Speaker Wires (1 Viewer)

[Victor_W]

Hi All,
I just got the JBL NSP1 Speaker package and I need speaker wire to hook them up. My question is should I get the MONSTER speaker cables? It's seems kind of high for a 200 dollar pair of speakers if my speaker wire is almost half that. I know speaker wires matter in cases of really really good speakers. BUT do I need high quality speaker wires for my speakers? I am looking at the Acoustic Research 16 gauge speaker wire at best buy for a much better price. Acoustic Research Speaker Wire. Has anyone use these or had any comments on these? Can anyone recommend another brand of speaker wire and where to get them?
Thanks
Vic

 

[John F. Palacio]

That will probably work fine. How long of a run do you have?

You'll hear a lot of mumbo jumbo about speaker wire from the oxygen free scenario, going through solid VS stranded controversies and ending at the super premium special cables.

Having said all that, gauge is the most important consideration. The lower the number, the thicker the cable.

I normally recommend 14 GA or better. But if you have a relatively short run (less than 20') and 8 ohm speakers, you'll be fine.

 

[Victor_W]

Well for the surrounds, they will be in the back end of my room which is 12'X10'. The front will be relatively close to the reciever. So I guess 16 GA is good. But just so I know, would I be able to get 14 GA cables from say a Best Buy or a Circuit City?

 

[Greg Haynes]

Victor,

I believe BestBuy & Circuit City actually carry 12ga. But if your looking to not spend too much money then you can goto either Radioshack or Home Depot and have them cut you any size lengths that you need. Their prices are very reasonable and you can get the exact lengths that you need. I recommend getting your mains & center at 12ga and the surrounds at 16ga.

 

[Geoff S]

Bettercables.com is probably the best supplier of cable and speaker wire.
Monster Cable is good too, but some of it isn't as good. For my fronts I'm using Monster XP speaker wire, and for my surrounds I'm using 16/2 THX speaker wire.
Check out http://www.audioreview.com and look at the reviews of these different kind of cables to get an idea of what is good and what is troublesome.

 

[Jason Wilcox]

best buy does in fact carry 12g cable besides the monster OMC (is this 12g?). its the rockford fosgate car audio 12g speaker wire. i plan on picking some up. unfortunately it only comes in 15ft lenghts from what i've seen at the store. that's fine for me though.

 

[Chu Gai]

Monster does not publish specs on their wires to my knowledge. There is really nothing special about their wires as there really isn't much to say about the Better Cables line to justify their price. If you've a Lowe's or Home Depot, you can pick up some 12 gauge OFC there that'll do you just fine. Or at a similar price, http://www.knukonceptz.com/detail.as...uct_id=kle12bl is available at 0.40/ft and comes in a relatively attractive blue insulation. Go down to the Shack or online and pick yourself up bananas/spades and you're off to the races...still have money in your pocket and the knowledge that you've got decent wire, enough money to buy some dvd's, go down and get a good microbrew. I look at these high end wires like oxygenated water. I'm really surprised that no one has had them garlic coated to ward off vampires. or is that werewolves?

 

[Mark Fitzsimmons]

I can vouch for the Knukoncepts cable. I have their 12 gauge for my entire front stage terminated with their banana plugs, its very high quality stuff. One quality of their speaker cables that stands out from the rest is it's high strand count, more strands makes it more flexable and easier to work with (twisting ends)

 

[Victor_W]

Thanks guys for all the responses.

Due the fact that Home Depot is a bit out of the way, does Radio Shack have 12/14/16 GA speaker wire? How is the quality of their speaker wires? Also, is there a particular type of banana plug I should get at Radio Shack?


Thanks again for the responses.

vic

 

[Chu Gai]

They do, its fine. Stop worrying about the quality so much, we're talking an accessory here, granted one that you need, and not a component. I'm not familiar with the back of the speakers in question or your receiver. If you're reasonable handy with a soldering iron (and I think anyone ought to develop a little expertise in that area as its useful) you can opt for soldering. Otherwise look for the types if they're bananas, where you put the wire in and screw down to make the connection. Speakers you've got are small, just bring one down. The person will have no objections (they shouldn't) to opening a package and checking for proper fit. Get gold plated. Then go home, kick back, and enjoy. After a while, you can work on things like speaker placement and the room if you're of the mind to.

 

[Earl Simpson]

Just plain electrical lamp cord in white, brown, and black will do fine for runs up to 25 feet. You can get this stuff in 16AWG and 14AWG at any store that sells wire. For long runs , I use stranded house wire high voltage 12AWG (comes in 12 colors), if it can be hid under base boards or in walls. I use 10AWG for very long runs(100-200 feet).

 

[Chu Gai]

While lamp cord would work, my issues with it are that it's 1)generally not marked, making it difficult to determine correct polarity
2)it doesn't contain very many strands making it relatively inflexible from offerings such as have been mentioned.
3)the sheething also tends to be a bit stiffer again adding to the inflexibility.

I'll grant you that it can be inexpensive but hopefully around 0.40/ft for wire that is easier to work with should offset matters.

 

[Phil Mays]

Chu,
When I bought my Kimber bi-wired cable I never considered a microbrew. Ya know I could have run 18 guage wire and saved enough money to be a regular at a bar where everyone knows your name
Phil....without microbrew

 

[Michael Mathius]

Don't forget homedepot. They have 12ga for .34 per ft.

 

[Josh Lowe]

these cables intrigue me. building them should not cost much at all, the biggest expense will be time and practice. you can get cat5e from home depot cheap.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/ffrc_e.html

 

[Michael R Price]

Josh, I'm not sure about the TNT-audio cables but the braiding recipe by Chris Venhaus is widely regarded as the best sounding Cat5 cable. However, it is time consuming and if you're going to spend the time, you might as well spend a little bit more money to get Teflon insulated Cat5 cable ("plenum rated"). http://www.venhaus1.com/diycatfivecables.html
http://users.erols.com/jdprice1/cat5cables.jpg (my hobjobbed Cat5)
I myself used this recipe for my tweeter wires (lower cable) and just taped together 6 Cat5 cables for my woofer wires. I needed long distances on a budget, so I bought the cheap 500ft Cat5 box from Home Depot for $33. The connectors are Dayton banana plugs from Parts Express ($12 or something). The overall cost of the cable for me worked out to about $1/ft, which isn't too bad.
For the NSP1s though, I'd just buy some good 12 gauge zip cord. You may want to try this: http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...=100-155&DID=7

 

[WilliamG]

I got my 12 ga. wire from Home Depot @ .34/ft. a month ago.
It does the trick and cheaper than ANYthing else around!

 

[Victor_W]

HI all,

Well I just went to Radio Shack today and got my speaker wires. They only had 16GA, but they were pretty cheap. Got 2 50ft spools of 16GA speaker wire for about $6.74 a piece. These guys should handle my speakers right? I am not a big audiophile, so long as the sound comes out decently and it doesn't blow my speakers out, I'll be a happy man.

Thanks for all the help guys!!

vic

 

[Chu Gai]

you'll be fine