Best Home Depot Speaker wire? (1 Viewer)

[JeanB]

The Posts that I have read recommend that a person go to home depot and purchase #12 speaker wire. It appears to me that they have two different quality wires for sale. Our Home Depot does not have #12 in 100 ft rolls. They do have #12 in 250 ft rolls and also by the ft. at 34 cents/ft/. The same grade of #14 wire is 28 cents/ft. While their RCA #14 wire is $35 in a 100 ft roll. Usually the per ft price is more than a per roll price yet the RCA in a roll is at a 25 percent premium. This makes me wonder if it is superior in some way such as shielding. They also talk about low oxygen copper. Or is the premium just for the RCA name?
My longest run is about 40 ft. Should I go with the #12 or the #14. If #14 in the roll or by the foot?

 

[Thomas J. Coyle III]

Jean

I would forget the Home Depot 12 gage wire and buy some of the better wire that is available at Parts Express or Accessories4Less. I am using the 12 gage Sound King wire and it is very nice for the price. A couple of years ago I bought the 250 ft roll of Home Depot 12 gage speaker wire and it was okay until the copper turned green and the plastic jacket started to get sticky. There is a chemical in the jacket that oxidizes the copper wire and makes it turn green and also causes the outside of the jacket to get sticky.
Regards,
TCIII

 

[Chu Gai]

specifically what's happening here is that the green color is caused by the formation of copper choloride. any wire, and i do mean any, that has PVC as a sheathing, will in time exhibit this phenomena. it is limited to a surface reaction that only goes down a few microns. while this has no effect upon the signal transmission, it can be unsightly. perhaps(?) this seems to occur with HD wire on account of the conditions in a particular location (atmospheric and air pollutant considerations) but I really am just speculating here. if you find the possibility disconcerting, then get a wire with colored PVC like KnuKonceptz (it's got a blue PVC) or consider alternatives to PVC. You'll pay a little more but it's really a judgement call on your part.