Home » Blog » Center Channel Speaker Cable Upgrade

Center Channel Speaker Cable Upgrade

Posted by Hector Consuegra on August 27, 2010 |Comments

I recently started to notice that my center channel wasn’t as clear as I would like it to be even though the speaker itself was in perfect working order. I knew I had enough power driving the center channel, so what was robbing the performance from my system? I started checking around my system looking for a weak link. Everything was connected correctly… so what was the source of the problem? I went to my garage and had a piece of extra speaker cable and I decided to test the actual size. The wire seemed to be 14 AWG, but when I tested them with my wire cutters, they seemed to actually be 16 AWG wire. The 14 AWG hole would leave the clear sheeting around the wire which was not good. That is when I decided to get a new bigger or thicker gauge wire. I placed an order for a single Quadio Ultra speaker cable from Calabrine and at first I wasn’t sure if it would make a difference since I had what I thought to be good wire.

When I received the package the first thing I noticed was the size and weight of the cable. The pictures on their website don’t give you an accurate or a good perspective on just how big and thick the cables are. Quadio cables are 10 AWG cable and nearly double the thickness of the Monster cable wire.The build quality of the cable is excellent. The banana plug has a locking mechanism that is really nice. To make a connection, you insert them and twist the collar that spreads the center piece to make a solid connection.

Once installed, I powered on my system and I played The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, it has a nice DTS-HD Master Audio sound track that I could demo the cable with. Normally the front left, right and surround would over power the dialog coming from the center. The center before would also sound a little shallow as well. Not the case anymore.The center is rich and has a slight over powering tone which is fine because dialog is now clear and pronounced. The dialog is warmer and sounds more natural compared to before. I really like how the cable has changed the dynamics of my home theater.

I plan on buying a set of Quadio Ultra Bi-Wire for the front to even out the front sound stage. Just thought you guys would like to know about my upgrade.

Cost of the wire: $64.50 shipped for 1 meter cable. It’s a relative bargain for cables of this quality.

Visit Site: http://www.calabrine.com

Ordered new bi-wire cable for my front sound stage and have them installed. In upgrading my front cables I had to recalibrate my AVR Receiver to balance out the front with the rest of the system. So far I am pleased with the cables and I hope to have a review soon.

blog comments powered by Disqus