good budget cable. Which is better?

[admin_exported]

Hi, I am thinking of buying some new budget speaker cable. Sorry if this has already been posted before.

I have narrowed it down to either QED Silver Anniversary XT or Chord Company Carnival Silverscreen. I have Chord Company Crimson interconnects already. Should I get terminated or unterminated cable? Pros/cons? Also, Bi-wire? Is it worth bi-wiring a budget hifi system?

At the moment I am using a 50W into 8 Ohms amp and running some old Pioneer speakers on soundstyle 2's. I am thinking of upgrading to some Diamond 9.1's. I hear these are good with classical,acoustic and folk but are they good with other types such as rock, blues and dance or pop, for example? Are the Tannoy Custom F1's better? I see the Dali Lektor 1's are harder to drive.

Thanks for the advice, Inter

 

[Anonymous]

The Wharfy Diamonds are sweet speakers, and the Dalis are a favourite of many. I'd be interested to know what Pioneer speakers you are using - we used to have a pair of the 3 way around 1990 model which were suprisingly good! I turned them into a ported design and stuck a load of padding in their, rewired them with better quality wire and the result was outstanding for such cheap speakers!

 

[Anonymous]

Cool, I'll probably go for the Diamonds (9.1's) then. The post on Faulty Warfedale 9.1's was a bit worrying! Anyone else had faults with them? Unfortunately, I've no idea what the Pioneer model is as the sticker has come off! Could pobably do with new wire as well and new cone on one. They are quite a good size, front ported, sound okay and are maybe at a guess about 20 years old.

So, I'll probably go for Chord Silverscreen unterminated and not bi-wired unless anyone has any better suggestions.

Cheers, Inter 🙂

 

[Tonestar1]

I have the SA XT and am pretty pleased with it. I've never heard the chord so can't really judge.

I wouldn't bother with plugs unless you are going to be moving things around an awful lot and want them for convience.

Never saw the point in paying more money to have an extra two joints in the cable. Not sure if anyone would advocate any perfomance benefits of using plugs to be honest. I really can't tell the difference and don't think I've met anyone who has.So what's the point?

Cheers

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tonestar1 🙂 Do some speakers need plugs to attach the cable?

 

[John Duncan]

Practically all speakers will take both banana plugs or bare wire - the ones you mention certainly do.

I haven't heard the Dalis, but the Diamonds are brilliant, and I had no reliability issues with mine - and they certainly suit all the genres you mention.

 

[John Duncan]

Sorry, didn't answer original question - can't speak for either of the cables you mention, but I would terminate them simply for ease of use.

And I biwired my Diamonds to modest, though discernible, effect.

 

[Tonestar1]

I was going to get my XT terminated. But at a cost of £5 per "airloc" plug when I was bi-wiring was going to cost me an extra £60. I just didn't think I could justify that for a bit less hassle. If money were no object I'd have went for it though :-D

 

[John Duncan]

I used generic screw-on ones off ebay at about a tenner for 8 (OTTOMH).

 

[Dave_]

my local dealer lent me both when i wanted to upgrade, i plumped for the chord because i found the qed a tad leaner

 

[Anonymous]

I tried both cables, the chord works better on my system.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks guys. Don't think I will bi-wire as it adds quite a bit to the cost. Worth using Chord signiture bi-wire links or something similar?

 

[Dave_]

yep, just replace the links with a piece of whatever cable you decide on i'd say

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks JohnDuncan. The Diamonds seem to be what I am after in that case. Do you think the Custom F1's were any better?

 

[John Duncan]

They're great, but not *better*, no - they used to be marginally better value than the Wharfedales, but you can get them for 130 at Superfi, which make them the better buy to my mind.

Look better too - especially in walnut