In another thread, I mentioned that I was contemplating trying the Magnepan LRS+ as a second speaker in my system. I just found a very good used pair on US Audio Mart. This means that I need speaker cables, since my current ones are bi-wired. I have read that Magnepans like larger gauge speaker wires – is that correct? Any suggestions for good introductory level cables? (If I keep the speakers, I might upgrade to a better cable.)
Everyone is going to bring on the hate, but I use a $100 pair of SVS speaker cables with banana plugs for my Magnepan LRS+. I make no claims whatsoever whether these cables are the best or worst cables for the LRS+, but is what I use.
I bought the SVS cables just prior to my FR20’s arriving as my custom Cardas speaker cables were going to take some time to arrive after the FR20’s, so I needed SOMETHING CHEAP to just be able to listen to the speakers.
They do seem ok with the LRS+.
4 Likes
I can’t speak to the LRS+ but I own a pair of Magnepan 1.6QR, which are a bit current hungry, and in 2011, I started using Blue Jeans Cables Belden 5000UP, which they call “10 White” (10AWG). A 15ft pair was about $100 at that time (probably twice that now) and sounded pretty good. In December 2023, I upgraded these to Kimber 8TC (effectively 9AWG), which sounded significantly better and cost significantly more. My $0.02 worth.
2 Likes
Thanks to both of you. I’ll check out SVS cables since I’m not familiar with them. In my research on cables for the LRS+, both Blue Jeans and Kimber 8TC have been mentioned elsewhere. So hearing about a direct comparison between the two is very helpful.
Maggies are a pretty resistive load using the planer magnetic drivers, so amplifier’s are happier than with higher reactive speaker+cable loads. This makes the cable less important than reactive load type speakers, and that’s actually more ideal! A speaker that acts like a pure resistor is the target design.
As far as DCR, the amplifier again likes to see a low output impedance, or low DCR cable. This improves the damping factor to tighten up the bass and transients. This is common across the board, where a lot of current is drawn, just a lower DCR cable, it is all related to the amount of current the amplifier delivers.
For the best bang for the buck use the 1310A BAV product star quad wired, it lowers the cable impedance to half what a zip cord type (1313A) measures. See the bi-wire paper on the ICONOCLAST web site for all the actual measurements and graphs. You can’t make a passive speaker cable 8-ohm, but you can lower the input impedance with a better design that is still affordable.
Galen
4 Likes
Thank you — very helpful!