Speaker cabling assistance needed

D

Daffy19

Guest
Hi

I am a complete novice in the world of audio and need some help.

I am purchasing a set of KEF KHT 2005.2 speakers and a Sony STR-DA5300ES Amp receiver.

My question as I don't know anything about speaker cabling is, what type of cabling do I need and with what connectors (speaker end and amp end), and what about the sub cable?

I want a quality cable but am not wanting to spend more than £150 total. I need about 35-40 metres. What would you recommend.

Thanks in advance.
 
Opinions on this will differ, but mine is don't bother spending a lot.
In more esoteric systems the cable 'may' make some difference but at this level you won't notice any.
I reckon any decent multistranded copper speaker cable will do.
Have a look in B&Q or similar and get some cheap stuff from there (As long as it's not the really thin bell wire).
Most speakers and amps will happily accept bare wire on the terminals. If you really want to introduce some potential barrier to the signal for convenience of connection then spades or banana plugs may be an option - ask your dealer to find out which if any you could use with the Sony and KEFs.
Subs usually have a low level phono socket for connecting to your receiver. Buy a cheap one of the length you need - something like this will do fine.

Use the money you save to buy some more DVDs or CDs.:smashin:
 
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I have to disagree with the previous poster. I used to have a reasonable speaker cable (I think it was QED and cost about £5 per meter) and upgraded it. I cannot remember the brand but the price was about £20 per meter. After connecting the new speaker cable to excactly the same equipment (Cyrus, with Dynaudio speakers) the improvement was tremendous. I even re-connected the old cable to repeat the experience and prove to myself that the difference was really that big! :clap:
 
I have to disagree with the previous poster. ............ After connecting the new speaker cable to excactly the same equipment (Cyrus, with Dynaudio speakers) the improvement was tremendous. I even re-connected the old cable to repeat the experience and prove to myself that the difference was really that big! :clap:

In more esoteric systems the cable 'may' make some difference but at this level you won't notice any.

Doh!
 
I guess we have different ideas about what "esoteric" means. I don't think Cyrus and Dynaudio are esoteric brands. Certainly the models I can afford don't fall into that category.

My point was that speaker cables do make a difference, also when upgrading from bellwire to £5 a meter stuff.
 
I guess we have different ideas about what "esoteric" means. I don't think Cyrus and Dynaudio are esoteric brands. Certainly the models I can afford don't fall into that category.

Compared to a Sony receiver and some KEF eggs they're pretty esoteric!;)
 
I'm inclined to agree with the swallocked one here, some Kef Eggs running off a Sony amp are a far cry from a Dynaudio/Cyrus system.

I wouldn't go so far as to say buy ultra cheapo stuff, but something costing a few pounds a metre from the likes of QED will work quite well with the setup, but i do agree don't go mad!

Qed Silver Micro is good value for a silver cable - i found this adds a touch of zip to the Kefs (http://www.hificablesandaccessories.co.uk/acatalog/QED_SILVER_MICRO_CABLE_BI-WIRE.html - 10% discount if you spend over £99 too!) though it may be a touch excessive and QED Original would suffice (http://www.hificablesandaccessories.co.uk/acatalog/QED_ORIGINAL_SPEAKER_CABLE_SINGLE_WIRE.html)

Connectors, you can use Banana Plugs to give a decent connection but bare wire is not a bad thing!

For the sub cable, Mark Grant ones are excellent value - http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=28&products_id=101 is a bargain if 1m will suffice, otherwise buy the full priced longer version....
 
Just get some Van Damme Blue at about £2/m - it will last you a lifetime of upgrades!

I "downgraded" to this from some bi-wire cable that cost me about £15/m - could I tell a difference? - No!

That's connecting an Arcam A85 to MA GR10.

A mate has recently seen the light re cables and flogged off his Townsend something-or-other speaker cable for over £250 on Flea-Bay, to replace it with a set of terminated cables that cost about £50 made up - so the cable cost was only about £2 or £3 quid per metre.

Did he notice a difference?

Of course he did!









He was £200 better off!:rotfl:
 
I think it is a case of diminishing returns, I bought some REAL cheap cable from pound land (what was I thinking>?!!?) and I thought it cant make that much difference and on my sony surround with Celestion AVP305 using this cheap stuff on the rear you really can hear the difference!!!! It almost cuts off about 5khz from the top end!

However using say some of the Richersounds Gale symphony 100 @ 69p a metre versus the symphony 400 @ £2 a metre I just cant tell the difference. I am sure if you have kit that costs as much as my car just for the speakers you will tell the difference, reality is your kit is VERY similar to mine and if you go for some decent budget cable you will be happy.

What I will say is the appearance is perhaps more important for a surround system the gale mentioned above is very obvious, something like the Sympthony 300 or the Audio Innovations micro maybe more useful and still pretty cheap.
 
Thanks everyone this is great. I've now got a much clearer idea of where I need to be heading, and by the sounds of things without bankrupting myself also which is always a bonus.

Cheers
 
Just get some Van Damme Blue at about £2/m - it will last you a lifetime of upgrades!

I "downgraded" to this from some bi-wire cable that cost me about £15/m - could I tell a difference? - No!

That's connecting an Arcam A85 to MA GR10.

A mate has recently seen the light re cables and flogged off his Townsend something-or-other speaker cable for over £250 on Flea-Bay, to replace it with a set of terminated cables that cost about £50 made up - so the cable cost was only about £2 or £3 quid per metre.

Did he notice a difference?

Of course he did!









He was £200 better off!:rotfl:

Hmm, in which case fair enough - it is oft touted that a lot is in the mind, but i'd be amazed with the gear he had if he didn't prefer the better stuff, maybe he preferred the cash in his pocket though. My Chord Epic at £40 a metre (yes £40) was a stunning upgrade for my system, but it's not for everyone.

However Van Damme Blue is a good cable, though i note Maplin no longer sell it which explains why i couldn't recall what it was called when i went looking when first replying!
 
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=685074

Look at the Belkin cable which can still be had from Dell. If you buy two reels you can "double up" the 16AWG to get 30m of 2.6 mm2 working out at about 86p per meter.

In what way would this 2.6 mmm2 of copper be any different from any other copper you can buy? Short answer it wouldn't. Buy copper, not a name.
 
For the Kef's QED Silver Anniversary is probably overkill.

Using a common factor, around 10% of your system should be saved for the cables therefore you are probably right with spending no more than £150.

We sell subwoofer cables ranging from £10 to £80 but I would suggest you look at the range up to £30. That would get you a decent QED cable. Not as popular but good value for money is the Belkin PureAV range.

http://www.quantumelectronics.co.uk/acatalog/subwoofer-cables.html

Previous suggestions of QED Silver Micro or Original would be more than adequate for the speaker cable.

You still have to budget for the cables from your source to your amp which means an optical or coaxial digital audio cable, or more than one.

For speaker terminations I would definately suggest using them at the amp end but I wouldn't recommend anything more than these:-

http://www.quantumelectronics.co.uk/acatalog/milty_banana_plug.html

For installations that we do on the Kef Eggs we usually terminate at the speaker end with bare cable on the screw terminals although this is normally because we wall mount them.

Overall I would say the law of diminishing returns tends to play a part in cable selection. You don't always get an improvement or significant improvement (before I start an arguement) from spending more money. The quality of the components in your system always play a part though.
 
Just to add to Joe's comments I agree that you don't need to spend that much which is why QED SA is overkill.

Some of my suggestions above would come in well under £100.
 
Hi

I am a complete novice in the world of audio and need some help.

I am purchasing a set of KEF KHT 2005.2 speakers and a Sony STR-DA5300ES Amp receiver.

My question as I don't know anything about speaker cabling is, what type of cabling do I need and with what connectors (speaker end and amp end), and what about the sub cable?

I want a quality cable but am not wanting to spend more than £150 total. I need about 35-40 metres. What would you recommend.

Thanks in advance.

Some excellent shouts so far regarding the Van Damme Blue (£2/m) 2x2.5mm2 speaker cables, many people use it in very exotic systems on this forum and other hifi fora, slowly but slowly but surely speaker cables like Van Damme Blue are bringing common sense into hifi cabling, where the addition of a companies name can multiply simple cable bought off reels (like Belden, Van Damme, etc) by 5 to 10 times.

To the OP I’d spend £2-£3 a metre on your cables, and save your money for better kit upgrades down the line dude, spending £150 on speaker cable in your system is money wasted (no offence intended BTW) esp. in the speaker department.

Do a search of the forum for "4mm Banana Plugs" and read the threads, Mr. Incredible linked to some excellent VFM bananas from CPC Farnell. £0.50 per plug.
 
my apologies to the OP for jumping on this thread, but i thought it would be better than creating a new one when there's already a topic going.

I'm in need of some speaker cables too, around 45 metres...

I have a Yamaha RX-V2700 receiver and Kef 3005SE speakers (just got this week). Currently i'm using some cheapo stuff i got from maplins...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=51&doy=18m1
something like that, it was a 20m roll for £15-£20 odd quid if i can remember..

however, i've been considering the QED's silver anniversary, but reading this thread it seems that may be flushing money down the toilet...:confused:

so, what are my options:
  • stick with the cables i have:confused:
  • buy the QED's silver anniversary (just for the fronts), and cheaper one's for the back:confused:
  • buy a cheaper alternative:confused:

:lease:
 
my apologies to the OP for jumping on this thread, but i thought it would be better than creating a new one when there's already a topic going.

I'm in need of some speaker cables too, around 45 metres...

I have a Yamaha RX-V2700 receiver and Kef 3005SE speakers (just got this week). Currently i'm using some cheapo stuff i got from maplins...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=51&doy=18m1
something like that, it was a 20m roll for £15-£20 odd quid if i can remember..

however, i've been considering the QED's silver anniversary, but reading this thread it seems that may be flushing money down the toilet...:confused:

so, what are my options:
  • stick with the cables i have:confused:
  • buy the QED's silver anniversary (just for the fronts), and cheaper one's for the back:confused:
  • buy a cheaper alternative:confused:

:lease:

In the FAQ for the Maplins cable it states:

Q) The Spec tab does not say what the difference between S10 and S12 is. Presumably it''s related to size of core. Could you specify please. - timH
A) C10 = 10AWG Cable S12 = 12AWG Cable

If that is the case, worst scenario is that you have 12 AWG cable, which is about 3.3 sq mm. That should do any speaker in any home cinema kit! Stick with what you've got.
 

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