The Star Quad Story
Canare Star Quad gets it's name from the 4-condutor style construction that
minimizes the "loop area" between twists of the conductors. This
"double balanced" pairing reduces susceptibility to electro-magnetically
(EM) induced noise from sources like light dimmers, fluorescent light ballasts and AC
power transformers. The Star Quad design also improves the damping factor
at the speaker. Each of the four Star Quad conductors is 14 gauge. When
used in pairs, the effective conductor size is 11 gauge. The outer jacket
diameter is 10.7 mm (.421 inch).
Take
a look at the diagram to the right to get an idea of the unique
construction. The conductors are made from large numbers of thin annealed
copper wire strands for maximum conductivity, flexibility, and long lived reliability.
Construction features include a cotton filler material and a special
irradiated polyethylene insulation which provides a low capacitance dielectric,
for improved frequency response. The jacket is extruded from a
special PVC compound that remains pliable even at very low temperatures.
The result is a super flexible cable, with a professional, high-quality
look and feel. Even some of the very expensive esoteric cables do not achieve
this look and feel.
Termination Options
We are offering these cables singly so that you can combine and customize
them to exactly fit your needs. For example, if you need a matched stereo pair,
purchase one front-left cable and and one front-right cable. Here are the
customization options:
- Number of Channels
These cables are sold singly, so any number of channels can be accommodated,
but here are some popular combinations
- 2-channel (stereo)
- 3-channel (stereo plus center channel)
- 5-channel (for 5.1 surround)
- 7-channel (for 7.1 surround)
- Length
- Common lengths range from 1 meter to 20 meters. When
purchasing multiple cables for multiple channels, as an example, you
might specify matching lengths for a purist stereo hook-up, but use
asymmetrical lengths for less critical surround and effects channels.
- Vampire Wire Terminations
- #HDS5 spades
- #SS9 spades
- #BAR spades
- #SPD8 spades
- #PIN1 pins
- #SB Single Banana Plugs
- #DB Dual-gang Banana Plugs
- Fan-Out length for each end
- This is the length of the outer jacket that will be removed from the
cable during the termination process. Our standard fan-out is 0.2
meter, but you may want a longer fan-out when bi-wiring or bi-amping.
For example, in a bi-amp setup, the amplifiers are sometimes placed side
by side, so you would need a longer fan-out in order to reach both amps.
- Wiring Configurations
- Conventional Wiring (2 terminations on each end)
- Bi-Wire (2 terminations on the amplifier end and 4 terminations of the
speaker end)
- Bi-Amp (4 terminations on each end)
Better Than Monster?
In our descriptions, we often boast that Canare products are better
than Monster, and many of our customers seem to agree. For comparison,
Monster's "Z3 Reference" speaker cables are $329 for a 10 foot pair.
It's doesn't seem fair to compare them to Canare Star Quad though --
they're kind of stiff and awkward looking, and they don't come with
audiophile-quality terminations. If you want to bi-wire / bi-amp, you'll need to buy two
sets. They do come with a
carrying case, but one must wonder how many customers carry their speaker cables
around with them.
Synergistic Research Signature No. 3 Speaker Cables have gotten some great
reviews, and they're really a closer match to these Canare cables, but a 12 foot
pair will set you back $795, or more. If you want to bi-wire / bi-amp,
you'll need an additional set!
Silver Audio connects has some interesting offerings...their "Silver
Symphony 48" starts at $1700 for an 8 foot pair. While it is true
that silver is a slightly better conductor than copper, the same conductivity
can be achieved in copper conductors, simply by increasing the size of the
conductors slightly. And as cool as these cables may be, they are rather
awkward looking, and don't look like they would stand up to much handling.
Kimber Kable BiFocal-XL speaker cables can bi-amp / bi-wire, and they have
enjoyed many excellent reviews. Their design and construction takes a
different approach than Canare, but the quality look and feel is very much like
Canare's. These are great cables, but a 10 foot pair will set you back
$2140!
It's confusing, because price does not necessarily relate directly to sonic
or aesthetic improvement. We had to solve this dilemma for our own custom
installations. Our customers tell us that they want performance, but they
would rather have extra components than to tie up thousands of dollars in speaker
cables. That's why we settled on Canare's Star Quad speaker cables
for use in our custom installation work. It's professional quality, high
performance speaker cable, with a high-quality look and feel. You can tell
that it's nice cable just by looking at the way it runs across the floor.
If we could put a link here so that you could handle the cable, I have little
doubt that even more people would choose this cable.
Why Cable Solutions?
Customer service is our first priority. We do our best to help you find
the best solutions for your particular application. We're enthusiasts too,
so we know what it's like to wait on cables for a new hookup. That's why
we stock
all of the components needed to build all of the items listed on our site. We are
able to do something that most cable shops do not - we build and ship most
orders within one business day. We also know how important it is to be able to
get a response when you need help, so you'll often find us working long hours in
an effort to get you the answers that you need. It takes good people to do
outstanding work...the kind of workmanship you want for your custom
cables. It usually costs more to keep good people, but the importance of
high-quality workmanship is second only to the importance of superior
service. I'll let you figure out for yourself why paying too little for a
cable can turn out to be just as bad as paying too much. Our pricing is based
upon the actual cost of building the cables.
Design excellence, high quality materials, meticulous workmanship, and
superior service...put it all together and you get a superior product.
Don't get stuck with bad advice, poor service, slow shipment or an inferior
product. If you want the best, here it is.
Miscellaneous
Please click here to read our policies and disclaimer. Thanks for reading all of this!
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Click on any of the pictures below for a closer view!
This diagram illustrates Star Quad construction.
Canare 4S11 Star Quad Speaker Cable. In this example, a 4 meter cable is
terminated in a bi-wire configuration - it has 2 spades on the amplifier ends
and 4 spades on the speaker ends. The example shown here is color-coded
for front-right channel.
This is a tighter shot of the
amplifier/receiver end of a right channel cable, terminated here with two
spades, as you would want in a conventional or bi-wire configuration.
This picture gives you a closer look at the speaker end of a right-front bi-wire or bi-amp cable.
The Vampire Wire #HDS5 spades shown here is our most popular termination
Here is another shot of the
#HDS5 spades - notice the elongated, offset blade, which is a good fit for most
equipment. The design also leaves plenty of room for heat-shrink coverage.
This picture shows how the #HDS5 spades look when hooked up to an ADS 1590 loudspeaker.
The Vampire Wire #SS9, shown
here, is our second most popular spade. It has a stepped blade, which
works with many different binding posts, including oversized designs like those
used by B&W.
These #BAR spades are a good choice for smaller terminals or barrier strips.
Vampire Wire #SPD8 spades have a slimmer blade, which can be helpful in cases of clearance problems.
The #PIN1 pins are an excellent
choice for equipment with large spring-clips, or for use in combination with
banana plugs.
Here is the #SB single banana plug, installed on an #HDS5 spade. (#SB
requires #PIN1 pins or #HDS5 spades)
Here are the #DB double banana plugs. (#DB requires #PIN1 pins)
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