Speaker cables for soundlabs and strong current

I really like Gregg Straley's Reality Cables speaker cable, and I have read good things about the Audio Art speaker cable.

Both are available with 30 day home trials.

High current suggests higher gauge - Phoenix Gold - M-1250 - Super Oxygen-Free Copper 12-Gauge Speaker Cable is great value and looks and feels better (flexible) compared to cheap Home Depot 12 gauge.

I forgot to mention Analysis Plus Oval 9. Great speaker cable, heavy gauge, and very reasonably priced if found used.

I too have the A1s and went through many speaker cable trials in 2005-2007. I use CAT JL-3 amps so the interface is much different than the Parasound amps.

The speaker cable link has consistently been less contributing to improvements vs. other cables in my system. Starting with budget cables here is indeed the way to go. But as the system takes on the potential of the A1s, a revisit to this cable link can be very significant mainly in low-level detail and the resulting dimensionality aspects.

I would not be as focused on high-gauge or "high-current" designs but rather pay attention to the non-linearities caused by some speaker cables. There is a very strong midrange dip in many cable designs. And in others the treble grain is most evident. The thing to do is have 2 pairs of speaker cables during the trials so you can better appreciate one's performance over the other right then. To rely on memory days or weeks later is not realistic. When comparing cables, pay attention to the dynamic contrasts as well. There always too much focus on only the tonality.

I can share with you some of the cables in the $300-500 range that I tried until I decided on the Purist Opis and then more recently, the Jade Audio design. Email me if you are interested.

John