Is this 12ga wire acceptable? (1 Viewer)

[Susana Anderton]

I ordered this cable for in-wall wiring:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...=2898&CATID=56
and I noticed the insulation around each individual cable to be thinner than other 12ga speaker cable (like the clear-jacketed Home Depot cable.) I haven't visually compared the copper thickness yet, but it DOES say it's 12ga. Is this cable going to give me good quality sound?
Thanks

 

[SamRoza]

Actually, that stuff should work out great. I wish I'd seen this product before I bought my standard ripcord from Home Depot, as yours is rated for in-wall use.

Sam

 

[Susana Anderton]

I just checked it. The copper definitely look narrower than the Home Depot 12ga wire I have. It has fewer, thicker wires in it. What gives?

The two wires are individualy jacketed, then they are both jacketed together. The outside jacket says 12 AWG on it. Is it possible that the markings mean that BOTH wires TOGETHER are 12ga?

 

[Dan Hine]

That's a good question Susana. I recently ordered a spool of 14awg and noticed that it looked the same size as some 16awg wire I have from RadioShack. What gives? At first I thought it was just me. Now I am strongly considering giving PE a call.

Dan Hine

 

[joe_s]

That wire comes in 18, 16, 14 and 12 ga. from parts express. They use the same picture for each one, so that might not be a picture of the actual 12 ga. wire

Here 100-710 is the part number for the 18 ga. if you want to check it out.

Joe

 

[Dan Hine]

No, see I have actually RECEIVED my speaker wire already. and took a piece and put it side by side with some 16awg RadioShack wire. The 14awg and the 16awg look the same size to me. Susana, have you actually received your wire yet?

Dan Hine

 

[SamRoza]

Dan, don't trouble PE with the call, they just resell it according to manufacturer specs. If you want to complain, call Carol Cable directly and tell them.

Susana, If the cable is a true 12ga cable(I'm almost sure it is), then it'll work out great.

Sam

 

[Dan Hine]

Thanks for the info Sam!

Dan Hine

 

[Susana Anderton]

Yes, I did receive my cable and put them up side to side. The PE cable is smaller. Too bad, I was hoping to do some wiring this Saturday.

 

[Adam]

Are you comparing the bare naked wire or the wire with the jackets on? If the wire is rated 12 ga, 2 conductor. Each conducter is 12 ga. The radioshack stuff and especially the Monster original 12 ga look huge because of the very thick outside clear plastic jacket. This jacket magnifies the thickness of the copper inside. Also the rope configuration of the monster and RS clear stuff make it thicker.

This Carol stuff is good quality. I bought the 14ga., 4 conductor stuff to biwire my rear speakers and I am very happy with it.

Adam.

 

[Dan Hine]

Adam,

I have no doubt that the cable is good quality. I'm comfortable with the build quality. But when I striped the Carol cable and the RS cable and compared both side by side, copper strands ONLY, the RS 16awg was the same size if not a tad larger than the Carol 14awg. I'm going to keep the cable as I'm sure I could use it. But whether or not I'll buy some again I'm not sure.

Dan Hine

 

[Susana Anderton]

I'm comparing the copper only, not the jackets. I'm not look at them from the side, I'm looking at a cross-section of a freshly-cut wire.

 

[SamRoza]

THat's very interesting, since I have some Carol cable Zip-wire, and it's at least as big, if not bigger than some of my other wire.

I'd definitely complain to Carol Cable company if I was you.

Susana, despite the difference in size, if it's not too terribly small, comparatively, you should still not have anyu problems with the wire, and the miniscule difference in wire gauge won't affect the sound much.

Plus, as I said, that stuff is plenum-grade wire and is what most local codes require for in-wall wiring.

Sam

P.S.- Most professionally done install jobs(I'm talking high-buck jobs) are wired with Monster 16-4 or 14-2 wire. They don't even use 12 Ga.!

 

[Dan Hine]

I need to apologize for taking this thread away from the original question. Susana, yes you should have no problem with the speaker wire you have received regardless of size. Even if its 13-14ish gauge wire you should be all set.

My feelings were just that I paid for 14awg and got probably 16.5awg.

Dan Hine

 

[Susana Anderton]

I'm just a little concerned because each speaker cable run will be about 40-45 ft.

Thanks for the info.

 

[jeff lam]

It doesn't matter how thick or thin it looks, it's the electrical characteristics that count. If you really want to know which is better, use an ohm meter and measure the DC resistance. The wire with less resistance is better. Simple and sweet!

 

[Susana Anderton]

I suppose I could measure the its resistance, but then again, who knows what that should be?

I keep reading here that you should get 12ga, since I suppose that would be rough estimate of the desired resistance.

 

[SamRoza]

Susana, I really think you're putting too much into this. Your near 12Ga. Wire will be more than good enough, unless you have the highest quality receiver/amps/speakers on earth.

If you have the Flagship receiver and speakers from their respective manufacturers, then I'd say that the difference between 12 and 13Ga wire would be substantial. If, like the most of us, you have mid-fi equipment or less, than it'll be more than enough.

If you still don't trust it, why don't you do a test-run with the wire not in the walls and see how it sounds?

Sam

 

[Chu Gai]

almost 20 years ago, Stereo Review, conducted some listening tests with i believe 30' foot lengths of speaker wire. only in the case of 24 gauge were differences detected. i'm sure you can clarify the gauge by contacting the manufacturer. in any event with the lengths you're using, even if it were 14 or 16 gauge this is not an issue. most likely the effective gauge is the same as home depot. using smaller strands and more of them serves to impart a greater degree of flexibility to the wire. that's it. as far as the statement that flagship receivers and speakers will allow one to discern a difference between 12 and 11 gauge, well that's just pure poppycock and has no basis in reality. you've done fine...make good connections and work on your speaker placement, room treatments, and enjoy your system. bon appetit.

 

[Susana Anderton]

Good points. I guess I got all caught up in this. Talk about mountains and molehills!