Choosing Speaker Cables?

[ntuason]

Hello,

 

I’m currently in the market for a pair of new speaker cables and I’m kind of confused on what to look for in them. 
 

I recently bought a pair of Kanto TUK and would like to replace the stock cable (not that there’s anything wrong with them) in hopes to get more out of the speakers with better quality speaker cables, I’ve been reading the gains would be minimal? 
 

I’m using the speakers for a desktop and their about 6ft apart from each other if that means anything.

 

Thank you 

[The Flying Sloth]

It won't make a difference, most high-end speaker cables are snake oil, the only meaningful difference is shielding.
There was a very famous test done years ago with the highest end snake oil BS cables vs aluminium foil, there wasn't a measurable difference let alone a hearable one.

[Dr0y]

General rule the longer you need the thicker it needs to be but that's about all there is.  With 6' probably a 16 gage would do if you want basics.  Shielding is indeed important if the cable runs near things that could do some interference.  None if my cables are shielded.  When you buy a speaker cable get a nice one, it won't sound better but it will be nice to look at if it's exposed. 

[The Flying Sloth]

While shielding is important, the satellite speakers in my bedroom on the nightstands are connected by Ebay 'sort-by-cheapest' speaker cable that runs all the way around the perimeter of the room right next to power cables without an issue. It's up to you how much you want to spend but sometimes the extra money just isn't quite worth it.

[GamerDude]

Yeah, cheap speaker cables like Amazon Basics Speaker Cables would do a very nice job, forget snake oil expensive cables. I have a friend whose speakers cost an astronomical amount of money (tens of thousands), and he'd used Nordost speaker cables that cost thousands of dollars (with expensive power amp, Super CD player, power line cleaner, etc). To me, it was an obscene amount of money for a sound system, but to my friend's credit, he doesn't waste money on liquor, doesn't smoke, doesn't gamble, is totally faithful to his wife (a rare quality these days), he simply loves great audio. 

 

Yes, the sound was awesome, but I put that to the speakers and his audio gear upstream (other than the cables), had he'd gotten regular red and black speaker cables, I seriously doubt we could have heard the difference. And the sound would be just as awesome....

[Dr0y]

19 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

Just ignore shielding (why should it be shielded?) and get a decent wire gauge. Any cable will do, preferable copper and I would recommend at least 1.5 mm2 (or something like AWG 16 in stupid units) for up to 10 m.

Shielding is important only if you route the cable through place that could introduce electrical interference.  If not it's not important indeed

[Derkoli]

5 hours ago, HenrySalayne said:

I can't imagine how in a low impedance circuit (the impedance of the source and the speaker are really low) there could be enough energy radiated into the cables to cause an audible noise or interference. It's no longer a signal level which will be amplified later, it is now a signal to drive a loadspeaker.

This.

 

On 7/25/2020 at 3:42 AM, ntuason said:

Hello,

 

I’m currently in the market for a pair of new speaker cables and I’m kind of confused on what to look for in them. 
 

I recently bought a pair of Kanto TUK and would like to replace the stock cable (not that there’s anything wrong with them) in hopes to get more out of the speakers with better quality speaker cables, I’ve been reading the gains would be minimal? 
 

I’m using the speakers for a desktop and their about 6ft apart from each other if that means anything.

 

Thank you 

Just buy any cheap 16AWG+ wire.

 

As the speakers use 5 way binding posts, I would suggest getting some wire with banana plugs as they're so much easier to use.

 

Monoprice makes some for pretty cheap, IMO they actually look pretty good. They also have colour coded banana plugs so you won't invert the phase of anything accidentally.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G9BDP7I/ref=twister_B07S57TTFF?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

 

Just buy a 1 pack. Multiple lengths are available.