too many brands.. hard to pick

[crowbar]

Im looking for quality interconnect/speaker cable and willing to spend up to $100 on them but theres just too many to choose from, they all have good reviews and promise. So can anyone please narrow it down to the most worth brands going for. thanks a lot.

[daviethek]

Most of the cheap speaker cables and interconnects fall into a price range near 100.00. A couple of questions have to be answered first. How many interconnects are you talking about and how long do you want them? How long for the speaker cable.

If you need one pair of each and assuming a 1M pair of interconnects and a 8 ft pair of speaker cables then I would audition Audioquest Type 4 and Audioquest Copperhead interconnects. you will be near the 100.00 mark. Lots of other options too. Upgraded radioshack interconnects and Monster cable will put you near 100.00 also. You could go with entry level interconnects and experiment a bit with speaker cable ( cat 5, zip chord, radioshack ) . Each will have a slightly different sound, you can do some basic experimenting , have some fun and still be in budget.

100.00 is a good cut-off point. When you get into the 300-500 range its gets a bit confusing and the choices start to open up a bit. Whatever you decide, give it a good break in period and then enjoy. At least you can't blame yourself for overspending.

[E-Stat]

Im looking for quality interconnect/speaker cable and willing to spend up to $100 on them but theres just too many to choose from, they all have good reviews and promise. So can anyone please narrow it down to the most worth brands going for. thanks a lot.

The good news is that there are quite a few good choices available. Although I have some older Monsters purchased long ago, I would recommend some lesser known brands that I feel are better. For that budget, I would recommend DH Labs cables. Their Silversonic line is quite affordable. They were my first step up towards hearing deeper into the music.

rw

[JohnMichael]

My favorite inexpensive speaker cable is from www.parts-express.com. They sell the Dayton brand of speaker cable. It has nicely soldered banana connectors and is about $35 for an 8ft pair. They also sell the AR brand of interconnects which are nicely made basic cables. They also sell other brands such as Monster. Cables can deffinately improve the sound of the system and these would be some well made inexpensive starter cables. For you $100 you could buy a set of speaker cables and two pairs of interconnects.

[hermanv]

Although it doesn't help the "what brand" question, do look into the used market.

Two trueisms; you'll get more cable per dollar, and many manufacturers dump brand new cables in this market pretending they are used or seconds. They do this to avoid upsetting their retailers with price reductions or sales. I have bought name brand used cables that arrived in factory sealed vacuum packaging for close to half price.

My personal favorite place to shop used is Audiogon.

[JBMAudio.com]

Im looking for quality interconnect/speaker cable and willing to spend up to $100 on them but theres just too many to choose from, they all have good reviews and promise. So can anyone please narrow it down to the most worth brands going for. thanks a lot.

The most cost effective way to aquire most type of cables are the DIY route. This way you get exactly what you want length wise and price wise.