Handmade speaker cables built with Belden 9497 tinned-copper wire and custom-made silver-plated beryllium BFA banana plugs.
Tuneful Cables Belden 9497 Speaker Cables are made for music lovers who want a simple, beautifully built cable that gets out of the way and lets the system breathe. Belden 9497 is a classic 16 AWG tinned-copper speaker cable with an unmistakable orange-and-black twisted-pair design, long admired by vintage hi-fi, tube amp, horn speaker, and high-efficiency speaker listeners.
Each stereo pair is assembled by hand in Brooklyn using genuine Belden 9497 speaker wire, custom-made silver-plated beryllium BFA banana plugs, and Cardas Quad Eutectic silver solder. The result is a lightweight, flexible, easy-to-route speaker cable with a clean, lively, musical presentation and a much friendlier feel than thick, heavy boutique cables.
Belden 9497 has earned its following because it keeps the recipe honest: 16 AWG stranded high-conductivity tinned copper conductors, PVC insulation, and a tight twisted-pair construction. In the right system, listeners often describe this style of tinned-copper cable as open, natural, quick, textured, and musically engaging.
Tuneful Cables was founded in 2013 and has built thousands of cable sets for music lovers around the world. Our cables are made by the same Brooklyn team behind Resolution Audio Video, where high-end hi-fi systems, theaters, and smart homes are designed, installed, and tuned for real-world listening rooms every day.
Customer anecdotes:
Listeners tend to notice the same things we do: these cables are light, easy to route, and surprisingly alive sounding. One Sonus Faber owner praised the “excellent built and sound quality,” while another called them “one of the truly great bargains in audio.”
Sonically, customers describe them as clean, lively, and musical, with a touch of extra openness that can help bring air and sparkle back to a system. They are not oversized jewelry cables; they are simple, well-made speaker cables with tone, speed, and real hi-fi charm.
Highlights:
- Stereo pair of speaker cables
- Built with genuine Belden 9497 16 AWG tinned-copper speaker cable
- Terminated with custom-made silver-plated beryllium BFA banana plugs
- Soldered with Cardas Quad Eutectic silver solder
- Flexible, lightweight, and easy to route
- Orange-and-black twisted-pair construction
- Great for tube amps, integrated amps, vintage receivers, horn speakers, and high-efficiency speaker systems
- Works with amplifiers and speakers that accept banana plugs
- Made in Brooklyn, New York
Reviews and mentions:
- Explorations in Audio: Belden 9497 Review
https://eiaudio.de/gear-and-review/speaker-cables/belden-9497/
- Audio Satori: 9497
https://audiosatori.com/2024/01/31/9497/
- Jeff’s Place / Positive Feedback: The Vintage Beat, Western Electric WE16GA and the tinned-copper hi-fi tradition
https://jeffsplace.positive-feedback.com/the-vintage-beat-western-electric-we16ga-speaker-cable/
- Belden 9497 technical data
https://catalog.belden.com/techdata/EN/9497_techdata.pdf
Specifications:
- Brand: Tuneful Cables
- Cable: Belden 9497
- Connector type: banana plug to banana plug
- Included: one stereo pair, 2 speaker cables
- Conductors: 2 conductor, 16 AWG stranded high-conductivity tinned copper
- Construction: twisted pair
- Shield: unshielded
- Insulation: PVC
- Color: orange and black
- Use: speaker cable between amplifier and passive speakers
Note: These are speaker cables, not RCA interconnects.
