[chadbang]

I forget if it was here or at another audio forum where I talked about the afternoon I actually decided to sit down and compare 5 kinds of speaker cable. They ranged from Radio Shack standard cable, Van Der Hul Goldwater, Monster and something else. It was a rather anal thing to do, but the funny thing was I found a clear winner. A very smooth cable with a full, rounded sound. I had stumbled upon it by accident. It was a leftover set I bought from a high end dealer who was using it on some Maggies. It was Straight Wire Waveguide 2 wire. This isn't really fancy stuff. It's just heavily shielded, in-wall OFC cable -- 14 gauge copper wrapped in a white TV-cable looking package. Hardly uber-high tech or expensive. Yet, this cable was able to bring a big, embracing sound to my Spica TC-50s and warm them wonderfully.


I always wanted to get more of this Straight Wire cable, but (by my standards) it was a little too expensive. Fifty feet for about $70. So I made do with what I had for years. But, with a new set of Dahlquist DQ-10s in the house, I finally decided to try and find a cable with the same specs as the Straight Wire Waveguide and I stumbled upon this stuff.

14 Gauge 2-Conductor Oxygen Free Speaker Cable 50ft


$19 for fifty feet! And all the same features and specs as the Waveguide! I ordered this a couple days ago and installed it tonight. It sounds fantastic! Same warm, full, powerful sound as the Waveguide at a fraction of the price. If you need a little more heft and bass out of your speakers and like a detailed but warm sound, I hardily recommend you give this cable a shot. I love it to death! Just as good as the Waveguide for next to nothing.

Listening to my Dahlquist DQ-10s right now, it's really rounded them out beautifully (I think they're too bright) and they sound the best they have since I've owned them. More detail, yet warmer somehow. The classic British conundrum! Getting rid of my Radio Shack 14 gauge wire ($30) was the best decision I've made in awhile.

It's funny, I'm not a huge "cable guy" and I think you can get good sound out of a decent copper cable (I hate silver) of the right gauge. But listening to the Radio Shack and this new stuff I can hear a big difference. Maybe the Radio Shack wasn't OFC. Gut I also think the heavy duty double shielding on this in-wall stuff really helps. As I said, this stuff is build exactly like the Straight Wire Waveguide, just great cable. I hope someone else need budget wire get to enjoy this as much as I do.


PS I also posted this at Audiokarma (don't want people to think I'm shilling)

 

[tim3320070]

This is probably the same as the Monoprice cable (the picture is identical). I use it as I don't hear any differences between cables.
For only $10.16 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 14AWG CL2 Rated 2-Conductor Loud Speaker Cable - 50ft (For In-Wall Installation) | 14AWG Loud Speaker Cable

 

[Paul J.]

Is it actually shielded with foil or braid, or do you mean that it has relatively thick dielectric/insulation? If it actually has a shield, I might have a good use for it. . . I don't think it is OFC, but they don't claim it is. It could be OF (which is different from OFC), but then they'd need to have rounded down to get to 99.9%, and OF is unlikely at that price. The 99.9% spec jives best with ETP, which is what almost all electrical wire is. All of my cable is ETP, and there isn't anything wrong with that. The dielectric plays a much greater role in sound (IMHO). However, it always amuses me to see folks attaching some sort of marketing speak relating to copper quality.

Paul

 

[scootermafia]

Pretty much most 14awg OFC copper of the sort used in speaker cables is going to be similar, be it Monster or whatnot. I cracked open some MIT terminator speaker cables I bought a long time ago and saw something like that inside. Pretty nice when you can do it for so cheap.

 

[tim3320070]

And thanks for for the Tom Lehrer quote in your sig, I was not familiar with him but I am now! Love it! He must have been black-balled up, down and sideways back then.

 

[Drag0n]

AR makes cheap cables like the Monster Standard 14g speaker cables (that usually turn green).
The ARs havent turned green yet(on my Moms system), and i find they sound better than the Monsters. YMMV.

Same with the cheaper interconnects dollar for dollar, Monster vs AR.

Now i use Signal Cable. Great cheap cables.
I also have some AudioQuest and Tara.