I don't want to spend a fortune on cables. I want good cables, but don't want to spend Monster cable type money. Can you guys give me advice on cables you like and are cheaper than the known brand like Monster. Also, what type speaker wire should I run to my Axiom speakers (QS4, M22)? I will need all the cables.

For interconnects and such, I use Blue Jeans Cable--relatively inexpensive and built well. As for speaker cable, I'll let someone else open that can of worms. My advice--only spend what you're comfortable with and what you'll be happy with.

Others will chime in with many other options!

I'm a fan of Dayton Cables from Parts Express. I find them high quality, but moderately priced.

For speaker wire, I use SoundKing 12 gauge from Parts Express. It ain't pretty, but it is is good quality, and very flexible for a thick wire. If you don't like its looks, you might prefer Carol In-Wall 12 Gauge from Parts Express. It's even less expensive than the SoundKing.

Brock, wire and cables are pretty much commodity items that can be bought on the basis of price. An excellent discussion of speaker wire by a well-respected audio industry veteran is found here and is well-worth studying. For the length of runs that you'll probably have, regular 16ga lampcord would be fine and could be picked up locally from sources such as Home Depot. Cables of all types are available for far less than Monster's rip-off prices from sources such as Triangle , Monoprice and PartsExpress .

I have had goood results with AR Master series cables. I was lucky and got very good prices on EBAY. There is one vendor to stay away from the name starts with audio and ends with rex. My opinion is he dramatically over charges on the shipping to make up for what are actually pretty good prices on the product. AR (Acoustic Research) Pro series are available at Best Buy and are rated by Stereophile as a recommended budget accessories. These are available also through Parts Express but if memory serves they do not carry the Master Series cables. Not sure of that. The Pro series are very nicely made also and very reasonably priced. I still have one pair of those in my system. For speakers I am currently using 12 gauge lamp chord from Home Depot. The speakers sound great. At some point I may consider something a bit more esoteric if I have money burning a whole in my pocket. I just don't see the need.
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Sorry I put it in the wrong place. I'm not awake yet. See reply to St Pat Guy.

I use Silver ICs from CatCables for Interconnects between my Rotel preamp, poweramp, and CD player, as they sponsor Club Rotel, SignalCable bi-wire 10g speaker cable. BlueJeans Cables are highly recommended here for a good value/price. You can also consider Axiom cables, since they will be shipped free to you, together with the rest.

Home Depot has the normal "clear" speaker wire, but they also have a real gem -- the "fire rated" 12 gauge wire for in-wall use. It has two insulated 12 gauge wires inside a green jacket -- it's a bit big but (a) less expensive than the clear stuff, (b) nice thin insulation and (looks like) twisted wires so even less inductance than the clear stuff, and (c) looks pretty sharp in an industrial kind of way.

Go with regular lamp cable - cheap stuff is fine. Assuming you're going to be simlpy hooking up a reasonable run of wire in between cables, and not subjecting the cables to a tremendous amount of stresss - either constantly bending them or placing them in very hot or cold environments or outdoors, cheap stuff is fine.

I use a combination of 16 and 18 gauge wire for my surrounds (18 gauge for the rear surrounds was temporary to start, but they sounded great, so I never bothered changing them) and I have not had a single transmission problem at all.

Buy what you feel comfortable buying - that is the key. If you're afraid that buying wire that is too inexpensive will compromise your system, then buy something more expensive - it'll put your mind at ease - even if it does little else. Just please, please, please, be reasonable, and don't be fooled into thinking that you need super-duper, extra heavy gauge, space age materials that have been manufactured only by the light of a full moon and then soaked in calf's blood for a fort-night to properly age the wires. I think Monster sells a cable that is made this way.

Agreed, but this stuff was about 18 cents a foot, including the calfs blood

I went with Axiom cables and I love them! I bought the bulk speaker wire and it is very easy to run, flexible, and overall good stuff. I also purchased one of the Optical audio cables which is very nice, as well as a component video cable. Over the course of time I plan to use all Axiom cables and piece it together. It looks nice, is easy to use, and seems to be of great quality.

Agreed, Bridg - I'd go with the Home Depot stuff any day of the week, clear or otherwise. I hid it all in tracks, etc., anyway...

I use Axiom speaker cable (the stuff is very nice to work with and since it's visible for at least half of each run, it looks good too - but it's sonically no different than the bulk pink copper it replaced) and my interconnects are all just well-built off-the-rack cables from the local pro (not pro-sumer, or audiophile, pro!) electronics dealer... the kind of place with cinderblock walls and baskets full of solder-on XLR jacks and plugs, and 1000ft reels of RJ6 quadshield and stuff. They've got wire strain relief, and I pay about... $9-12CDN for a stereo pair, that sort of thing.

Bren R.

The Axiom wire looks real nice and is supposed to be very flexible. I probably will try some of that for the mains and fronts (ie the cables that are not hidden in the wall).

Beware of the AR Pro wire. I have it (AR PRO 12ga.) in my bedroom system for the surrounds. I bought it at either Lowes or Home Depot (5 yrs ago) off the reel.

It has turned dark green and there is some sort of sticky substance imbeded within the strands inside the jacket. It is running under the carpet so I'm SOL unless I pull up the carpet or run new wire through the attic to replace it. I still get sound to the surround speakers but I'm really bummed about the wire.