Speaker cable?

Razor-BladE

Razor-BladE

Razor-BladE

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So it's my first steps into proper speakers and I've recently bought myself some Wharfedale 10.1s. I was originally looking for 9.1s but these popped up at a reasonable price so I thought they can't sound any worse!

So I'll be getting them either this week or the week after, and I'll be looking to get a nice budget but apparently quite decent Cambridge Audio A5.

As the A5 can bi-amp, I'm going to get 8 banana plugs and 8 spade connectors, a 3.5mm-phono, and obviously I'll need some speaker cable.

Now I've looked into this briefly and there's seems to be a lot of choice with what to get.

I'm looking for some cheap but not too cheap speaker cable but I have no idea what to get, so if someone get point me to products or a site where any cable will do, etc, that would be great. QED the one to go for as I see them mentioned sometimes?

I don't really know how much I'll need.. the amp will be right next to the speakers so probably about 80cm from the furthest? Meaning I'll need to get about 3.5m of the stuff?

Should the cable length be the same for both speakers even though one is closer than the other? Or is the phase difference not significant enough to make a difference?

Sorry for so many questions. Thanks!
 
Personally I wouldn't bother going straight to Bi-Amping with that set up. Will probably just be an additional cost for very little (if any) improvement, also wouldn't bother with banana plugs either.

If it was me, I would try the speakers out with a normal set up, nothing fancy and see what you think. If your not happy, then go for the bi-amp set up.
 
For speaker cable, I have used both This and This...

As regards the length of speaker cable being the same or not, for that distance I would think it doesn't matter, but if it was me I would just keep each the same length...
 
Don't bother with the bananas or spades they are a waste of money unless you are planning on taking the system apart all the time.

Personally I wouldn't bother bi-wiring unless you plan on bi-amping at a latter date. I have my speakers bi-wired but only because I ran the cable ready for the power amp upgrade I've never gotten round too!
 
Thanks all. Keep the recommendations coming in :)

jbloggs said:
For speaker cable, I have used both This
Click to expand...

That looks pretty good. I'll put that onto my list.

Jano;19588144I said:
wouldn't bother going straight to Bi-Amping
also wouldn't bother with banana plugs either.
Click to expand...

a1ex2001 said:
Don't bother with the bananas or spades they are a waste of money unless you are planning on taking the system apart all the time.

Personally I wouldn't bother bi-wiring unless you plan on bi-amping at a latter date. I have my speakers bi-wired but only because I ran the cable ready for the power amp upgrade I've never gotten round too!
Click to expand...

Alright I won't buy banana plugs/spade connectors, that'll save me £20 as well. Do I just wrap it around or something?

I won't bi-amp then; save me the cost of a set of speaker cable.
 
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Chong Warrior said:
I have my system Bi-Amped and it cetainly does make a difference at higher volumes. Though mine are large floorstanders, I probably wouldn't bother with bookshelf speakers.

You can do it cheaply, no need to spend a fortune.
I use this cable
Click to expand...

I doubt I'll play it too loudly so I won't go bi-amped.

Is that cable specifically for bi-amp?


Edit: Does the width of the wire make a big difference?
 
Razor-BladE said:
I doubt I'll play it too loudly so I won't go bi-amped.

Is that cable specifically for bi-amp?


Edit: Does the width of the wire make a big difference?
Click to expand...

Loudness has nothing to do with it really, it's about refinement, clarity etc.
For a real cheap quick fix just to see what bi wiring/amping can do go to B&Q and buy twin and earth mains wire, it is solid copper which is sometimes better than multi strand wire
 
AFAICS the A5 is a 2 channel amp, so you won't be able to bi-amp (i.e. having separate channels driving HF and LF of each speaker).

You could bi-wire, but IMO this is a complete waste of time and money so I'd just get whatever electrically competent cable you fancy and spend the difference on buying music to enjoy. The QED one looks OK without costing too much for short runs, but don't automatically assume that buying a branded cable will make it sound any better - there's a load of myth and pseudoscience around. B&Q or the holiday camp place should have equally good stuff if you like the look of it.

If you're using a reasonable cable, the electrical characteristics of an extra couple of metres on one channel will be pretty negligible, and I'd be amazed if you would be able to tell the difference. I'd guess most people have cables of about the same length though, and longer than 'just enough' for flexibility moving things around. You can ignore the phase issue too; the signal propagation time in the cable is negligible compared to the variability in propagation time through the air due to positioning of speakers and your head.
 
Chong Warrior said:
He isn't bi-wiring, he's bi-amping.
Click to expand...

He is thinking of bi-wiring I think. If he is bi-amping, he hasn't mentioned anything about having more than just the single A5. I do agree that bi-amping, can be worth it, not so much though with bi-wiring.

OP, if it was b-wiring you were considering, you would need 16 banana plugs, not 8. Even if were bi-amping, you would still need 16. 8 plugs are only enough to run 1 cable to each speaker.
 
ampback.jpg


I thought that is bi-amping?
 
Yep, as Wonko said, the terminals are connected internally. Note, on the rear of the amp, it says for bi-wire. :) 2 sets of terminals are there if someone wants to run another set of speakers, to a different room. Can be used for bi-wiring 1 set of speakers, but the benefit is very little.
 
Ah kl, cheers.

I thought bi-wire was 4 outputs from the amp splitting into 8 cables haha.

Ah that's why I was going for the A5.. still a decent amp for about £40 right?
 
Ok brilliant. I think I'm gonna go for the Fisual Super Pearl speaker cable.
Does it matter which connectors I use for the speakers?
And what about the links?
 
From that pic, it looks like you should use the connections at the bottom.

Also from your previous post it sounds like you haven't wired an amp up before, there should be a hole for you to feed the wire through, then you just tighten up the connections which holds it in place. No need to wrap the wire around anything.
 
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