Speaker Cables: High Efficiency

Our High Efficiency Range

I also offer several cables intended for high efficiency speakers, for bi-wire or bi-amp applications on mids and highs, for use from crossover to speaker drivers or any other custom application you may not need a heavier gauge cable for. The materials I use are the best the world has to offer and are not inexpensive, so why buy a cable that uses 4x as much wire as you need? With that said I offer 4 different high efficiency speaker cables to suit tastes and budget.

How to order our Speaker Cables

My cables are sold separately from the connectors, that way you may choose from a selection of spades and bananas to fit your preference and budget. The connectors I offer are sold in sets of 4, you need 8 total for a pair of cables. This allows you to choose different connectors for the amp end and for the speaker end. My cables are sold as a pair, you get 2 individual cables for the price shown. If you need a single or a triple or anything else no problem, please contact me.

If you want bi-wire cables no problem, please contact me as there are many options and I want to make sure you’re getting what you need.

On Connectors

Connectors are required for my cables, the wire is far too delicate to go without and since I offer a lifetime warranty on my cables I need to have connectors on the cable to protect the wire and prevent corrosion. I think you’ll be happier with the convenience of connectors in the long run too. The connectors I use are of very high quality and make a better connection with the binding post vs bare wire. I use Furutech nano-fluid to protect the connections from corrosion as well.

On spades vs bananas there are a few considerations… First, I don’t offer cheap bananas, the kind that simply push into the binding post. These are made using spring temper (hard) brass or bronze, and the issues are they will wear the plating off your binding posts as well as the banana it’s self very quickly, and the material won’t hold spring tension perfectly over time and use. This means the parts are subject to wearing out, eventual corrosion and poor contact quality. The other type of banana, the one that I use, has a locking mechanism. You insert the plug, then rotate a barrel covering the outside of the banana to expand the prongs of the banana plug until it makes firm contact with the binding post. This means the parts are never forced together using friction so the plating won’t wear off, the parts won’t eventually corrode or lose temper. You get a lot more use, more connect/disconnect cycles, out of a locking banana vs a push-in banana.

Spades are very simple, they don’t have any moving parts and are less expensive vs a banana for similar quality. They may be a little harder to use for some, and they can be impossible to use if you don’t have room for them, for example an amp sitting on a rack with space behind it on the shelf, and the binding posts mounted to the bottom of the chassis. OTOH spades may fit your amp or speaker better than bananas.

As far as selection, the Furutech spades are all the same, the basic spade is the FP-201, the FT-211 has a non-resonant plastic housing and strain relief, and the CF-211 has a carbon fiber and stainless steel housing with a premium price to match!

For bananas I have the Neotech rhodium locking bananas, and Furutech FT-212 and CF-212. The Neotech are brass while the Furutech bananas are pure copper. The Furutech FT-212 has a non-resonant plastic housing while the CF-212 uses a carbon fiber and stainless steel unit, again for a big price premium.

About ZenWave Audio Speaker Cables

My speaker cables are now made using UPOCC copper or UPOCC silver ribbon wire in teflon insulation. In the past I’ve offered UPOCC copper, silver and silver/gold alloy speaker cables in solid-core round wire with teflon insulation, and I also offered Harmonic Tech brand cables made using round wire and PE insulation at a lower price point. Now, I only offer the ribbon wire cables, with the exception of some specialty cables intended for high efficiency applications, or use on mid to high frequencies in a bi-amp or bi-wire system. Here’s the reasons why: 

Ribbon wire has some advantages over round wire in both measurable electrical characteristics as well as subjective sound quality.  

For electrical characteristics, it’s capacitance and inductance can be tailored to the application. For power cables, I can achieve extremely low inductance with moderate capacitance, for speaker cables I can get very low inductance without high capacitance and for interconnect cables I can get extremely low capacitance, keeping the inductance is relatively low as well. For power and speaker cables I can achieve lower inductance than is possible with round wire. Ribbon cables also have less of an issue with skin effect, which tends to smear the details of the music. A detailed explanation of skin effect is too long to go into, but basically as the frequency gets higher it will tend to want to migrate to the outer surface of the wire. Ribbon wire has less depth and more surface area, so it won’t have much skin effect vs an equivalent gauge round wire. Single wire inductance is also much less for ribbon wire, which is key for interconnect cables.  

What does this mean to you? For power and speaker cables there is less energy stored via induction in the magnetic fields surrounding the cable, what you will hear is better dynamics and cleaner bass. The elimination of skin effect at audio frequencies also gives you a clearer sound.  

On subjective sound quality, the ribbon conductors give silver more body and drive, along with larger images in many systems. It keeps the sound from being thin or dry, from not having enough body or the timbre not sounding as filled out as it is in real life.  

Side Note: The fact I use 7N UPOCC silver guarantees a non-fatiguing sound with the highest resolution possible. It is more precise and resolving vs my older silver/gold alloy cables, but many would prefer the tone of the alloy. In that case my D4 or D5 interconnect cables would be a perfect addition to your system in combination with UPOCC silver ribbon speaker cables, the ribbon cables will outperform the alloy cables in some areas, and the gold in the interconnect cables can add a touch of warmth that makes vocals and strings sound just right. I also now offer the DSR silver ribbon interconnect cable for those who would prefer a pure UPOCC silver cable.  

The ZenWave copper speaker cables also benefit from the ribbon wire, but in a different way than silver. For copper they simply make the sound more clear and resolving, and of course you get the clean, dynamic bass from the low inductance.  

The ribbon speaker cables are available in 14 and 11 gauge, the heavier gauge is intended for speakers with lower impedance and efficiency ratings, but a heavy gauge cable can’t hurt on more efficient speakers and is sometimes better. The shorter the length of speaker cable the less a heavier gauge cable will be of any benefit, and the longer the cable the more it costs… so this is a great reason to stick with a setup that keeps the speaker cables as short as possible and is a big advantage for monoblock amps. If you’re not sure on gauge, contact me and include what amp and speakers you own, as well as how long the cables need to be. 

The ribbon cables are without a doubt the best cables I’ve ever tested. I think you’ll be very happy with them, and I offer demos and a satisfaction guarantee to back it up.

SL 17G

The SL 17G UPOCC Copper Litz is a lighter gauge cables suitable for single driver and/or high-efficiency use. The 17g cable offers the best clarity possible for a copper speaker cable. May not work with more complex crossovers, as sometimes back emf can cause a phase shift and softening of the sound.

from $299

SELECT OPTIONS
CONDUCTOR UPOCC COPPER LITZ
OUTER SLEEVE NONE
DIELECTRIC ENAMEL
PLUGS SPADES OR BANANAS (CHOOSE OPTIONS)

S3 20G

The S3 20G is a 20 gauge copper/silver hybrid that provides an economical alternative to the S4 and S5 speaker cables.

from $499

SELECT OPTIONS
CONDUCTOR UPOCC COPPER & SILVER
OUTER SLEEVE CARBON OE TECHFLEX
DIELECTRIC TEFLON
PLUGS SPADES OR BANANAS (CHOOSE OPTIONS)

S4 20G

The S4 20G is a 20 gauge UPOCC silver/gold alloy cable that has similar gold content and tone to my D4 interconnect cable,. This is the bargain reference cable of the century if you have a good hi-efficiency speaker!

from $849

SELECT OPTIONS
CONDUCTOR UPOCC SILVER/GOLD ALLOY
OUTER SLEEVE CARBON OE TECHFLEX
DIELECTRIC TEFLON
PLUGS SPADES OR BANANAS (CHOOSE OPTIONS)

S5 20G

The S5 20G is a 20 gauge UPOCC silver/gold alloy cable that has similar gold content to my D5 interconnect cable, like adding a good tube preamp. This is the same as the previous SMSG cable.

from $1079

SELECT OPTIONS
CONDUCTOR UPOCC SILVER/GOLD ALLOY
OUTER SLEEVE CARBON OE TECHFLEX
DIELECTRIC TEFLON
PLUGS SPADES OR BANANAS (CHOOSE OPTIONS)

Connectors

Sold in sets of 4. 2 sets required for a pair of cables. May be the same or different. Speaker Cables MUST be purchased with connectors.

SPADES PRICE 2x PAIRS
CF-201(R) $364.00
FT-211(R) $144.00
FP-201(R) $90.00
WBT Silver $400.00
BANANAS PRICE 2x PAIRS
CF-202(R) $454.00
FT-212(R) $160.00
NEOTECH LOCKING $100.00
WBT SILVER $400.00