Need Help Finding Speakers

[cbbrew22]

Thanks for the advice! I ordered My Epos Epic 1's yesterday and they shipped out today! Now for my next question... I am going to be getting some blue jeans speaker cables . I think i want to go with the spade connectors but I'm not sure if I should get the 45 degree, 25 degree or flat based on the pictures I have seen. I am trying ot order these asap so I can start using my speakers when they arrive. Any idea which ones might be best for this speaker? Thanks!

[allenh]

We tend to use 4mm Banana plugs here so I haven't got a lot of experience of spades but I guess the angle of the spade is dictated by how recessed the speaker terminals are in the back of the speaker, either way there should be quite a bit of room around the terminals so there shouldn't be a problem.

 

This is a link to the Epos page on them that shows the terminal arrangement.

 

http://www.epos-acoustics.com/products/epic-1/

 

What colour did you go for in the end?

 

Are these cables made lengths or do you cut them yourself? You probabaly already know but the cables should be the same length both sides (left & right)

 

If you are thinking of bi amping the speakers at a later date then you need to give a bit of thought to the spade angle to make sure you keep all the wiring away from each other.

If your amp has two sets of speaker outs (i.e switched a and you could bi amp the speakers by having two sets of speaker cables and wiring both sets of outputs and removing the shorting links on the back of the speakers. The results will depend on whether your amp actually has for outputs internally or splits the two outputs into four. The idea is that one amp is dealing with the bass and mid and one the treble and as each is a pretty different task whether the distinction of how the four outputs are derived is quite important. You will obviously be working your amp a lot harder if you do this and listen at high volumes for long periods so I would only do this if you normally only loisten at average volume.

 

Some people use bi wiring which is one output at the amp wired with extra cable to the two sets on the back of the speaker with the links removed, I can't actually see the point of this apart from subsidising the speaker wire industry but some people swear it makes a difference.

[allenh]

Just had a proper look at your amp. Don't try bi amping with this as it's a Av amp not a hifi one and the front and rear outputs are totally different.

 

To get the best out of your speakers with this amp you will need to run it in 2 channel mode, I'm not sure which mode that is on the amp as they are called different things on different AV amps like 2CH or bypass but it's the mode that turns the rear and centre outputs off.

 

I read in your earlier posts you are looking to upgrade this amp at some point and when you do go for a proper 2 channel one rather than an AV one, you won't be amp limited with your new speakers so time to get saving.

[steviex2shoes]

With the Blue Jeans Cables I went with the unterminated BJC 10 White then bought 4 pairs of their gold plated banana plugs.  If you have any type of knowledge with sound equipment you would be fine to terminate them yourself plus it winds up being quite a bit cheaper than if you have them terminate and do their ultra sonic welding.  But if you don't mind paying for them to do that I say go for it.  Just saying its pretty simple to do yourself.  Also the Epic 1's if they're like the 2's then they will come with Banana plugs(I just wanted a higher quality one which the Blue Jeans Cable banana plugs definitely are).

 

Oh another reason for banana plugs are you can unplug them with out having to unscrew anything, not a huge plus but a plus.  The Epic's are slightly recessed, when I got my 2's I was concerned about getting the right connector but couldn't decide which angles were best in spade so I just went with Banana after some research.  Also they ship pretty quickly.

[cbbrew22]

With the Blue Jeans Cables I went with the unterminated BJC 10 White then bought 4 pairs of their gold plated banana plugs.  If you have any type of knowledge with sound equipment you would be fine to terminate them yourself plus it winds up being quite a bit cheaper than if you have them terminate and do their ultra sonic welding.  But if you don't mind paying for them to do that I say go for it.  Just saying its pretty simple to do yourself.  Also the Epic 1's if they're like the 2's then they will come with Banana plugs(I just wanted a higher quality one which the Blue Jeans Cable banana plugs definitely are).

 

Oh another reason for banana plugs are you can unplug them with out having to unscrew anything, not a huge plus but a plus.  The Epic's are slightly recessed, when I got my 2's I was concerned about getting the right connector but couldn't decide which angles were best in spade so I just went with Banana after some research.  Also they ship pretty quickly.

 

I am going to go with the Blue Jeans Banana Plugs rather than the ones that come with the Speakers. If I do the terminating myself, is there some soldering that I will have to do or is there a way of making the connection without doing so? I am definitely not well versed in soldering.

 

 

We tend to use 4mm Banana plugs here so I haven't got a lot of experience of spades but I guess the angle of the spade is dictated by how recessed the speaker terminals are in the back of the speaker, either way there should be quite a bit of room around the terminals so there shouldn't be a problem.

 

This is a link to the Epos page on them that shows the terminal arrangement.

 

http://www.epos-acoustics.com/products/epic-1/

 

What colour did you go for in the end?

 

Are these cables made lengths or do you cut them yourself? You probabaly already know but the cables should be the same length both sides (left & right)

 

I think I will stick with the Banana Plugs to keep it simple. I ended up going with the Cherry Speakers. I think they will look pretty slick in my office. I'm also looking to get some speaker stands pretty soon. I think I am going to get some less expensive ones right now while I save up for the ones that Epos sells. I will definitely be getting cables that are the same length.

[allenh]

I am going to go with the Blue Jeans Banana Plugs rather than the ones that come with the Speakers. If I do the terminating myself, is there some soldering that I will have to do or is there a way of making the connection without doing so? I am definitely not well versed in soldering.

 

 

 

I think I will stick with the Banana Plugs to keep it simple. I ended up going with the Cherry Speakers. I think they will look pretty slick in my office. I'm also looking to get some speaker stands pretty soon. I think I am going to get some less expensive ones right now while I save up for the ones that Epos sells. I will definitely be getting cables that are the same length.

 

Soldering is best but most banana's have a screw to grip the cable. I don't think there is any real pro or con to banana's over spades I think it's just convention but whatever you feel most comfortable with.

 

I always think black speakers look cheap but that's only my opionin and each to thier own, I only like black if it's shiny, the cherry I always think makes the speakers look their money and when you are spending a substantial amount of money you want the item to look it's price or more.

You don't have to buy the Epos stands if you can get some of similar height cheaper, the key is weight or being able to add it by filling them with sand or similar. I have seen some that have a glass tube that you fill with coloured glass beads, a friend bought them and they passed the wife test so he earned many brownie points.

[cbbrew22]

Soldering is best but most banana's have a screw to grip the cable. I don't think there is any real pro or con to banana's over spades I think it's just convention but whatever you feel most comfortable with.

 

I always think black speakers look cheap but that's only my opionin and each to thier own, I only like black if it's shiny, the cherry I always think makes the speakers look their money and when you are spending a substantial amount of money you want the item to look it's price or more.

You don't have to buy the Epos stands if you can get some of similar height cheaper, the key is weight or being able to add it by filling them with sand or similar. I have seen some that have a glass tube that you fill with coloured glass beads, a friend bought them and they passed the wife test so he earned many brownie points.

 

I definitely agree with you on the black ones. The only black ones that really looked good to me were the piano black NHT SuperZero 2.1's which match my Piano Black Debut Carbon. I'll have to look at the glass tube stands, that sounds like it could look pretty cool.

 

My next issue is now the cables to connect the turntable to the receiver. I need a 15' cable for my setup but the cables from Blue Jeans are a ton more expensive than I was expecting. Do you have any recommendations for a cheaper option or do I just shell out for the stuff they sell? 

[allenh]

15' is a long way for a cable so I would try to get the turntable closer to the amp, the problem you have is that a turntable output is very low and the longer the cable the bigger the signal loss so the better the quality cable that is needed to mitigate the loss.

 

If you are stuck with the length then there are some quite nice cables for not too much money on ebay, which will be a gamble but at least not a big one. I can't help much with them as I haven't tried many so it's a bit hit an miss and with Chinese made stuff price isn't a guage of quality so if you need to go that way look through them and take a gamble, if they are any good and after you've upgraded they become spare you can always cut them into shorter lengths and make lots of smaller sets all the same.

[steviex2shoes]

I am going to go with the Blue Jeans Banana Plugs rather than the ones that come with the Speakers. If I do the terminating myself, is there some soldering that I will have to do or is there a way of making the connection without doing so? I am definitely not well versed in soldering.

 

The Banana Plugs from them don't have to be soldered.  I could have but decided against it, basically you put the cable through the end of the plug fan the wire out over the screw top then attach it to the connector part of the plug by screwing it together super simple.  There are videos on youtube that show you easily how to terminate banana plugs.

 

 

My next issue is now the cables to connect the turntable to the receiver. I need a 15' cable for my setup but the cables from Blue Jeans are a tone more expensive than I was expecting. Do you have any recommendations for a cheaper option or do I just shell out for the stuff they sell? 

 

Do you need 15' of cable or is it 15' from each speaker to the receiver?  So is it like 7.5' from the receiver to your speakers?  If not 30' of cable from BJC will be pricey but going the non terminated route would be a lot cheaper than terminated.

 

ie 30ft unterminated BJC 10 White is $29.70

Banana plugs 4 pairs is $15

$44.70 before shipping 

$53.65 w/ priority shipping

 

15ft terminated BJC 10 White Banana plug - $39.25 x = $78.50 plus 8.95 shipping = $87.45

 

I'm just saying what my experience was, for me it was should i buy the best now or something less than the best and constantly think there could be better.  So I decided to go the BJC route and terminate myself since its loads cheaper than terminated cables.

 

As for you last question, what amplifier do you have.  Most amplifiers have screw top terminals that also have a hole on the ends where you plug a banana plug into.

 

ie:

 

 

or is it just a screw?  if its just a screw then you'd only need to terminate one end on each set of cables, and then bare wire would be attached to the amp.

[allenh]

He needs a 15' cable between his turntable and receiver.

[cbbrew22]

The Banana Plugs from them don't have to be soldered.  I could have but decided against it, basically you put the cable through the end of the plug fan the wire out over the screw top then attach it to the connector part of the plug by screwing it together super simple.  There are videos on youtube that show you easily how to terminate banana plugs.

 

 

Do you need 15' of cable or is it 15' from each speaker to the receiver?  So is it like 7.5' from the receiver to your speakers?  If not 30' of cable from BJC will be pricey but going the non terminated route would be a lot cheaper than terminated.

 

ie 30ft unterminated BJC 10 White is $29.70

Banana plugs 4 pairs is $15

$44.70 before shipping 

$53.65 w/ priority shipping

 

15ft terminated BJC 10 White Banana plug - $39.25 x = $78.50 plus 8.95 shipping = $87.45

 

I'm just saying what my experience was, for me it was should i buy the best now or something less than the best and constantly think there could be better.  So I decided to go the BJC route and terminate myself since its loads cheaper than terminated cables.

 

As for you last question, what amplifier do you have.  Most amplifiers have screw top terminals that also have a hole on the ends where you plug a banana plug into.

 

ie:

 

 

or is it just a screw?  if its just a screw then you'd only need to terminate one end on each set of cables, and then bare wire would be attached to the amp.

 

Ha thanks for all the info, but indeed I was asking about the connection between the turntable and the receiver, meaning cables with RCA plugs. I need 15 feet of cable to get from my receiver to my turntable for the setup I have right now. I might try to convince my wife to let me move it closer but it's got to look aesthetically appealing to her as well haha.

[cbbrew22]

Also, what do you recommend for the grounding wire? I'm not seeing any on the blue jeans site and I assume I'm not going to need anything special for the wire, but what would you recommend? There won't be any issues with a 15 foot grounding wire will there be?

[allenh]

The longer the cable the bigger all of the electronic values you don't want, resistance etc. I fully understand the wife factor so compromises need to be made, I had to buy mine a bigger house so I could have a hifi room, extreme I know but some sacrifices need to be made.

 

For the earth cable normal multistrand wire that you get from radioshack will do, I'm not sure what the correct AWG would be as we use metric over here but hopefully someone will be able to tell you.

 

The turntable comes with an earth and RCA cables so you can get a 15' extension for the RCA's (male to female connectors) and the earth ideally needs to be one length so replacing the earth wire at the point it leaves the turntable unless you can make a really good connection where your extension and the original earth cable meet.

 

car hifi RCA cables quite often have an earth cable down the centre so this could be one way round the problem but you would need to make ends and or splices especially with the earth so would need to find someone to help with the soldering unless you can find some good screw on connections.

[cbbrew22]

I talked my wife into letting me move the receiver closer. Now all I need is a six-foot cable from the turntable to the receiver - much better! Blue Jeans is still about $40 though Can you recommend something about the same quality but maybe a lower price? Or should I just fork over the money for the Blue Jeans Cables?

[taylo234]

The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon comes with an RCA cable, doesn't it? I can't remember if it's six feet though.

 

I'm sure ALOT of people are going to disagree with me here, but I've used Blue Jean cables and I've used Monoprice RCA cables and I could not tell a difference. 

 

The only difference I can see people choosing Blue Jeans over something like a Monoprice cable is that I'm sure Blue Jeans are built better and will last longer. With that in mind, the Monoprice cable's have a lifetime warranty. 

 

Keep in mind, I use the stock Pro-Ject cable for my turntable, and I use the Monoprice RCA cables for other plug ins to my receiver. Plus I'm sure there are people out there who can hear a difference, this is just my two cents.

 

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021814&p_id=2864&seq=1&format=2

 

Edit: They don't come with a ground cable so you would still need to get one of those.

[allenh]

It's a difficult one.

 

If the Turntable is going to stay 6' from the reciever then invest in the best cables you can afford but if not then it's a different thing.

 

Not really knowing what is available in the US I am not going to be a great deal of help but my comment about some of the Chinese made ones on Ebay still stands.

 

To be fair $40 for a good quality 6' RCA cable doesn't sound too bad but yes I'm sure you can better it.

[allenh]

What taylo234 says is very valid. It's not the person being able to hear the difference though it's the quality of the kit that is being connected by these cables, so there is a point where the limit is the equipment not the cables.

 

I'm not familair with the monoprice cables but have seen and used very similar here and at that price would be more than happy with them for what you are doing. Also at that price if you upgrade later you have the chioce to upgrade cables later and you will have lost very little.

[cbbrew22]

I decided to try out the monoprice RCA cables and their speaker cables as well. I think I need to save a little money right now. I'm thinking I'll upgrade my cables and amp around Christmas time.  

 

Thanks for all your help getting my system set up. It's threads like this that make me proud to be a VC Member. I'll post pics of the setup when everything comes in (probably mid November with the delay of my Debut Carbon )

[allenh]

No problem

 

Don't upgrade the cables until you've upgraded the amp, the idea being if you think the new amp is not giving you as much as you think it should then upgrade the cables if you think the upgrade has been as expected then don't spend the money or spend it on more records, it's the music you should be in it for first and foremost.

[taylo234]

Good call man. $3 cables with a lifetime warranty? What's there to lose . Enjoy!

[cbbrew22]

The speakers came in yesterday and I got them set up this morning and had a chance to listen to a couple tracks before I had to go to work. The look amazing and they sound incredible! My Debut Carbon comes in on Thursday and my setp will be complete. I can't wait to have everything all set up. I'll post pictures when I can. Thanks again for your advice!

[allenh]

That's good to hear, glad you like them and yes pictures would be good

[Tardcore]

I found myself in a similar quandry recently after adding a new source component (needed an RCA cable) and moving my speakers around (needed longer speaker cable).

 

I do own a BJC digital coax cable and can attest that it is a beast. Confidence inspiring build quality.

 

I ended up ordering a pair of 12' speaker cables + DIY banana plugs ($50 shipped) from BJC and an RCA cable from Monoprice.  The cost of just picking some rando speaker wire and connectors vs going the BJC route wasn't all that significant and I just *know* that I would wind up second guessing myself spending and more money down the line.

 

I think that I will eventually order some 3' RCA cables from BJC, but the ~$30 price tag + shipping does give me pause vs a cheap Monoprice RCA cable for my modest system.  Worst case, if I wind up regretting the cheap-o RCA cable purchase, I am only out a few bucks.

[cbbrew22]

I think that I will eventually order some 3' RCA cables from BJC, but the ~$30 price tag + shipping does give me pause vs a cheap Monoprice RCA cable for my modest system.  Worst case, if I wind up regretting the cheap-o RCA cable purchase, I am only out a few bucks.

 

My thoughts exactly. I will likely upgrade whenever I upgrade my amp.