Driving myself NUTS trying to choose Speaker Cables for the rear channel speakers in a home theater...

[twochordcool]

Here's my situation!:

I recently bought a Yamaha AV receiver to add to my stereo (Rotel integrated amp / B&W DM602S3 speakers)...

I bought Kimber Kable 8TC speaker cables for my stereo (left / right). They were quite expensive and I don't plan to hold my home theater to quite the same standards as my stereo for music...

PLUS, it would be WAY too costly to run 8TC to my rear channel speakers.

And probably overkill anyway!

HOWEVER!

I am willing to purchase I guess what you would call mid level speaker cables for my rear channel.

(I may keep the center channel the same with 8TC - it's a shorter cable so less expensive, and it might be ideal to keep the 3 front channel speaker wires the same...)

(By the way, I will be using 5 B&W DM602S3 speakers in a 5.1 home theater configuration)

NOW -

My rear channel speaker cable dilemma!:

These cables will need to be somewhere in the vicinity of 5 to 6 meters a piece.

I can either:

* Purchase a single run of better quality speaker cable (Van Den Hul Clearwater / QED Revelation)

OR

* For about the same cost I can do a double run (biwire) of highly rated but less expensive speaker cables (QED Silver Anniversary XT Biwire / Audioquest FLX-SLiP 14/4 (which in the latter case would actually be 14/8 after biwire) )

I understand there shouldn't be much low frequency signals going to a rear channel, so better cable and less conductors?

But then again, they are longer runs, so step down in quality slightly and run bigger conductors?

What do you think?

Thanks!

By the way, not that it matters but I am in the US.

 

[cheeseboy]

as it's just the rears, really really don't worry too much about anything other than basic speaker cable (not bell wire, just standard speaker cable will do absolutely fine).

 

[ellisdj]

Why not buy a cheaper Kimber from RA?

Keep things the same best you can for home theatre.

 

[abacus]

5 – 6 metres is quite a short run in speaker terms, so just go for standard 2.5mm sq. OFC (Oxygen free copper) cable.

If you are really paranoid you could use 4mm sq. of the above.

You may also like to do a search on the WHF forums, as there are a number of threads about cables.

Hope this helps

Bill

 

[John Duncan]

5 – 6 metres is quite a short run in speaker terms, so just go for standard 2.5mm sq. OFC (Oxygen free copper) cable.

If you are really paranoid you could use 4mm sq. of the above.

+1

Clicky

 

[duaplex]

+1

There is much snake oil in this industry and cables are one of them. OFC cable from maplins is perfectly fine as recommended above. In fact you never need to spend any more than this on any speaker in the system.

Recently I was asked to spend 8k on my cables..... Lets just leave it there :rofl:

 

[twochordcool]

I don't know, I want good, highly rated, moderately priced cables so I can do it and not second guess if it could be better.

I'm thinking something like double runs of FLX-SLiP 14/4 would be relatively affordable and the sound would be somewhere between very good and fantastic?

Thing is, can I fit four 14 gauge wires into a high quality banana plug - and can you recommend a high quality banana plug?

QED Silver Anniversary XT BiWire might be much more money but not sound much better?

I plan to use Kimber Kable 8TC for the center so the 3 speakers in the front are the same...speakers will be the same...though they will be driven by different amplifiers...

 

[cheeseboy]

I don't know, I want good, highly rated, moderately priced cables so I can do it and not second guess if it could be better.

If you don't know, then why ask, get given the same advice by everybody, then ignore it? :?

 

[cheeseboy]

+1

There is much snake oil in this industry and cables are one of them. OFC cable from maplins is perfectly fine as recommended above. In fact you never need to spend any more than this on any speaker in the system.

Recently I was asked to spend 8k on my cables..... Lets just leave it there :rofl:

not having a go, but just find it a bit odd that you would say that, then in your signature you state you have Chord Active Silver HDMI cables amongst other things (just to re-iterate, tongue firmly in cheek)

 

[BenLaw]

'Highly rated' by who?

 

[twochordcool]

FLX-SLiP is inexpensive, as most of you have recommended, and is highly rated by this magazine,..

Does anybody know of high quality banana plugs that would accomodate four 14 gauge wires (8 gauge total?)?

I do appreciate everyone's input.

 

[BenLaw]

Along the lines of what cheeseboy said, if you just want to buy cable rated five stars by WHF I don't get the point of asking for advice on a forum, especially if you then just ignore it. Actually I do, presumably it was in the hope people would recommend what you wanted to get anyway, in order to assuage any nagging doubt you might have. Pointless in practical terms though.

I'd just search for suitable, well constructed bananas on eBay personally.

 

[Andy Clough]

twochordcool, you may want to look at Audioquest's reply to your questions on the FLX-SLiP review:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/audioquest-flx-slip-144/user-reviews

 

[RobinKidderminster]

No wonder its driving u nuts. Biwire can improve in some situations but for rears????? Some are convinced that premium cables are of value - but for rears???? You have had sound advice - suggest u connect up some copper and enjoy your system. Tweaking the position of speakers, their 'attatchment' to terra ferma, room acoustics & treatment, and the position of your seating will each make more contribution to sq than any rear biwiring even with highest quality equipment and ideal acoustic environmwnt. (IMO).

 

[duaplex]

+1

There is much snake oil in this industry and cables are one of them. OFC cable from maplins is perfectly fine as recommended above. In fact you never need to spend any more than this on any speaker in the system.

Recently I was asked to spend 8k on my cables..... Lets just leave it there :rofl:

not having a go, but just find it a bit odd that you would say that, then in your signature you state you have Chord Active Silver HDMI cables amongst other things (just to re-iterate, tongue firmly in cheek)

Your right I was aware typing that. I purhased my system 4 years ago now and I learned after that mistake with cables So I'm just dispensing what I have learned to help others avoid the folly of my ways

 

[twochordcool]

No wonder its driving u nuts. Biwire can improve in some situations but for rears????? Some are convinced that premium cables are of value - but for rears???? You have had sound advice - suggest u connect up some copper and enjoy your system. Tweaking the position of speakers, their 'attatchment' to terra ferma, room acoustics & treatment, and the position of your seating will each make more contribution to sq than any rear biwiring even with highest quality equipment and ideal acoustic environmwnt. (IMO).

Let me be clear. I have *5* B&W DM602 S3 bookshelf speakers. One in each speaker location. Not the end all be all of hi fi audio but pretty darn good "bi-wireable" speakers. If I am going to use pretty darn good speakers in the rear position, why not biwire them with some pretty decent "highly reviewed" budget cable or do a single run of some slightly better speaker cables?

For piece of mind I'm going to do one or the other. With all due respect to you fine gentlemen I didn't come here to be talked out of doing either or but to get advice on which is probably the better way to go!!!

Now I plan on purchasing single runs of better cables (QED / Van Den Hul) or double runs of good quality budget cable (QED / Audioquest).

Within my parameters which way would you go and why?

 

[BenLaw]

Single runs. It'll all sound the same and single runs will be less obtrusive.

 

[andyjm]

No wonder its driving u nuts. Biwire can improve in some situations but for rears????? Some are convinced that premium cables are of value - but for rears???? You have had sound advice - suggest u connect up some copper and enjoy your system. Tweaking the position of speakers, their 'attatchment' to terra ferma, room acoustics & treatment, and the position of your seating will each make more contribution to sq than any rear biwiring even with highest quality equipment and ideal acoustic environmwnt. (IMO).

Let me be clear. I have *5* B&W DM602 S3 bookshelf speakers. One in each speaker location. Not the end all be all of hi fi audio but pretty darn good "bi-wireable" speakers. If I am going to use pretty darn good speakers in the rear position, why not biwire them with some pretty decent "highly reviewed" budget cable or do a single run of some slightly better speaker cables?

For piece of mind I'm going to do one or the other. With all due respect to you fine gentlemen I didn't come here to be talked out of doing either or but to get advice on which is probably the better way to go!!!

Now I plan on purchasing single runs of better cables (QED / Van Den Hul) or double runs of good quality budget cable (QED / Audioquest).

Within my parameters which way would you go and why?

There are good technical reasons why biwiring is not a good idea. Run two parallel lengths of cable if you want, but keep the jumpers in place on the speaker.

As for cable, any decent copper cable will do. Aim for at least 2.5mm sq of conductor area. Rather than cable brochures or hifi magazines, try reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_cable

and if you believe what you read, I can highly recommend:

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CASPEAK79.html

Equivalent to what used be known as 'QED 79 strand' before QED discovered marketing.

 

[cheeseboy]

Your right I was aware typing that. I purhased my system 4 years ago now and I learned after that mistake with cables So I'm just dispensing what I have learned to help others avoid the folly of my ways

fair enough and thanks for the reply :cheers:

 

[bigboss]

No wonder its driving u nuts. Biwire can improve in some situations but for rears????? Some are convinced that premium cables are of value - but for rears???? You have had sound advice - suggest u connect up some copper and enjoy your system. Tweaking the position of speakers, their 'attatchment' to terra ferma, room acoustics & treatment, and the position of your seating will each make more contribution to sq than any rear biwiring even with highest quality equipment and ideal acoustic environmwnt. (IMO).

Let me be clear. I have *5* B&W DM602 S3 bookshelf speakers. One in each speaker location. Not the end all be all of hi fi audio but pretty darn good "bi-wireable" speakers. If I am going to use pretty darn good speakers in the rear position, why not biwire them with some pretty decent "highly reviewed" budget cable or do a single run of some slightly better speaker cables?

For piece of mind I'm going to do one or the other. With all due respect to you fine gentlemen I didn't come here to be talked out of doing either or but to get advice on which is probably the better way to go!!!

Now I plan on purchasing single runs of better cables (QED / Van Den Hul) or double runs of good quality budget cable (QED / Audioquest).

Within my parameters which way would you go and why?

Everyone here is trying to help you. Rear speakers don't have much work to do, as compared to the fronts. So it makes little sense to spend a lot on the cables for rear speakers. So good quality budget cables will suffice. That's what RobinKidderminster is trying to explain. Single runs are better as explained by others.

 

[ellisdj]

I think the importance of the rear channels is often overlooked. The rears work in tandem with the fronts at times for effects panning and more. The more alike the speakers sound the better this is

If the rear speakers are only creating ambience then the closer tonally to what the front 3 speakers are producing the more believable that wikl become. I could go on

You already have matching speakers surely it makes sense to try and match the speaker cable to what your using in the front 3 speakers.

If your using 8TC the last cable to buy is QED - audioquest will be closer as their both standard copper.

But i think it makes much more sense to buy as close to 8TC as you can so maybe get 4PR from Russ Andrews or whatever he sells in the price range your looking in.

The cable is the same just scaled down in thickness/no. Of conductors.

 

[The_Lhc]

The cable is the same just scaled down in thickness/no. Of conductors.

? In what way is it the same then?

 

[ellisdj]

Its the same copper with the same bananas on each end etc

Just thinner - with 4 woven cables instead of 8 by my memory and the name - so its clearly more the same / similar than anything else you can buy

Thought that was obvious? to me makes it the obvious choice

 

[The_Lhc]

Its the same copper with the same bananas on each end etc

Just thinner - with 4 woven cables instead of 8 by my memory and the name - so its clearly more the same / similar than anything else you can buy

Thought that was obvious?

It was obvious, obvious that it's NOT the same cable in that case, given that the electrical properties of a speaker cable will be mostly influenced by the cross-sectional area and number of strands, both of which you've just cut in half.

Whether you'd actually hear the difference anyway is an entirely different question.

 

[twochordcool]

My understanding is 4TC is half of 8TC (which is bad enough?) but 4PR is half AND different conductors / dielectrics / insulation etc...

I could be mistaken but I think I'm better off with a really good quality, more affordable cable for rears from another brand / manufacturer...

I may be wrong but I think it would be OK if the rear speaker cables are different from the front providing they are of good quality?

Anybody else care to chime in on this?