The voodoo-less cable thread. Reasonable cable vendors and reviews.

[prot]

The cable prices are way into vodoo-land lately and IMHO there is no reason for OFC/OCC cables to cost more than $100 when a meter of wire costs about $5 or less.

I would like to list some companies and review sites that actually do serious reviews and sell solid and reasonably priced cables. I have no affiliation with the mentioned companies, hope it is ok for me to post those links.

Voodoo-free cable info and reviews.

Cable info from a surprisingly decent audio vendor. Short, clear and pretty much all you need to know about cables.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/cabletruth
http://www.btg-audio.com/cable-facts ... good info, not so good prices

IMHO the best cable review ever. Includes meaningful cable measurements.
http://www.audioholics.com/gadget-reviews/kimber-kable-8pr

John Dunlavy , one of the best speaker designers and audio engineers ever, about cable nonsense.

If you wanna go into a lot more detail, here you find comprehensive cable-info from a former McIntosh executive:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

And some more links:
http://www.audioholics.com/gadget-reviews/speaker-cable-and-audio-interconnects
http://consumerist.com/2008/03/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables/
http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/technical-papers/myths-and-snake-oil

http://www.hydrogenaud.io/forums/index.php?showtopic=82777. With thx to money4me247


Vendors & Manufacturers of solid and reasonably priced cables:

* OFC / OCC *
USA http://www.monoprice.com
USA & UK http://www.bluejeanscable.com, http://www.belden.com/docs/upload/Recommendations_for_Home_Theater_and_High_End_Audio.pdf
UK & DE http://www.thomann.de/gb/cables_and_plugs.html
UK http://www.qed.co.uk/qed-academy.htm
China - http://stores.ebay.com/Blue-Copper, http://www.lunashops.com/ - nice cables for almost all HPs, mostly under $50

(with thx to speedkater)
USA, UK - Markertek, Redco, Belden, Canare, Gepco, Mogami, West Penn
DE - Sommercable


* SILVER Cables*
According to various measurements and sound tests, you are *not* going to hear any sound difference or improvement. All the vendors I found make voodoo-cable claims but the listed ones have at least reasonable prices (less than $10/meter). If you fancy pretty silver cables there is no need to pay voodoo prices over $300. Also (thx kamakahah), most silver cables are solid core and that kind of wire is less flexible and easier to break.

UK/ebay Achtungaudio. Some unproven cable-voodoo like burn-in and "better sound" but the bulk cable is quite cheap.
UK/India/ebay Lavrycables. Some cable voodoo but very good prices. Bulk cable, eadphone cables, silver USB cables.
USA/Tempocables lots of cable voodoo but only ~$8 per meter of bare wire.

Update 2015.03.15
Finally got some time to test those silver wonders. Details here. Oh short: nothing to hear, move along.


Cable DIY
check the headfi DIY section, e.g. http://www.head-fi.org/t/71148/diy-cable-gallery
braid & litz cables http://www.head-fi.org/t/537202/why-french-braid#post_7250821


If you know any other reasonable cable reviews and vendors, please post. I will try to keep the list updated.

 

[ab initio]

I think a more entertaining list would be of the voodoo cable makers. Perhaps you want to compile that list here too?

Cheers

 

[prot]

I think a more entertaining list would be of the voodoo cable makers. Perhaps you want to compile that list here too?

Cheers

That would be useful too, but I want this thread to be positive...i.e. reward the decent companies instead of punishing the bad ones. A list of good-guys should be more useful for the users.

 

[superjawes]

I think a more entertaining list would be of the voodoo cable makers. Perhaps you want to compile that list here too?

Cheers

Entertaining, yes. Useful? I'm not so sure...if nothing else, I would personally prefer a thread pointing to sensible cables as there are good, no-voodoo reasons to upgrade your cables.

Digital Cables: Digital protocols require specific impedance characteristics to avoid some of the transmission line effects (reflecting signals). A super cheap 12ft USB cable might be fine for a printer or data transfer, but when you're trying to stream audio, things could get skethcy.

There's no need to spend a fortune on these, but you might want something of solid quality and minimal length.

Headphone cables: One quick upgrade is from single ended to balanced. This doesn't necessarily provide a direct SQ improvement, but it would allow you to use a balanced amplifier where you could not before (like Schiit's Mjolnir).

From there, ruggedness, length, and style are also good reasons to upgrade. These are the kinds of cables you physically interract with frequently, so wanting something that works better for your environment and looks cool is solid reasoning for an upgrade.

Interconnects: Length (duh), and ruggedness. However, these have a lot more to do with planning your cabling setup, IMO, and that includes ALL cables. If you have a PC connected to two monitors and some audio gear or a TV with four media devices attached, it's easy to create a rat's nest.

 

[blades]

Much more entertaining than what you linked is to read the Amazon reviews for Audioquest.  Some ot them will have you chuckling out loud.

 

[prot]

As requested, the vodoo-only thread

 

[nick_charles]

Cable info from a surprisingly decent audio vendor:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/cabletruth

 

 
[aside]
I like this bunch as they also gave us this... http://www.axiomaudio.com/distortion little gem of a audibility of distortion study
 
 
 
[/aside]

 

[Speedskater]

QED Cables have two papers that to a rather good job for a after-market cable company.
 
http://www.qed.co.uk/qed-academy.htm

 

[ab initio]

That would be useful too, but I want this thread to be positive...i.e. reward the decent companies instead of punishing the bad ones. A list of good-guys should be more useful for the users.

 
That is fair enough. I guess I just find cables that only transmit voltage signals and deliver current a little boring. The Audioq*est cables available on amazon (as alluded to) are far more entertaining that cheapie cables. 
 
Cheers

 

[prot]

QED Cables have two papers that to a rather good job for a after-market cable company.

http://www.qed.co.uk/qed-academy.htm

That looks interesting but I could not find any prices on their site.. could you post some samples?

 

[Speedskater]

All I know about QED Cables is what I read in those two papers.
Now if I buy cables, they come from Blue Jeans.

 

[ab initio]

As for voodoo-less cable companies, this company sells some fancy cables that have some style. While the cables themselves are pricier than I can afford for some headphone-bling, I've never heard any BS from anyone involved in the company regarding magic capabilities. They don't meet your criteria for budget cables
 
The products are marketed for what they are: boutique, handmade, custom cables with high-end materials chosen for finish and feel. I think it's safe to add them to your good-guy list.
 
Cheers

 

[prot]

All I know about QED Cables is what I read in those two papers.
Now if I buy cables, they come from Blue Jeans.

They sound ok but I do not wanna add anyone that sells cables in the $500+ category. If anyone can post some sample prices, I'll add them.

Added Thomann, a well known EU vendor of professional audio equipment.

 

[prot]

Added QED. Many online shops who sell those and the prices are ok.

 

[brhfl]

That looks interesting but I could not find any prices on their site.. could you post some samples?

 
I don't think QED sells direct, and their dealers seem to be in the UK. Some of their stuff gets pricy, especially when you start adding their fancy terminations, but their Silver, Silver Micro, and Ruby lines of speaker cable all seem to be in the range of $10-15/m (USD), and terminated interconnects can be had for $30-50 for short runs. I'm planning to buy some QED Silver Micro from this eBay seller soon, and can post an update accordingly if interested.