What Speaker Wire Should I Get??? (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Stone]

Im getting the drywall put up in my basement soon and i want to have speaker wire installed before it goes up. Is there a particular type of wire or gague that i should look for???

 

[Dmitry]

I would recommend 12 gauge (14 at the very least) wire, UL rated for in-wall installation. Youcan also consider running conduits rather than wire. In my area Home Depot has pretty decent speaker wire at affordable prices.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

If you want "Affordable" quality wire go with RadioShack
CL-2 In Wall. You can get this up to 16awg which is more
than adequate for surrounds (it's what I run) it's a good
quality wire that is affordable and the jacketing is done
in Navaho White so if you decide to bring the wire out of
the wall rather than use binding post wall plates, the wire
will blend in..
If you want to spend more money you can go to www.partsexpress.com
and check out some of the high end In Wall wire they stock
from various companies.

 

[Robert V]

Just purchased a 100' spool of Carol speaker wire from parts express for $21.50.

 

[Dermot]

Costco here in Calgary has spools of really nice 12 guage spaeker wire with clear jackets and markings for polarity.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Clear jacket cables aren't In-Wall rated, are they?

 

[Arron H]

Does anyone have recommendations for inexpensive, inwall, wiring for subs? I will probably need around 35 feet from the receiver to the sub. Will the quality of the output to the sub be degraded by using this long of a feed?

 

[Dmitry]

Clear jacket cables aren't In-Wall rated, are they?

I haven't seen any that were.

 

[Matt Barrett]

Dave and Dmitry,

Monster XP and XPHP are now available in a CL3 rated clear jacket.

XP-CI and XPHP-CI

 

[Dmitry]

Matt, thanks for the heads up. I stand corrected -- but still all cables that are in-wall rated would have UL or CL rating printed on the jacket regardless of whether it's clear or not so that's the safest way to check.

 

[Dave Schofield]

As a rule in-wall cable must be capable of carrying electricity, in case future owners mistake the cable as such. I've never seen clear jacket electrical cable, hence my generalization.

 

[Geordon]

I am using clear case wire from Home Depot, rated for inwall use. The casing is *very* thick. This cable is larger than a run of 10/2 electrical wire. Apparently, the thickness compensates for the material. I believe it is due to the amount of time that it takes to burn through the case. I was concerned as well, but the HD documentation clearly stated that it was inwall rated.

Geordon

 

[Pete Jennings]

AR Professional Series 14/4 cable is available from AudioAdvisor for $.50 a foot, and is certified for in-wall use. I use it on 60 foot runs to my rears in a 11/2 configuration, and am very happy with it. It has a TOUGH outer coating, and pulls very well. They also sell the 14/2 version for $.30 a foot.
Good luck!
Pete