Do Expensive Speaker Cables Sound Better than Cheaper Cables?

Do expensive speaker cables sound better? In this video, we explore if price determines the sound quality and objective performance of speaker cables. We compare inexpensive cables to some of the exotics to see how the cheap stuff fares. The results may surprise you as we are all about applying real science to audio, not the marketing fluff.
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[@RobTi]

Respect Gene for giving the answer at the beginning of the video, and then elaborating on the topic, instead of the other way around!

[@Abrikosmanden]

Absolutely! That's when you know the content is actually worth your time :)

[@michaelpiotrowicz6100]

"The answer is no." Subscribed.

[@robert71457]

B I N G O😂

[@ramencurry6672]

I think especially for short lengths, the cheap crappy speaker cables normally won’t degrade the sound.

[@DaveJ6515]

Unsubscribed. The answer is yes on hi-end systems, otherwise don't bother.

[@Chez114]

I love that he gives the answer to the question right in the beginning. Now I actually want to watch the full video just out of respect

[@rtg97229]

What is really special is that some people spend more on audio cables than I do on RF cables for 40 GHz testing. I really admire Gene's stamina on being wiling to address this issue for the people with amnesia about the last time they asked about audio cables.

[@richardelliott8352]

every time I see an investigation of cable reality, I am reminded of the very famous audio reviewer who used the six figure cost of his system wiring to enhance his credibility, as in, too bad not everybody can experience a super expensive system built by the expertise and experience I possess. My curiosity sparked by this channel , I went over to refresh my memory about the cost and features of his cables and interconnects. Now I couldn't find the dollar amount of his cables nor even any mention, on the last KZbin exploration of his super expensive system that I viewed . I thought that odd for a guy who unfailingly pushed fancy cables as so necessary that they should get a a good slice of the audio budget, on par with components.

[@UNLKYHNTR]

The fact that this is even worth a video is just sad, man. This industry is full of shit sometimes. you and your team put so much love and effort into your videos and website. It's the first place I check when I want information on a specific product. Always honest, in depth and just filled to the brim with knowledge. You need a lot more subscribers.

[@mrcheezle6]

Audioquest is a prime example of a company profiting off of B.S. terminology.

[@berthacdellasala]

Thank you UNKLY. We love promoting the knowledge for consumers to make an informed decisions and enjoy their home audio.

[@tonys4396]

With SO much proof about this over the years, you would think that EVERYONE knows how the pathetic snake oil cables are all about.

[@UNLKYHNTR]

@@berthacdellasala thanks for that. Love you guys/gals ❤️❤️❤️

[@tonys4396]

@@ianjohnhorwood2605 You must work for AudioQuest.

[@lordw9609]

Love how you're still giving the middle finger to these scam artist cable companies. Wish more people would wake up to them. Thanks Gene!!

[@russellbradley454]

GEORGE ORWELL said advertising is the cesspit of capitalism, getting people to spend money they can't afford on things they they don't need. 🤣

[@chrismonterubio9475]

His speaker wire is literally $300 for 10ft. He’s a hypocrite at best.

[@jasonwebb6484]

@@chrismonterubio9475 I thought he said the stuff he uses is $1.20/ft (Blue Jeans Cable?)? Obviously have to add in cost of terminations (banana plugs or whatever) and labour. Is he selling cables for $300 - just wondering.

[@volleyballjerry]

@@russellbradley454 - It is better than communism when people cannot get the things they DO need.

[@Jeff-fc7nf]

After getting the straight up answer, I stayed to listen to the entire video. Tell me the answer and then explain, perfect format. Subscribed!

[@laurentiudinca9606]

If you want better sound, invest in better speakers.

[@torea6084]

Don't forget to spend some money on room acoustics as well :-)

[@pking39]

@@torea6084 Also some money on the preamp/amp. With these 3 combo. Then u will all set:-)

[@davidperry4013]

I agree because the number one priority on your system where your money goes is the pair of speakers themselves. You absolutely cannot go wrong with Paradigm Persona 5f and a vintage Pioneer SX1980.

[@laurentiudinca9606]

You definitely cannot go wrong with that setup, IF you can afford it. You can buy a small house with that money, but I get your point. That amp, however, is an absolute jewel.

[@travis1240]

I agree. Start with the speakers and (unless you are made of money or have really bad components) stop there too.

[@stevesneed56]

Thank you ! Straight forward info with no unnecessary bs ! Using 10' runs of 8pr with hybrid tube amp with Salk monitors! Great affordable system with immense sound stage depth ! Been listening to audio for over fifty years, and I am satisfied with this one !!

[@joes3800]

I am a big fan of Audioholics. That said, I reluctantly watched this video thinking this was yet another rant of Gene's about a bad experience he had with a cable vendor or manufacturer. Not that that is not interesting; I was shocked about the situation he encountered at a recent audio show last year. But I thought this video was going to be redundant... On the contrary, I instead got a lot out of this video as it was a good summary of the science. Thank you once again for another informative and interesting video, Gene. Keep them coming!

[@theejoeylee]

People freaking out over speaker cable quality must have never seen the cheap a$$ wires going from the circuit board to the terminal inside the amp

[@andershammer9307]

Not in a good amp.

[@knusern666]

Or the wires inside the speaker. I must confess that i bought expensive wires for my system 25 years ago. Then i had a midrange speaker go bad and opened the speaker to change it. Inside i found tiny wires with rubbish termination. That was my wakeupcall i have not bought expensive wires after that. I still have my wires and they still work so the quality was good, but even if i had bought the cheap ones and i had to change them 10 times it would still be cheaper

[@abxaudiophiles]

Gene!! You should win”Audiophile Truth” of the decade award !!!

[@gregworrel2623]

Don't be silly. Gene has just moved on from snake oil that costs hundreds of dollars to the extra virgin snake oil that costs thousands of dollars in expensive amplifiers and receivers. Funny that he actually uses the word "audible" in this one in pointing out that half a dB is not likely audible. But in the amplifier video the word is never used. We are supposed to believe that measurable minute differences in distortion, noise, and frequency response are somehow audible, without any evidence supporting that conclusion. For something to sound "better," it first has to sound different in a reliable test.

[@abxaudiophiles]

@@gregworrel2623 Look, The guy takes time to provide measurable evidence and truth.. I have also watched some of his "amplifier" videos and he speaks of "Audible" differences regularly. There are huge audible differences in amplifiers, one from the next. I find him one of the most honest and upfront guys in the industry!! he literally got excluded from HiFi shows because of his promotion of truth. Lets give the guy some breathing room....

[@gregworrel2623]

@@abxaudiophiles Measurements don't tell us what is audible. In the amplifier video, he mentioned that one amplifier sounded "smoother" and "more composed." Which measurement shows us "more composed" on a graph? What does "more composed" even mean? How can two amplifiers with ruler flat frequency response have one that sounds "smoother"? He showed a graph in that video of an amplifier that had a 2dB variation at 20KHz but failed to mention that there is almost certainly no way anyone can hear 2dB variation at 20KHz in actual content. It is ironic for someone with "ABX" in their screen name to say that there are "huge audible differences in amplifiers." Are you unaware of the ABX testing done by the SMWTMS? Are you unaware of the $10,000 amplifier challenge that offered $10,000 to anyone who could correctly identify different amplifiers that were level matched and not clipping in a double blind test? At what level does amplifier distortion become audible? .01%? .1%? 1%? How well equipment measures and the engineering to get there is irrelevant once a minimum standard is achieved such that the noise and distortion become inaudible to humans.

[@abxaudiophiles]

@@gregworrel2623 He Actually said that .5-1db is basically unnoticeable...As we all know 2-3 db increase can easily be perceived as an increase in quality or other characteristics. Your diatribe is pointless, as there are MANY more issues that are more relevant than someone saying AMPS sound different.... AS THEY DO

[@gregworrel2623]

@@abxaudiophiles Yes, he said that in this video. But in the amplifier video, one of his reasons why more expensive amps sound better was "impedance invariability." The graph showed a 2dB variation at 20KHz. Please tell me you can hear a 2dB variation at 20KHz. That is absolutely inaudible to anyone over the age of 30 and likely inaudible in actual content by anyone at any age. If you think level matched non-clipping amps sound different then prove it in a double blind comparison. I've yet to hear of anyone who could. People spend thousands on amps when a simple experiment would show they are throwing their money away when a much less expensive amp would sound exactly the same.

[@noself1028]

Gene, thanks for this video and others like it. It’s refreshing to get explanations and analysis based in science and engineering rather than audio fantasy. You perform a vital service for the audio enthusiast community.

[@volleyballjerry]

"It's dynamic, involving, accurate, detailed and harmonically pure," raves Todd Warnke in his review for SoundStage "The Silver Streak sets a new standard for me." -- from Stereophile magazine in their review of Kimber Kable's Silver Streak which cost $2576.00 for a pair of 3-meter cables. Audio Fantasy? Oh yeah! But Stereophile takes Kimber Kable's advertising money so you are probably not going to get negative reviews for this BS. But Gene said it best towards the end - cables due to their electrical and engineering simplicity of what they do and how they do it do NOT require that much thought into their design to get right. They just don't. But people with extreme disposable income need to justify how they waste their money and Gene's comment about bragging rights was spot on. Even if you spend $20,000.00 on an amplifier and you have Andy Singer trying to convince you that *these* cables are the perfect match for this amplifier and speaker combination, you are an idiot if you feel that you ALSO need to spend $10,000.00 on cables. Cables are cables!!!! It's like a Ferrari owner believing that $30.00 per gallon gasoline is the ONLY fuel for his car because he blew half a million dollars on it! No. Gas is gas; cables are cables. As for Andy Singer, he is an ex law student with zero background in acoustics, electronics, or engineering. But he *is* a successful salesman in that he has made a lot of money convincing other deep-pocketed idiots in New York City to spend 100 times what they actually needed to get a decent sound system.

[@amazoidal]

There's a reason the owner of Audioquest lives in a 5 million dollar condo in a beach town shopping center.

[@amazoidal]

Bill Low's condo is IN the Fashion Island Shopping Center. He paid 3.3 million in 2014. It's probably doubled.

[@GSPirosaki]

Everyone aspires to live in a shopping center.

[@tenmillionvolts]

And I bet he can't tell the difference between cables in a blind trial either :)

[@rogerskoff5746]

You're right. Businesses should b e ashamed of selling things good enough that lots of customers want to buy them and their owners get to live nicely. All businesses should run at a loss. That way everybody would be happy and morally correct. Show everybody what a noble soul are by giving all your possessions to the poor. Of course, the you would become one of the poor, and would demand it all back, screaming "EXPLOITATION!!!!

[@anklebar1]

Thanks for not dumbing this down too much. Some of it was over my head but that’s how you learn. Great video!

[@VintageLuxmanStereoCollector]

I watch this video from time-to-time to better appreciate the Blue Jeans 10-white speaker cables I use. I really appreciate your effort, testing and honesty👍👍

[@jamieslater8991]

Cheers Gene. Once again brother, another good honest video. Saying hello from the UK. ✌👍

[@timbathras2660]

Based on your reviews, I splurged on a pair Kimber 8TC about a year ago as I only needed 5ft, so I figured why not.

[@a0r0a7]

Audiophiles still won't believe this. Great video and spot on information through testing 👍

[@blueflame0003]

Monoprice cl2 in wall 14 awg is what I use,great job gene,

[@j.j.hunsecker3009]

So great! (just picked/bought cables last week and chose the blue jeans you started with, before I saw this, love it). Thank you for doing these.

[@bradleysmith681]

Thank you for sticking to (and explaining) the science. Great video!

[@abxaudiophiles]

Gene! I just shared this on about 15 audiophile Facebook groups and disabled commenting ....🤣🤣🤣. Truth can be such a weapon to some.

[@Billy-rr7re]

the more you pay, the more unicorns will come out of your sound system.

[@boeing757pilot]

WOW! What an outstanding explanation and recommendations! Just incredible and such a refreshing presentation. Bravo!

[@phil393]

So glad youve cleared the cable thing for me. Im an absolute beginner in this and ive been umming an arring bout buying expensive cable, money which i do not have or would want to spend on cable,for your honesty youve got a new subscriber.

[@alfredoltinocol]

Excellent video, clear facts and a money saver. Thanks Gene!

[@Adamhc75]

I have had the same Monster cable XP for years. It has always served me well in both my car and home audio. I got it from a friend who got it with a gift card he won in a contest so.... It was "technically" free. :-) I have so much of it that I doubled it up for my high powered car audio system.

[@slerched]

Blue jeans all the way. My wife doesn't get near my system so what it looks like.... Doesn't matter! Of course she married me so...looks must not matter to her either! :-D

[@junior-OG]

lol

[@Abrikosmanden]

I bet you have a beautiful soul, Stephen :P

[@tonys4396]

I have Blue Jeans cables in white. They look fine to me.

[@bareknuckles2u]

lol! me too! ;-)

[@fabiozagoo]

Do the same vídeo about standard power cord vs other high quality power cords.

[@brentelieson1527]

I'd like to see a Belden 83803 based power cable in a power cord comparison.

[@rogerhalt3991]

Or fiber HDMI vs regular

[@thisrocks]

Why? PS audio already did it :D :D :D

[@gregworrel2623]

You need a video for that nonsense?

[@RennieAsh]

@@thisrocks his intro was basically referencing Paul's intro lol

[@lordsagat2503]

Please do one on RCA cables. Love the work Gene!

[@asadhafeez7713]

Nice, helpful video. Just like any other segment of our lives, companies are desperately trying to do what they can to profit, even if that means keeping us misinformed and confused. It really is a HUGE roadblock in our quest to achieve the best in audio performance. Components and speakers are the real difference makers.

[@62thomasnguyen]

I have been using low voltage garden cable from Home Depot and they work terrific. Short is 14 gauge and long is 12 gauge (20’ and more than 10’). Work like a champ.

[@mohammadwasilliterate8037]

LOTS OF COPPER IS ALL YOU NEED AS YOU ARE CONNECTING A LOW IMPEDANCE UNIT.

[@keithchelini5776]

Great informative video! I am using Mogami 3140 single bi-wired in my system. They sound great, but I am bored & currently looking at Mapleshade Double Helix and Anticables

[@battousai412]

Great video Gene. I appreciate you bringing the truth, been preaching it to friends for years! 👍👍👍🥇

[@SwirlingDragonMist]

Yesss! My favorite topic! And best to date, or at least recent memory lol. Love it! So my cable trick, is I used to have my tv in a closet, and I had a whole bunch of tv antennas hooked up, I also had a small 20”x 30” piece of aluminum sheet hanging up in the closet. Some TV antenna wires are coaxial, and some are spread about a centimeter apart, like two wires running along the two edges of a piece of tape. Well I had a length of this tape-wire running up to above this metal plate. And I noticed that when the tape wire ran right next to it, I had an improvement in reception! And when I moved it away, I had a really profound drop in signal, so I taped it against it. And that’s my magic trick! My two theories are 1, that is was kind of like a ferrite bead. And 2, that it allowed the signal to short circuit and cut out the antennae from creating multi-path interference with the other antennas that were also hooked up at the same time. But in all my experience hooking up lots of tv antennas, more has always been better, and taping a wire to a flat piece of aluminum was just another crouton on the salad.

[@stefanblutke8053]

Perfect presentation. In every way. Shared this with a lot of friends.... so keep sience and engineering up !!!

[@nachowifi2181]

He's educated and does his research. Ill save my money and get cool gear instead. Gene, youre a savant.

[@xprettylightsx]

Ian john Horwood lol

[@zogzog1063]

Here we go again. It is almost spooky how someone can just give you the engineering without an angle. Thanks dude and best wishes from NZ.

[@DarthChainsaw]

Great video. BJC sound just fine in my system. Would be great if you did one on RCA cables also!

[@grahambinge4601]

Gene I bought a Yamaha Aventage receiver in 2015 which is when I starting watching Audioholics. I am a mechanical engineer but did do some electrical subjects. When you dropped the snake oil bomb on cables I laughed so much I was crying and I nearly fell off the couch. Then the 1kHz 10% distortion power ratings 😂 . Well let’s just say “I’m here to testify, snake oil is real and is out there!” Love your work

[@allanwhittle3041]

As usual Honesty backed up by science and good knowledge of the subject matter . Thank you !!!

[@billabass1]

Gene Thank you for the answers I was wondering what the symptoms were. Thank you for helping us out .

[@wa4aos]

As an electrical engineer and audiophile, AKA; audio-FOOL, I have tried to help others understand the basics of audio cable measurements/ohms law to no avail. Most will go out and spend more on their cables than they do on some of their nicer audio components. Which is foolishness unless, like you said, they enjoy their bragging rights. One company will charge you north of $20K for a pair of amp to speaker hookup cables; thats CRAZY !!! Another well =known company in Colorado will lift over $30K from your wallet for the same cables. Thanks for putting up the basic electrical theory which most people should be able to grasp. Great presentation !!! Personally, I enjoy putting the money into components and media.

[@Steve-GM0HUU]

Good video thanks. I have had discussions with a few audiophiles over the years who told me (who has a background in electronics and RF) I didn't know what I was talking about when I suggested they may as well use thick gauge mains flex instead of the fancy expensive speakers cable they had shelled out a small fortune for. Tried explaining basic transmission line theory and that at audio frequencies for short runs they didn't need to worry about capacitance/inductance or skin effect. They wouldn't believe me, said the expensive stuff sounded noticeably better. I gave up in the end.

[@richardelliott8352]

a quick analysis of the mechanisms of human hearing might have made your point. The human brain has no self awareness , and since human hearing is a process of the brain, everything is right that it hears. It will report what you expect to hear as real, even if it hears nothing . Hearing tests have a built error percentage, you score within a range, not on absolute accuracy. because people trying to hear test tones will report hearing tones that weren't there. much like the famous wine tests where taste was influenced by the expectations of the switched bottle labels it all goes back to human development, when we first came out if the trees and into the tall grass. Keeping off the menu by suddenly scattering like birds for no reason turned out to be a stronger evolutionary path than the guys who wanted to stop and consider if they heard something. But we can do which way to run remarkably well , being able to tell distance, location and speed of a distant sound through and open window. It's just the original reality that you can't trust, much like the brain processing optical illusions .

[@pepeltoro444]

Im using 16 and 14 gauge Amazon basics wire with installgear banana plugs on a RC70 and Martin Logan HT set up...Im happy :)

[@JaZK825]

I tried Gene’s 14 4 “hack” and have been really pleased! Not sure what vid it’s in but involves using a cable with 4 14 AWG conductors and joining each pair to make two conductors with an effective gauge of about 11 AWG I think. Some slick cable pants and terminators and you get some pretty decent cables sans snake oil. Thanks Gene! Love Audioholics!

[@povertime6381]

I am also on the 14/4 bandwagon. Sounds great to me.

[@gregworrel2623]

Why go to all that trouble when 14 gauge is more than adequate on its own for almost every home application?

[@trevorm574]

100% right. Combine opposing conductors for a star quad setup and you're untouchable. We use 16/4 bulk cable in our installs like this for residential room sizes. Star quad is really great and cheap to deploy. Highly recommended.

[@h1pst3r88]

Loved this video and just saved myself loads of cash. Thanks, Gene!!!

[@MrTmax74]

Very informative video, thank you.

[@boardertrashtv8638]

Hey Gene, after watching the show for a year or two now I’ve seen the light and eBay’d my QED Bullcrap speaker cable with equivalent of 16awg lathered up in snake oil. Replaced it with some Van Damme UP-LCOFC 6mm which is around 9.5 gauge. Even when I bought the QED cable I didn’t think it sounded quite as good as the bottom of the range zip chord 14 gauge plain OFC cable from the same brand but I still bought it because of the marketing. It just sounded a bit lifeless despite being ‘silver’ plated. Looking at the specs now the resistance was way better in the cheaper model. What an idiot. I will no longer worry about cables, decent gauge shotgun will do me fine until I die. Thank you Audioholics 👌🏻

[@volleyballjerry]

Absolutely awesome video. To answer Gene's question, I use custom handmade cables out of 12 AWG THHN stranded copper rated at 105 degrees C at a maximum of 600 volts. Twelve twists per foot, 10 feet in length. [Since I built them myself, I made them the *exact* perfect length so no looping on the floor!] The cost was nearly zero since the company I worked for was doing remodeling and throwing wire in the trash right and left before recycling was a thing. My system sounds absolutely spectacular. Yamaha receiver pushing 130 watts x 2. Speaker cabinets I also custom built with Pioneer and Focal drivers - and Dayton three way crossovers and L-pads - hand tuned with RTA. The entire system probably cost me under $1,000.00 and after 20 years I would stand it up to any of the systems Sound by Singer sells for ten times as much. Most of the real cost is the long hours building the speaker cabinets. The cables took me *maybe* five minutes each including tinning the ends and soldering the terminations on.

[@hermannmaischatz2695]

Great video Gene. I have handcrafted my own cable with a total Awg of 6, more or less, which outperforms a solid core silver monocrystal cable of 100 times more expensive. I wanted to prove the expensive high end Audio industry wrong and yes Gene you are right. Exotic speaker cables are pure Snake Oil. These Snake Oil designs take a lot of people for a ride. Even I fell for that, but at least I am over it and know the truth now. Now I only use my Snake Oil cable as a comparison test against my design's. You are right Gene, it's all about resistance and what I found out is that a big part lies in linear frequency transfer of the Audio Bandwidth in a cable design I had a lot of fun designing that cable.

[@jamesfarnsworth6255]

Gene has single handedly saved me thousands!!! Thank you sir!!

[@mauben1]

Hi Gene, on my Meridian / MBL pre-power / Dynaudio system I (still, after many years) use A.R.T. branded Yamamura Churchill Millennium cables, for both line and speakers. I chose the YC’s after a dealer allowed me to test in my home a box of “esoteric” cables from many brands. The YC’s added an additional bass layer compared to my previous Nordost Red Dawn / Audiosynthesis / VdH 352 mix and smoothed sibilants out. YC’s really made the difference, even though price was borderline to astronomical for short runs of cables. A few months ago I moved to a new apartment and I have to replace my current 2 x 4 meters speakers cables with 2 x 5 meters and I am not anymore in the mood to make expensive experiments. Friends advised for Dynavox or Bespeco cables based on optimal price performance ratios, also given that testing cables before buying is not an option anymore. Since I live in Rome, US shopping is very difficult and I have to source within the EU. Your video was highly informative, I took notes about some key passages on awg vs length and resistance parameters. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@jimf5160]

Excellent comparison! I am using some old Kimber 4TC...they work great.

[@markfreedman2470]

I got into this hobby around 60 years ago. Stereo itself was the big thing. No solid state components existed. During that time and for many years afterwards there was no such thing as a speaker cable company. Zip cable of a thick enough gauge was what you used and that was it. Now after all these years Gene’s research and testing has validated my observation. I have never been able to tell the difference. Thanks again Gene for an outstanding video.

[@thegoat164]

It's Gene not Jean old timer.

[@markfreedman2470]

@@thegoat164 you are absolutely right! However, I was dictating the response and KZbin decided it was Jean. Thanks for letting me know, I edited it.

[@ridirefain6606]

Another video that hits the ball out of the park. I use Kimber exactly for all the reason's you describe. Used to use an low end $60.00 pair of Audioguest and $30.00 iXOS interconnects. They sounded fine, but lacked a quality termination. Hated those turbine connectors on the iXOS especially. They would tear up the RCA inputs on my components. Admittedly, I do not hear any difference between them and the more costly Kimbers. However the Kimbers have never worked their way loose from the binding posts either, nor have their interconnects damaged an input.

[@sals26]

BTW Gene, BJC product number 5T00UP is simply Belden's own product # for that particular one in their 5000 series cable line. ;) Another great video, thanks a lot

[@Peter_van_bjork]

Kimber Kable looks fantastic, so in terms of aesthetics, they are clearly the prettiest

[@aussie8114]

The technical stuff goes over my head. We used a speaker cable made by a British company called Chord. The product was called Odyssey 2. It looked really nice and good material quality, I think it was about $20 per metre. It is silver coated oxygen free wire. It seems to be good.

[@chriseggroll]

I like seeing actual data and information regarding this, thank you. what would be your thoughts on fancy binding posts, tube connectors?

[@harrylanza]

I always make my own speaker and interconnect cables. The speaker cable I'm using now are Furez 10 AWG 2 Conductor and terminated with banana plugs.

[@stevenichols5708]

Great video. I wonder if one day we might see a video renouncing your position on cables like we saw on digital amps and turntables;) ?

[@steveo4141]

Y would you.... as long as the cable is the right gauge that's it.....the speaker requires enough power to be driven that's all... anyone saying they can hear a difference in quality based on cable expence is FOS.

[@adamous00]

Great video. I would like to hear this topic about interconnects

[@rusedgin]

I'm very new to this hobby and I'm still learning. I was very surprised with this cable craze. Then I realized that my job, in a financial company, has the same smart ass ideas to sell people products they don't need and I understood what is going on.

[@johnwhite983]

Hi Gene. This is the most informative, honest, interesting, entertaining, and yes, coolest show on KZbin. I am a huge fan. Being a layman and knew to the field, I can't tell you how much useful information l have gleaned from Audioholics. Whenever l have an issue putting together my entertainment system, l can rely on your expert advice. I will definitely keep listening my friend. I love the Star Trek backdrop (one of the best shows ever created), and l really appreciated your piano rendition of Silent Night over the Christmas holidays. Really nice touch. I hope this message finds you well. Keep up the good work and stay safe. Sincerely, Patrick Vudrag.

[@malachygriffin3497]

This is why I trust your channel. Common sense and actual formulas being used!

[@Bipen2]

Great video. Cables demystified. I use Naim NACA-4 cables. They are 12 AWG with about 30 strands per wire and the +/- wires are spaced about 1 cm apart. They are also directional. My Naim NAIT amplifier is designed to use this cable as part of it's output stage. I run 2 x 12 meters of it. Naim specifies a minimum length to use of 3,5 meters and a maximum of 20 meter. Optimal is 5-10 meters.

[@marklowe7431]

How are they directional. Audio is an AC signal.

[@pioferro]

Use the BJC in my reference system and home finished 4 conductor Monoprice for my home theater 👌🏼👍🏼

[@zaoria123]

I use Nordost 4 flat speaker cables. They were recommended to me by a man with ears I absolutely trust. He's a respected audio engineer and uses Nordost cables himself.

[@thebarfle]

To reply to Gene’s request about what cables I use - My fronts are studio monitors, so they don’t have cables in the sense that most speakers do. For my surrounds and ceiling speakers, I use 16/2. The requirements for those speakers are quite a bit less than for the fronts, and over the lengths of the runs (all under 20 feet), I don’t detect any issues.

[@NuclearCowboyTube]

Great Video Gene, thanks

[@Rometiklan]

Companies who make these expensive cables must hate you, Gene. You inform and educate the masses and I'm sure those companies would rather have people kept in the dark about the truth.

[@ozziolli3482]

Nice vídeo M8 i use on my sistema revox/dbx quantum2/JBL 4312A/Auris Ortofon denmark speaker cable SPK 300

[@mattmcdade2284]

I use two runs of CAT 6 wire per post (2 positive and 2 on the negative).It cost me $63 for a thousand foot spool. My speakers definitely sounded a little brighter than the monster cable it replaced.

[@SkunkieDesignsElectronics]

It's amazing to me how people fight me over this on my channel. Thanks for making this video!

[@stevenjackson8226]

Again, sober, well-documented/supported, cogent discussion. I have a number of different types of cabling, mostly to explore and experiment. Most of it around or under the level of the Kimber 8TC; and I do use Kimber 8TC. I wanted to see whether cables might make a difference I would notice. I don't find much, if any sonic difference among different cabling - speaker, interconnects of different types connecting among different components. Of course, I'm already at the level of using what most folks would call very high-quality, if not over-the-top exotic, cables. A couple of things to share. I've had the situation where over time some OFC copper will begin to develop an oxidation layer inside the wire jacket. It will turn that green/brown color. It seems to be from an interaction between the copper and the materials used in the jacket. Not all OFC copper wire seems to do this. This green stuff doesn't help move a signal down the wire. When I was in high school, just getting into the audio hobby, I had just spent a big part of the money I'd earned from my summer jobs to buy Dynaco's best transistor electronics kits at the time - an ST-416 amplifier and PAT-5 BiFET preamp. I loved building them. I was so excited to hook them up. I grabbed some wire I had on hand and connected everything - and OMG, it sounded AWFUL. Nothing but distortion. I had connected the speakers using solid core copper bell wire. Well, I learned long time ago what wire doesn't work. Some 12AWG lamp cord and problem solved. Not so much to single out Blue Jean's - for a good thing , in this case. They are also straight-talking about cabling, and perhaps mixing this straight talk with some opining (which can also be useful). The wire/cable that they use is fine quality to start - lots of Belden and Canare. No issues there. For good-value basics, you can easily grab some some Belden or Canare, add some nice terminations, and DIY some very nice cable variations quickly, easily, and affordably.

[@abxaudiophiles]

GENE!!!! We are missing a huge portion of cables and interconnects!!! Please do a video regarding XLR and RCA Interconnects as well! THANK YOU.

[@andrewskaterrr]

The “ABX Audiophile” this covers those, they use copper cable.... the ends don’t matter too much

[@Abrikosmanden]

Well, the same goes for all cables - unless they're badly designed trough incompetence or deliberately, there are no audible difference between cables in an audio system.

[@stephensomersify]

THANK YOU - THANK YOU - I use 10sqmm singles cable tied as a pair

[@iliascharis5668]

Well done sir. Thank you for educating us.

[@lpspinners8736]

Great video! Very helpful!

[@Joshualbm]

Thanks for taking the mystery out of how wire is measured.. Makes total sense and I'm sure one could tweak everything to a point of diminishing returns without emptying their 401K. I think one of the most egregious mismatches can be from poorly engineered speaker crossovers or the mismatch of how the power/current of an amplifier interacts with a speaker's impedance .

[@midevil1980]

Monoprice 12AWG wire has done me very well over the past few years! 😉👍

[@UnworthySubject]

Try looking for something else. Bought a set of banana plugs from them and they have already started corroding. Didn't even use them for a week. Just had em laying around. I also bought some cheap Amazon speaker cable that was supposed to be pure oxygen free copper from Germany. Made my speakers sound awful. Used some speaker wire I had laying around and it brought back so much life into my speakers.

[@j.t.cooper2963]

@@UnworthySubject You're comparing apples to oranges. Just because you had their banana plugs tarnish on you doesn't mean their speaker wire is bad.

[@hkgoodman888]

Cool. Nice video. Appreciate!

[@ryanfox2182]

Awesome vid. Liked, now commented . please keeop making em

[@StewartMarkley]

I use 12 gauge Romex cable that I grabbed from a dumpster at a construction site. Super clean bass, mids and trebles. Can't beat that price.

[@phototechchannel229]

Thanks! I need o go to a AA (cAble Ahoics) meeting. I know they don't make a difference, but I'm still making my own exotic DIY cables. I'm mainly about how they look and not expecting any audio gains, but I've spent way too much time and money on my cables. They do look sick and I don't spend a fortune on them, so all in good fun. Seeing the data confirms everything I already knew.

[@bareknuckles2u]

Some cable companies don't even report what gauge the cable is. Imagine that!

[@John_Merrick]

Bought a Rogue Sphinx v3 and Klipsch RP8000 speakers and a schiit Bifrost dac. I was using plain old speaker cable and then bought a cheap used set of Audioquest Rocket33. I'm new to stereo equipment but a lifelong musician with a trained ear. The difference was stark. My wife noticed the improvement, and I hadn't even told her I'd done anything different. I'd prefer cables to not make a difference and save money, but it seems that to me they do. Perhaps it depends on the system.

[@86Ivar]

Would be cool to see a test with the cheapest scrap cable you can find vs some hifi ones. Matching the resistance of course.

[@mikew9788]

Great video gene

[@geneg6343]

Currently using KnuKonceptz Kord 10 AWG speaker wire with GLS Audio Locking Banana Plugs for the front channels (left,center,and right) and KnuKoceptz Kord 12 AWG for the two rear speakers.

[@G.W.G.3]

I always felt that gauge and material are the determining factors over exotic claims...

[@shinvergil]

Great video again on a topic that needs revisiting because of customer misinformation. You should also revisit proper speaker measurements, because i saw some misinfo about speakers in contrast to great review you guys did.

[@paultezuma864]

Thnk you for telling the fact. Much educational vdo

[@alexherceg9496]

Great video Gene, thanks for looking at this through an engineering lens (and not made up acronyms for exotic material so used by AQ and other cable companies). My question is on distance runs - Cambridge Audio has a great chart on their website looking at the distance you can run various AWG cables before it starts to be problematic. It seems to me that your 12-gauge wire is best for longer runs (e.g. inside walls) but that from the amp to the speakers (at distances of say 8-10 ft) you can ‘get away with’ a lot higher resistance and thinner gauge cables. Is my logic correct? I’m not going all-in on exotic cables, but I just want to make the distinction between long runs of tens of feet and the short run from the amp to the speakers (in a single room).

[@mechtheist]

Sounds to me like zip cord is all you really need for the great majority of systems. Zip cord should always be in comparison tables so you can see what the premium price is buying you, if anything.

[@oriorb]

Still find it hilarious that audiophiles spend more on cables than retro gaming enthusiasts do on cables to transmit analog video (which is notorious for being prone to interference).

[@GingerDrums]

I find the most efficient signal path is just to imagine the music in my head. 100% perfect fidelity and transparency.

[@runetech]

Finally a reasonable video about speaker cables. One thing about testing and comparing speaker cables. Before you take out your original cables and put the new ones in. Reseat your old ones. Clean the contacts and reattach them first! Then switch in the new cables. The majority of wow-factor difference between two pair of reasonably good to great speaker cables is just because the termination is different now. Do this reseating and cleaning regularly and you get to enjoy the "wow"-factor several times a year without spending anything.