Canare 4S8 Star Quad Speaker Cables

Canare 4S8 Star Quad Speaker Cable, shown here in a 2 meter bi-wire configuration, terminated with Vampire Wire #HDS5 Spades (front-right channel shown)

Canare Star Quad Speaker Cable gets it's name from the 4-condutor quad-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. 

Canare 4S8 is similar to the it's larger sibling, 4S11, but with a slimmer profile.  Each of the four Star Quad conductors is 16 gauge and when used in pairs, the effective conductor size is 13 gauge.  The outer jacket diameter is 8.3mm (.327 inch).  This slimmer profile makes it a great choice when running multiple cables to each speaker, as in bi-amp or bi-wire setups.  For example, one might use a conventionally-wired 4S11 to drive the low-range, and conventionally-wired 4S8 for the high range. 

Of course either of these cables can be wired for bi-amp and bi-wire configurations, but conventional wiring improves the damping factor and also takes greater advantage of  the inherent EM-rejection qualities of the Star Quad design, so there are some reasons that those who are serious about audio performance might prefer to go with multiple cable runs per speaker.

The diagram at the right illustrates the unique Star-Quad construction.  Large numbers of thin annealed copper wire strands ensure excellent flexibility, long life and maximum conductivity,.  The Star Quad conductor arrangement and the round shape of the cable is maintained by a cotton filler material, without compromising flexibility.  For improved frequency response, dielectric capacitance is kept low, thanks to specially modified polyethylene insulation.  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.

Performance / Value

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.  Canare 4S8 is a great option (or companion to) Canare 4S11.  Although much of the cost is in the terminations, 4S8 is still a bit less expensive.  And quite a bit less expensive when comparing conventional wiring to bi-amp or bi-wire configurations, so bi-amp or bi-wire configurations that employ multiple cables per speaker do not add as much cost as it might at first appear.

Review

At Cable Solutions, our philosophy is that the perfect cable is one that adds nothing to the sound, and that takes nothing away.  We have customers using these cables in systems that range from modest home systems to multi-million-dollar commercial venues and the common theme in all of the comments that we have received over the years is neutrality, clarity, accuracy, detail, extended frequency response, tight bass, openness, and low noise.  We've had customers tell us that these cables revealed nuances in their favorite music that they had never heard before.  That fits in with the comments about tight bass and openness because as the bass becomes tighter, the overall soundstage opens up and one begins to hear details that were previously obscured.  Others have commented that these cables are less fatiguing to listen to.  That would probably be the lower noise.  We have sold some very expensive speaker cables over the years, but these are the ones that stand out as sounding better than their specs and price would suggest.  We hope you will get as much enjoyment from your set as so many others have.