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Speaker cables (budget)

BlueYeti

BlueYeti

pfm Member
Info for a friend required...

A 5-7m run of inexpensive good quality speaker cable required for a modest system liberated from storage by a buddy who is now working from home during lockdown (and now for the foreseeable future) who is intent on reviving his old system, but on a tight budget. Consisting of…

Laptop (occasionally) streaming Spotify
Marantz CD-52 II
Chord C-Line interconnect (bought 2nd hand off ebay)
Technics SU-V505
Tannoy E11 speakers

He has already ordered a banana plug speaker terminal back panel for the Technics (should be here soon), so just requires speaker cables to fit.

I was thinking of something like Chord Co C-Screen or Van Damme 2.5mm Black Series Tour in the speaker cable kit form from KJF, or something similar? He’s also willing to buy secondhand too.

https://www.kjfaudio.com/product/speaker-cable-kit/#cable

Thoughts welcome.
 
Making up your own speaker cable is very easy, 15M of DCSk for £16 off Amazon or Van Damme 2 x core 2.5mm Blue of Black world do the job.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0194WLXJQ/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

8 Banana Plugs off Amazon/eBay be £10 ish
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/MOERISICAL/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

Ready made from here for £50-70
https://a1-sound.co.uk/category/van-damme-cables?PHPSESSID=977f09597f9ba8727d5bbd33c30d0a51


He can always dispense with plugs and can just use bare ends - twisted - to save some dosh and get the job done under £20
 
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Thanks folks! Very much appreciated indeed. I thought I was on the right track with Van Damme, but wasn't sure what else is out there (new and budget), as my experience is rather limited to just Chord Odyssey2, Naim NACA4 and WitchHat N2!

Any more ideas before I relay the info?
 
If he wants to do it on a budget then mains cable that he may have lying around will do a perfectly good job. It needs to be fairly chunky, so minimum 5A mains cable. Use 2 core if you have it, or 3 core and only use 2 cores. I use mains cabke without incident on my 3 ways with external crossovber, the cable runs are short and there are lots of them so I just used what I had. It sounds the same as other speaker cables I have used.
A longer run such as he has *may* sound different, but within the context of the system here he may find it makes no difference.
 
stevec67 said:
If he wants to do it on a budget then mains cable that he may have lying around will do a perfectly good job. It needs to be fairly chunky, so minimum 5A mains cable. Use 2 core if you have it, or 3 core and only use 2 cores. I use mains cabke without incident on my 3 ways with external crossovber, the cable runs are short and there are lots of them so I just used what I had. It sounds the same as other speaker cables I have used.
A longer run such as he has *may* sound different, but within the context of the system here he may find it makes no difference.
Click to expand...

Mains or any other cable is fine as there is of course no such thing as "speaker cable" ...it's all just wire at the end of the day and many of the types sold as speaker cable were manufactured for other uses... BUT for those lengths I would use as thick a cable as I can get. I'll guess the OP is doing the unforgivable but common thing of using 7m when 3m would do and merely so it can "be run out of sight" ie for aesthetic reasons... Down with this sort of thing!
I'd recommend using bare wire into the Technics own "sockets" as well.
 
I second the DSCk cable (made in Germany) but suggest KabelDirekt banana plugs. They have two screws each, and you can have one gripping the sheathing for extra strain relief. They seem very sturdy and I've never had a problem with the grub screws breaking which was an annoyance with others.

2.5mm^2 by 10m roll of DSCk speaker cable.

20 pack of KabelDirekt banana plugs (very good IMO) and build the speaker cables yourself (30 min or less with a wire cutter and a screwdriver).
 
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Arkless Electronics said:
Mains or any other cable is fine as there is of course no such thing as "speaker cable" ...it's all just wire at the end of the day and many of the types sold as speaker cable were manufactured for other uses.
Click to expand...

That`s quite true but you`d need to be careful if you used a "directional" cable such as NACA5 to run your lawnmower or other garden kit - get it wrong and it could run backwards......
 
Barrymagrec said:
That`s quite true but you`d need to be careful if you used a "directional" cable such as NACA5 to run your lawnmower or other garden kit - get it wrong and it could run backwards......
Click to expand...
Does that make the grass longer? Could be useful in the vegetable garden.
 
Mr Pig said:
I have some reels of speaker cable in the house. You need 14m of the stuff unterminated?
Click to expand...

Yes, he has quite a large spare room (now home office) and being a multifunctional space, it needs to go close to the skirting, so a twin run of 7 meters it is. What do you have a available and of course the cost etc? Unterminated is fine as he's pretty handy with wiring and soldering etc.
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Just checking back in to this thread as I've had a hectic afternoon. Thanks for the replies one and all - I have emailed over the first few links etc so I'm awaiting his thoughts!
 
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