What Brands of Cables to Fans of High-Efficiency Speakers Use? (Not Hi-fi Sounding!)

caesar

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May 30, 2010
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What are the least hifi-sounding cables? (I know a number of guys with big, inefficient box speakers and big SS amps use Cardas. But those are too syrypy for my tastes. Defeats the purpose of a high efficiency system.)
 

Chop

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Aug 9, 2020
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I would suggest PHY cables with high efficiency speakers. They are cotton clad which IMO makes them a little "lossy" compared to other, possibly more modern types. If I wanted to critisize maybe PHY are not the last word in resolution BUT they are quite "natural" sounding and do help tame any residual hardness which can come with high efficiency systems.
For context, I eventually changed out my PHY interconnects for something more dynamic and resolving but I've kept the speaker cables. I would certainly recommend both.
 
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JackD201

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Apr 20, 2010
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Duelund and Kondo copper are what my more serious buddies here use.
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Caesar, fellow high efficiency Zu owner here.
Massive fan of Sablon in these parts. After experiences w Audience Au24, Zu Event, Hovland, Acoustic Zen, Argento, and Entreq, Sablon was the only brand that balanced many attributes into a musically holistic outcome.
 
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audioquest4life

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Sep 23, 2020
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I use a quad (bi-wire) of Neotech High Definition silver speaker cables. They are the previous incarnations of the current NES-1001 pure silver 9 gauge. These have served me well and are my reference to others. I may experiment from time to time, but, these are keepers. Speakers are Classic Audio Loudspeakers T 1.5 reference.
 

loki1957

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Sep 19, 2012
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I use full Jena Labs loom. Excellent sounding and not what I would call hifi. My speakers are 98db efficient.
 

flez007

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Aug 31, 2010
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I heard great sound coming from Sadurni Horns and Kondo copper cables.
 

Tinear1

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Aug 24, 2019
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I tried all kinds of cables, big, small, copper, silver, silver plater capper and found that in my particular 110db efficient horn system that Grover Huffman Pharos sound really good and are a reasonable price < $300.
 

ayreman

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Jan 2, 2017
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What are the least hifi-sounding cables? (I know a number of guys with big, inefficient box speakers and big SS amps use Cardas. But those are too syrypy for my tastes. Defeats the purpose of a high efficiency system.)
Top-of-the-line Audioquest, of course!
 
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Duelund and Kondo copper are what my more serious buddies here use.
Hi Jack,

I'm actually testing the Duelund 16awg cable and struggling with it. Maybe it still needs to be broken in but I find it a bit bare bones and layering challenged.

david
 

JackD201

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I had non point for comparison when I listened but the system sounded very good to me. I certainly was not keyed in for subtleties. I hope they open up with time :)
 
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ddk

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May 18, 2013
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Having used both, the Duelund 16 ga are - IMO - not as balanced nor as musically engaging as the 12 ga.
Thanks for this Jim, I'll try the 12 gauge next week. To be clear I'm trying these wires to replace the corroded wiring in some of my vintage speakers, for now the corroded vintage wires win hands down.

I ordered some of the "genuine" vintage WE off ebay and some from a couple of Japanese sites, all with fantastic expert reviews ! As you can see it miraculously all came off the same "genuine and original" WE roll and then traveled to Japan :D . Upon closer inspection (2nd picture) it's obvious that it's modern pvc covered electrical wire redressed to pass it on as some sort of vintage unobtatnium! I have to say that the Duelund 16awg wires look very much the same minus the pvc insulation :rolleyes:. Definitely nothing in common sonically or physically with the old wires that it's supposed to represent!

david

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DaveC

Industry Expert
Nov 16, 2014
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I've tried a ton of vintage WE wire and the stranded, tin-plated, fabric-covered wire that most refer to as "vintage WE" has a nice mix of warm/soft yet clear when used for speaker or power cable but it smooths out a lot of detail when used for interconnects. I also have some wacky tubular, fabric covered WE wire and some other stuff that's very interesting.

Duelund's wire is "inspired" by vintage WE wire but imo it's a little more colored. In both cases (WE and Duelund), the wire is overall colored warm and sweet. I have found results to vary quite a bit from one extreme to another depending on application, system and personal preference. I used to make Duelund cables but the lack of consistency meant I had a really hard time recommending them beyond offering for people to try it and see. In contrast, my other cables grouped together much more tightly as far as results, so the results are much more predictable as well. This isn't just my finding, the reviewer who went a long way to popularizing Duelund wire has made a lot of comments about the wire working well here, but not there, etc. and it's not really predictable. I'd make sure you try before you buy!

@caesar If you want something clearer and less warm vs Cardas, skip WE, Duelund and Kondo imo. I offer speaker cables specifically for high-efficiency speakers in lighter gauges, I've tested light vs heavy gauge quite a bit and in many applications there's simply no difference. What I would say, if the cable is used for deep bass then my super-low inductance 14g ribbon cables are the better choice. The high-eff cables are also good for midrange and tweeter use as biwire/biamp speaker cables or as internal cable. I can custom make these for any application. I would also recommend upgrading your internal speaker wire, binding posts and other terminals like the 1/4" push connectors or quick disconnects that are on many speaker drivers. This makes about the same difference as the outside speaker cable, which is not surprising as it's the same thing, just shorter.

Interestingly, the new Cardas clear line of cables is much less colored and they seem to like Rhodium plating now as well, so we may have to give up on the Cardas warm/syrupy sound stereotypes. ;) I think the new Cardas is 1000x better.

 

Jim Smith

Industry Expert
Dec 14, 2012
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Agreed for the most part with Dave's analysis.

Although I also find the actual performance in a given system not entirely predictable from one to another, I generally tend to prefer the Duelund 12 GA's ME (Musical Engagement) factor overall, but I have very little recent experience with the older/vintage cables.

Just my opinion and personal taste - not stated in any way as some absolute fact...
 
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ddk

Well-Known Member
May 18, 2013
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... tend to prefer the Duelund 12 GA's ME (Musical Engagement) factor overall,
All that really matter is the ME!

but I have very little recent experience with the older/vintage cables.
There's a difference between old and vintage cables, at least the way I see them. All the cables I use including powercords are the same for the past 20 years and still what I prefer as I continue searching for new replacement to offer clients. I haven't found any wires to recommend to anyone with low enough coloration that sound natural which is the main criteria for ME as I see it.

What I categorize as vintage wire is at least 60 years old, recently I wanted to rewire a pair of speakers with some corrosion but after careful listening while there was some gain in resolution with the replacement wires the ME factor of the vintage wires was through the roof in comparison, hence my search for an equivalent wire. I have no idea what those wires are, just nondescript 18-20awg copper or tinned copper wires. I will try the 12wag Duelund next and see, the WE wires I bought are clearly fakes and redressed electrical wires, wont waste time with them. I've heard what people claimed to be WE wire but never like any of them either. Perhaps something in the Belden line?

david
 

Jim Smith

Industry Expert
Dec 14, 2012
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Waay back when I was the North American Avantgarde Acoustic distributor (2000-2005), there was a set of Belden speaker cables, and even a set of ICs, that were rewarding in this area.

DUHHH - I cannot remember their model numbers... :rolleyes:
 

Jägerst.

Well-Known Member
May 5, 2020
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What are the least hifi-sounding cables? (I know a number of guys with big, inefficient box speakers and big SS amps use Cardas. But those are too syrypy for my tastes. Defeats the purpose of a high efficiency system.)
Some years back I bought and tried out the rather popular Duelund DCA16GA cables on a pair of high efficiency speakers (Simon Mears Audio Uccello's), and as standalone, single-wire cables (only one pair of terminals per speaker) I found they had a very expressive, informative, organic midrange with a lovely "bloom" to it, but the top end struck me as somewhat rolled off. Over short time though it seemed to "paint" over music in a way that gave it too much of a character. I found the Duelund's were sonically somehow reminiscent of SET amps, though a bit more rolled off up high.

A friend of mine, who's an über audio-nerd, then came up with the idea to try a shotgun configuration with the Duelund's in conjunction (i.e.: parallel) with the teflon insulated 1mm Mundorf Silver/Gold wires I'd bought years earlier (and still use), and this turned out to be complementary combo that brought about a well-balanced presentation combining somehow virtues of both cables. I used this shotgun config. for years.

Now however I only use the 1mm Mundorf Silver/Gold wires over my EV HP9040 horns (111dB sensitivity with the EV DH1A comp. driver) from ~600Hz on up, and I find them to hit that almost perfect balance (more than any other cables I've heard) of extreme resolution, honest insight and transparency with a rather authentic tonality, texture and coherency. For lack of a better word they just sound 'right' to my ears, and to the ears of quite a few of my audio friends as well - that is to say they feel like a very honest and open window to the music without interfering too much. For the bass (~85 to 600Hz) and subs (100 and 97dB sensitivity respectively) I use Cordial pro copper cables, relatively heavy gauge.

Anyway, for those with high eff. horn-loaded speakers I can heartily recommend the 1mm Mundorf Silver/Gold wires. Generally I'd avoid heavy gauge, heavily shielded cables (garden hose looks) with this segment of speakers - certainly above the "power region" from 4-500Hz. From what I've tried and heard here they just strike me as too opulent sounding perhaps, or imposing something to the sound that doesn't feel natural or right to my ears.
 
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