bi wire speaker cables for cheap..

iv-tecman

iv-tecman

iv-tecman

Soldato
Joined
12 May 2005
Posts
8,384
Just moved into a new home, living room is much bigger and the hi fi I’ve had in storage for a while has now finally seen some light and has been installed into a lovely new glass hi fi stand.

Sadly, speakers are now quite far apart and my existing cables no longer reach. They are bi wire as I’ve got a separate amp for each speaker, and bi wire cables are expensive.

I’ve found some replacement teminators (plugs) on ebay for a pack of 8 for £5.49 so need two packs of these, as I can’t really use my old ones. I foolishly paid out for those QED airlock plugs, which you can’t really remove and I’m not paying £9.99 + for replacement ones each.. 8 x of those bad boys, lots of money I don't want to spend again..

I’ve looked around for cable, I’ve found none bi wire 20 m drum for £11.99 and I’m thinking, can’t I just use two runs of two core cable for each speaker instead of using really expensive 4 core bi wire cable? Two runs of two core gives four core..

With 2 packs of 8 x plugs for £5.49 = less then £11 + £11.99 for 20 m drum of cable, that’s like £23 to get my speakers cabled. Better then forking out something like £9.99 + per meter on branded cables.

My hi fi is only a Technics, ok its got two amps, a controller amp, and CD player and its not too bad… Only want it to play the odd CD and hook a MP3 player up to it.

These are the amps i'm using

http://audio-database.com/TechnicsPanasonic/amp/se-a1000mk2-e.html

With this controller amp

http://audio-database.com/TechnicsPanasonic/amp/su-c1000mk2-e.html
 
Last edited:
Van Damme Tour Grade Speaker Cable 4x2.5mm £3.60 per metre from Blue Aran.

Excellent stuff, I had the 4 x 4mm before but it was slightly overkill. The blue is also well recommended but not available in bi-wire.
 
Slightly off topic but the op seems sorted does anyone know of anything similar to the Van Damme range but without the very thick outer sheath?

I'm looking for something reasonable to try and fit under carpet underlay so something with an overall diameter of 8mm is far too thick, ideally something around 5mm would be good.
 
Marvt74 said:
Slightly off topic but the op seems sorted does anyone know of anything similar to the Van Damme range but without the very thick outer sheath?

I'm looking for something reasonable to try and fit under carpet underlay so something with an overall diameter of 8mm is far too thick, ideally something around 5mm would be good.
Click to expand...

For my surround speakers I use this

QED QONTOUR ULTRA-FLAT SPEAKER CABLE

Using Van Damme up front as well. Good cable for the cash.
 
I'd be using mine for the fronts also so i'm always a bit wary of ultra thick.

The cable at the moment is routed under the floorboards (suspended floor) which was there when i moved into the house, however it seems to give a slight hum to the speakers, whereas when i've tested with an equally long piece of alternate cable (over floorboards) its not there, suggesting there is an issue with the cable.

I don't really want to start ripping up floorboards and i'm not sure whether i could just just pull the new cable through via the old cable.
 
If there's a hum with the cable under the floor then it's probably from some nearby mains cable. If it was installed by the previous owner then they (or their electrician) might simply have clipped it to the ring main for convenience.
 
Ah, the previous owner was an electrician themselves and a few other things have been done which has caused some inconvinience (metal light switches not being grounded for one!)

Is there anything you could advise to try and get around this issue or would feeding cable under carpet likely to be the best option?
 
It's surprising how many electricians do the easiest job possible when it comes to AV with no thought or understanding of the consequences.

The best solution is also the least convenient: get the floor up and sort the cable properly. The cost and inconvenience of doing that will outweigh the price of new cables, so it looks like your plans for something under the carpet is the way to go.

Have you seen the various flat speaker cables available?
 
Yeah, I’ve seen a few options. I bought some cheap Belkin stuff a few years ago for the bedroom (speakers are on top of wardrobes so quality isn’t of the highest importance!!) and found it to be really stiff and inflexible for when you’re trying to make turns under the carpet which resulted in me giving up and fitting some small cable similar (but cheaper) to the QED micro cable.

I question the ability of that cable for my proper hifi though.

Just remembered I’ve also got a Nordost RCA interconnect and again I don’t really like the inflexible nature of it, which is leading me to think if I can get some regular 2.5mm cable side by side with minimum outer casing similar to this this but possibly a little narrower.

Just to add that i don't mind spending a reasonable amount on cable, though i'm likely to need around 12m in total i reckon and would prefer to spend under £100 [Dons flame proof suit)
 
Last edited:
Size-wise that Fisual stuff would be fine around the room side of the gripper rod. Use some hot-melt glue to tack it down before re-laying the carpet.
 
dont be put of biwiring give it a try, dont be put off buying more expensive speaker cable either if you want to - I have been put of biamping for years becuase of post saying its a fools thing to do, however its given my system a new lease of stereo life - done it yesterday for the first time and I could not believe the effect - has made my GX100's seriously sing - Amp Pioneer LX83.

I have also changed from 2 almost identical speaker cables and there is a distinct clear sonic difference whether there physically can be or not - I wam absolutely shocked that there is, but there is

all I can say is its up to you - just dont post much about it otherwise people always post and argue all day about it - go with with what you think is best - see if you can afford / maybe look Chord Carnival - never heard it but I am confident it will be shot hit for the money and abpout the right diameter / colour for what you are looking at.
Buy Good Buy Once
 
Last edited:
Bi-wiring does make a "difference" that most people can hear. Some think it a step forward, others a step back. Personally I'm in the latter camp.

IMO it accentuates treble and bass prominence at the expense of midrange clarity. To me it does the Bose thing; gives a bit hit of the things that are most noticeable - which is good for short impressive demos - but makes the long-term listening experience fatiguing.

On the other hand bi-amping does make quite a positive difference, and this time in the right direction with most bi-amp'able speakers.
 
If you want to know what bi wiring does without spending bucks on double runs. Just get a tiny bit of speaker cable (say 5 cms) and replace the bridge links with the cable. That will have exactly the same effect as bi wiring as.

Double runs are well worth the cash if you are bi amping, but for bi wiring IMHO its money down the drain.
 
used to run my Tannoy MX3's biwired using QED Silver Anniversary thinking it was better, couldnt hear it myself :p
now run them bi-amped, much better imho :D
 
Technically speaking there will be a minor difference as you are running cables in parallel so logic dictates that the cable capacitance will add up and the cable resistance will fall. (reciprocal addition) You are only likely to hear a difference with cables that are either exceptionally long or have high capacitance/resistance.
 
Marvt74 said:
Ah, the previous owner was an electrician themselves and a few other things have been done which has caused some inconvinience (metal light switches not being grounded for one!)
Click to expand...

FYI: Assuming the backbox is earthed, then the 3.5mm screws will do a sufficient job in earthing the plate.
 
Marvt74 said:
Slightly off topic but the op seems sorted does anyone know of anything similar to the Van Damme range but without the very thick outer sheath?

I'm looking for something reasonable to try and fit under carpet underlay so something with an overall diameter of 8mm is far too thick, ideally something around 5mm would be good.
Click to expand...

I used Chord Flatline to run speaker cables under my engineered wood floor for my surround speakers. It is very thin copper strip 0.5mm x 5mm encased in a teflon sheath. Overall dimensions, including sheathing are about 1mm x 20mm for a stereo pair. They also do a bi-wire version. It is very tough and very flexible. Nordost produce something similar, but it is quite a bit more expensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom