaced, not a jot!

Andy


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## MarkH (Dec 10, 2006)

Ok so going on the 10% theory I paid 300 for my measly stereo, so £30ish for cable should suffice for which I will need 10-12 metres, is this van damme blue the stuff to go for?


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## THE CHAMP (Aug 1, 2008)

Dont waste your money your ears will hear no difference at all.Most of these tests are done in a very controled enviroment that will never be replicated in normal use in your house.


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## Nuzzy-B (Mar 26, 2010)

Check these speaker cables out best speaker cable last year, these should make your system sound better.

http://www.futureshop.co.uk/chord-carnival-silverscreen-speaker-cable-p-1133.html

http://www.futureshop.co.uk/index.php?cPath=95_174&sort=3a&filter_id=

Any good speaker cable will need running in for about 20 hours at least to get the best out of it, then you'll notice the improvement. Also the longer the cable the sound will degrade, the shorter the signal path the better.


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## Bungleaio (Jul 18, 2010)

I got some half decent cable from richer sounds, I think it was about £2.5 a meter, its got to be better than the thin bell wire stuff and it sounds good enough to me.

You can get carried away with cables if you want. New power cable sir? That'll be £350 please.










http://www.hificables.co.uk/11481/Isotek-Supreme-High-Current-Mains-Cable.html


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## kimandsally (May 21, 2011)

Nuzzy-B said:


> Check these speaker cables out best speaker cable last year, these should make your system sound better.
> 
> http://www.futureshop.co.uk/chord-carnival-silverscreen-speaker-cable-p-1133.html
> 
> ...


How do you run speaker cable in? Do you have to play special slow music then faster music as the hours go on?


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## Nuzzy-B (Mar 26, 2010)

kimandsally said:


> How do you run speaker cable in? Do you have to play special slow music then faster music as the hours go on?


Play any music at low volume for at least 30 40 hours, 10 hours a day.the longer the better some cable can take longer to break in, or you can buy special cds but I wont bother with that.


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