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Speaker wire upgrade??

I am running a McIntosh MC 402 to Dali Euphonia MS5 Speakers. I am using the speaker wire the dealer included when I bought the Amp - they are Ultralink Excelsior 2.4. Based on a web search these retail for around $170 or so depending on the store. They are also 12 feet and I only need 8.

I read lots about the importance of speaker wire on this site and am wondering if I could do better and spend not more than $500. Any thoughts from follow "goners"?
azmoon
tvad
9,467 posts
 
Gregg Straley Reality Cable speaker wire is an amazingly good cable at a silly low price ($275/8 ft pair).

Gregg offers a home trial period.
ig316b
101 posts
 
If you like to experiment try this on for size. Go to Lowe's or Home Depot get some 12Ga solid core wire (around $25) run the lengths that you need strip the ends and see what you hear. This wire is a little pain to work with but yields some fantastic results. If you like the sound then you terminate it with you favorite connector and add some wire loom for aesthetics. Then use the other suggestions you get here, buy the cable used from Audiogon, make a performance comparison and go from there. The good news with the used cable if you don't like it you can always resale it here for what you paid without much lose. Plus its an very eye opening experiment.
jgiacalo
446 posts
 
The Home Depot wire suggestion is an excellent one although the one recommended by Absolute Sound is the exterior extension cable (multi strand) about 12 gauge (the orange stuff).
For commercial products the Analysis Plus Oval 9 is a superb cable as is the JPS Labs Ultraconductor and Superconductor
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