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December 1, 2010 3:25 AM Subscribe
What things do I need to know before I buy speaker wire?
Thanks to incredibly helpful advice for my previous question on home entertainment audio, I'm now the satisfied owner of a remarkable system--an Onkyo SR608 receiver complemented with Alpha speakers and a PSB subwoofer. (After reading reviews, the setup recommended by mhoye proved to be best for my needs and price range). As a temporary fix, I've connected my system with speaker wire cannibalized from an older, cheaper system. It's now time to upgrade.
-Assuming none of my wire lengths exceed 20', what AWG rating will give me the best performance?
-In my previous question, a poster (thanks again, mhoye) recommended Monoprice.com as destination for speaker wire. Are the types of wire recommended at this page on its site a good bet? (Obviously, I'm eager to avoid audiophile scams surrounding expensive speaker cabling).
-My TV room is pre-wired for surround speakers. Currently, a short length of bare wire extends from behind the sheetrock of each wall, ready to be spliced to the Left and Right speakers. What is the best, most secure technique for splicing the pre-existing wire into new wire? What hardware do I need?
I'm close to the finish line, so any advice would be welcome!
Thanks to incredibly helpful advice for my previous question on home entertainment audio, I'm now the satisfied owner of a remarkable system--an Onkyo SR608 receiver complemented with Alpha speakers and a PSB subwoofer. (After reading reviews, the setup recommended by mhoye proved to be best for my needs and price range). As a temporary fix, I've connected my system with speaker wire cannibalized from an older, cheaper system. It's now time to upgrade.
-Assuming none of my wire lengths exceed 20', what AWG rating will give me the best performance?
-In my previous question, a poster (thanks again, mhoye) recommended Monoprice.com as destination for speaker wire. Are the types of wire recommended at this page on its site a good bet? (Obviously, I'm eager to avoid audiophile scams surrounding expensive speaker cabling).
-My TV room is pre-wired for surround speakers. Currently, a short length of bare wire extends from behind the sheetrock of each wall, ready to be spliced to the Left and Right speakers. What is the best, most secure technique for splicing the pre-existing wire into new wire? What hardware do I need?
I'm close to the finish line, so any advice would be welcome!
There's really no optimum AWG-to-distance ratio, just some rough lower limits. For short distances like 20', 16AWG ought to be perfectly fine, although there's no harm in going as low as 12AWG if it's not a lot more expensive.
I switched from relatively expensive speaker cables to solid-core mains cable once, and I didn't notice any difference; maybe I'm a philistine.
So those cables all look fine. The only thing I would say is that ideally you want all left/right speaker pairs to have about the same length of cable; otherwise, there'll be greater losses on one side than on the other.
If I was replacing cables in the wall, I'd probably securely attach some nylon cord to one end of the wire, then tape round the join to make it smooth. They I'd gently pull the existing cable out, leaving the cord in its place. Then I'd attach the new cable (plus the old one if I wanted both) to the cord in the same way and pull the cables through. There's no easy way to add a new cable along the path of an old one, really.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 5:10 AM on December 1, 2010
I switched from relatively expensive speaker cables to solid-core mains cable once, and I didn't notice any difference; maybe I'm a philistine.
So those cables all look fine. The only thing I would say is that ideally you want all left/right speaker pairs to have about the same length of cable; otherwise, there'll be greater losses on one side than on the other.
If I was replacing cables in the wall, I'd probably securely attach some nylon cord to one end of the wire, then tape round the join to make it smooth. They I'd gently pull the existing cable out, leaving the cord in its place. Then I'd attach the new cable (plus the old one if I wanted both) to the cord in the same way and pull the cables through. There's no easy way to add a new cable along the path of an old one, really.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 5:10 AM on December 1, 2010
This is a pretty good, no-BS rundown on speaker cables. The short answer is most any cable is fine as long as it has a low enough resistance (heavy enough gauge) for the impedance of the speaker, length of the run, and power of the system. I've pretty much always gone with what's often called line/zip/lamp cord, usually 18 gauge for my short runs (typically under ten feet) and low(er) powered systems.
I will note that I had the same "problem" with Home Depot line cord with the clear insulation, where the copper wire oxidized to green. This would have no impact on the sound unless you were running at the very edge of the impedance/length/power equation such that the marginal increase in resistance caused a hear-able change in sound. But that'd be a very rare situation to find yourself in.
For a 20' run 14 gauge is plenty good, and a conservative choice, although I'd probably bump it to 12 gauge only for 2 ohm speakers (uncommon in home systems anyway). Choose pretty much any braided wire with decent insulation (except maybe the el-cheapo clear insulated home center cable).
posted by 6550 at 5:49 AM on December 1, 2010
I will note that I had the same "problem" with Home Depot line cord with the clear insulation, where the copper wire oxidized to green. This would have no impact on the sound unless you were running at the very edge of the impedance/length/power equation such that the marginal increase in resistance caused a hear-able change in sound. But that'd be a very rare situation to find yourself in.
For a 20' run 14 gauge is plenty good, and a conservative choice, although I'd probably bump it to 12 gauge only for 2 ohm speakers (uncommon in home systems anyway). Choose pretty much any braided wire with decent insulation (except maybe the el-cheapo clear insulated home center cable).
posted by 6550 at 5:49 AM on December 1, 2010
Probably the only way to replace that wire in the walls is going to be to open the walls. I used to do these built-in audio installs years ago, and if I had done it I can guarantee the cable is stapled to the framing in at least a few places along the run [specifically so a guy couldn't grab one end and pull it out]. Unless you ran the wire, you're not going to know where it is, so you'll be removing a lot of wall to find it.
posted by chazlarson at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2010
posted by chazlarson at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2010
Speaker Wire: A History
TL;DR: special speaker wire is almost always a ripoff, and 16-gauge lamp cord will usually work fine. Appropriate thickness for the speaker load and good insulation are the most important factors. Check the Wire Table on that page for a nice summary.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2010
TL;DR: special speaker wire is almost always a ripoff, and 16-gauge lamp cord will usually work fine. Appropriate thickness for the speaker load and good insulation are the most important factors. Check the Wire Table on that page for a nice summary.
posted by Dipsomaniac at 7:00 AM on December 1, 2010
If you really want to get the best possible splice between two wires, the best technique is to solder the wires together (solder not only is very strong, but also is electrically conductive) however I personally just twist the wires together and then tape them with electrical tape - that will also work. You can also use a marette, which is a plastic cap lined on the inside with a copper coil.
One detail to remember when planning your speaker wire is that however many speakers you are using (probably two) each speaker will have two wires, usually marked as red and black on the amplifier, and they must be in phase, which is to say, you don't just attach these two wires are random to the speakers, the speakers have designated red and black attachments as well (even though they may not actually be colored red and black) and the two speakers both have to follow the same pattern (red on top, black on the bottom, would be a possible pattern, although the reverse pattern, red on the bottom, black on top, works equally well as long as both speakers use the same pattern). And in order to be able to do this successfully, you have to be able to tell the difference between the two wires that you attach to your speaker. So speaker wire is often specially marked, with two wires of different color. If it isn't marked, you can mark it yourself by using colored tape. Just keep this in mind. If your speakers are out of phase, they will not sound right.
posted by grizzled at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2010
One detail to remember when planning your speaker wire is that however many speakers you are using (probably two) each speaker will have two wires, usually marked as red and black on the amplifier, and they must be in phase, which is to say, you don't just attach these two wires are random to the speakers, the speakers have designated red and black attachments as well (even though they may not actually be colored red and black) and the two speakers both have to follow the same pattern (red on top, black on the bottom, would be a possible pattern, although the reverse pattern, red on the bottom, black on top, works equally well as long as both speakers use the same pattern). And in order to be able to do this successfully, you have to be able to tell the difference between the two wires that you attach to your speaker. So speaker wire is often specially marked, with two wires of different color. If it isn't marked, you can mark it yourself by using colored tape. Just keep this in mind. If your speakers are out of phase, they will not sound right.
posted by grizzled at 7:32 AM on December 1, 2010
It basically doesn't matter what you use unless you've got a system that puts out a lot more wattage than that Onkyo will. I'm still using 18 gauge wire that came with an HTIB system. It works fine.
So if you already have wire, and it's not incredibly chintzy wire, you're good.
posted by wierdo at 7:35 AM on December 1, 2010
So if you already have wire, and it's not incredibly chintzy wire, you're good.
posted by wierdo at 7:35 AM on December 1, 2010
Hi, Gordion! I'm glad you're happy with your setup, but I'm also glad you came back with questions about speaker wire. In that last bit I wrote I said "don't cheap out on speaker wire", but that could mean a lot of things, and I was unclear.
You've already got a bunch of good links here about how buying expensive speaker wire is a bunch of superstitious nonsense. Some other good ones are this Consumerist report noting that your quote-top-of-the-line-unquote Monster cables are indistinguishable from coathangers, and if you've got the time for some serious lolz, these reviews on Amazon on the merits of $8500 speaker wire (on sale for the bargain price of $6800, what a deal!) are approximately 100% hilarious.
By "don't cheap out", I meant "don't buy the lightest, thinnest gauge wire on the shelf", but not much more than that. I would just go to your local hardware or Home Depot type store, rather than the local audio shop, and buy basically any old 16-gauge or thicker braided copper wire off the spool, to whatever length you need.
In terms of the quality of your life, it's probably less important that you buy super-heavy-gauge or expensive/silly "audio quality" wire than you buy wire that kind of matches the color of your baseboards so it doesn't look too obtrusive if you have to run the wire around the room.
The only thing you really need to worry about there is making sure the you don't have your polarities crossed at the connectors, which can actually affect your sound quality quite a bit, but which is also super-easy to get right.
posted by mhoye at 7:43 AM on December 1, 2010
You've already got a bunch of good links here about how buying expensive speaker wire is a bunch of superstitious nonsense. Some other good ones are this Consumerist report noting that your quote-top-of-the-line-unquote Monster cables are indistinguishable from coathangers, and if you've got the time for some serious lolz, these reviews on Amazon on the merits of $8500 speaker wire (on sale for the bargain price of $6800, what a deal!) are approximately 100% hilarious.
By "don't cheap out", I meant "don't buy the lightest, thinnest gauge wire on the shelf", but not much more than that. I would just go to your local hardware or Home Depot type store, rather than the local audio shop, and buy basically any old 16-gauge or thicker braided copper wire off the spool, to whatever length you need.
In terms of the quality of your life, it's probably less important that you buy super-heavy-gauge or expensive/silly "audio quality" wire than you buy wire that kind of matches the color of your baseboards so it doesn't look too obtrusive if you have to run the wire around the room.
The only thing you really need to worry about there is making sure the you don't have your polarities crossed at the connectors, which can actually affect your sound quality quite a bit, but which is also super-easy to get right.
posted by mhoye at 7:43 AM on December 1, 2010
Oh, splicing, right.
Any little marettes will be fine. If you're worried about securing them, wrap them in a little bit of electrical tape or a zip tie.
posted by mhoye at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2010
Any little marettes will be fine. If you're worried about securing them, wrap them in a little bit of electrical tape or a zip tie.
posted by mhoye at 7:48 AM on December 1, 2010
Some people swear by cheap lamp cord from Home Depot. I find Blue Jeans Cable a nice compromise between Home Depot wire and silly-expensive audiophile snake oil cable. The 12 or 14 AWG Monoprice stuff should be fine too.
I agree with le morte de bea arthur that it would be better to pull a new wire than to splice if possible. If you must splice, soldering the wires then heat shrinking them would probably be the best method. Short of that, the best splicing method will depend on whether you're using solid or stranded wire. I'll assume stranded, which would make insulated butt splices are reasonable choice.
posted by paulg at 8:57 AM on December 1, 2010
I agree with le morte de bea arthur that it would be better to pull a new wire than to splice if possible. If you must splice, soldering the wires then heat shrinking them would probably be the best method. Short of that, the best splicing method will depend on whether you're using solid or stranded wire. I'll assume stranded, which would make insulated butt splices are reasonable choice.
posted by paulg at 8:57 AM on December 1, 2010
I also had the same problem with the Home Depot wire with the clear insulation. As far as I can tell it's just cosmetic; I don't believe it affects the sound. It's in the walls in my case so I don't care what it looks like. I believe I bought something like 12 or 10 gauge stranded which I have since learned is probably overkill even for the 50ish feet I had.
What I did for speaker wire coming out of the wall is install a jack like this one, and then have another length of wire to the speakers proper. That's what I'd recommend; it's the cleanest and doesn't require you to put plugs on the wire (this type of jack handles bare wire fine).
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2010
What I did for speaker wire coming out of the wall is install a jack like this one, and then have another length of wire to the speakers proper. That's what I'd recommend; it's the cleanest and doesn't require you to put plugs on the wire (this type of jack handles bare wire fine).
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 9:28 AM on December 1, 2010
I haven't been involved with high-end audio in a very long time, but most high end set-up's that I've seen us good old 16-gauge lamp cord. Buy it off the roll at Home Depot.
posted by rtimmel at 12:21 PM on December 1, 2010
posted by rtimmel at 12:21 PM on December 1, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by sanka at 4:43 AM on December 1, 2010