Surround speaker cable help

[admin_exported]

Hi Guys

I will be moving to new room in 2 months time and would like to know what budget surround cable can go well. I need something decent and wont break the bank, around 40 to 50m I guess (for 4 surround speaker). Is QED micro a good investment? Appreciate any recommendation.

Thanks.

 

[Sliced Bread]

I use QED micro on the rears and it certainly does the job. I've never felt that their was a problem with it. More expensive cables will sound better but long lengths of such cables can become quite expensive.

I have micro on the back and Chord Odyssey on the front and get a very good soundstage, so I have no plans to change it. Also the QED micro is small and easy to manage / hide when piping it around the room.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers John, just what I thought

Now I need to start figuring out how many lengths that I need.

One question though, do they need to share same length? Or I could just have few lengths combination?

 

[Anonymous]

I use QED Micro as well. Don't worry about length, make it fit what you need. It's nice and thin so easier to hide.

Better to have the speakers positioned correctly with the right length cable, than speakers in the wrong place or a load of spare cable coiled up.

Coiling up cable will introduce cross talk and affect the sound quality.

The only time I'd recommend thicker higher quality cable is if your rear speakers are almost identical to your fronts. Usually they are lower impedance or lower wattage and don't handle as much low frequencies so QED Micro is more than enough. Still massively better than budget cable.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers Yellow thanks for the advice.

You got a point there, I hate coiled up cables. My surround at the moment is just puny MA R45 so don't think they will benefit much from better cables.

Looks like QED micro is the answer. Better save the rest of $$ for better equipments

 

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Buy QED Micro, I have just installed it on a system rears, and it sounds very good indeed.

Be prepared though it really is 'Micro', I was amazed by how small it actually is (brilliant for hiding under carpets etc). It sounds impressive though.

On most systems and with cable of this size, the importance of matching cable length is not important.

Goodluck

 

[Anonymous]

Since QED micro is really 'micro' is it possible to attach generic banana plug to them? I don't want nightmares of screwing the cables to the back of avr.

 

[scene]

winyip:Since QED micro is really 'micro' is it possible to attach generic banana plug to them? I don't want nightmares of screwing the cables to the back of avr.

Yes. You can still use standard banana plugs, though it maybe hard to ensure a good connection with some screw-fit models. Might need to use a little drop of silver solder on the end to help ensure good connection, or go the whole hog and use soldered banana plugs.

EDIT: You can buy micro cable with QED airloc plugs fitted from av4home: click

 

[Anonymous]

Good point scene,

I have fitted screw type banana's to mine. The connections are fine, the sound coming from the speakers tells me this. But it could be a little hit and miss, you cannot exactly see the connection being made totally.

My plugs have two small screws each to hold the cable and I made sure the bare wire was long enough to be caught by both.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks scene & leahandanna, appreciate it. I will see what I can do. The QED airlock plugs is on the high side so they tend to be last resort.

 

[Anonymous]

Gents, need some help here. One question, is QED micro cable directional? I am hoping to get futureshop to do the termination at one end, at the avr side.

I emailed futureshop and they claimed QED micro is not directional. Can someone please confirm this? I am abit sceptical.

Thanks alot.