Speaker wire recommendations

[Descartes]

Mogami, Belden or Canaree

 

[sgent]

What's the issue with tin coated copper wire?

Actually I misspoke, I meant tin coated Aluminum wire -- coated copper is fine (but more expensive). Aluminum isn't as conductive as Cu so its essentially one size smaller than its rated gauge. In addition if the tin rubs off or the Al is exposed, it will corrode which can further cause problems. As to how much of this is audible rather than theoretical, I don't know.

 

[David Harper]

I was using monster for a while until it occurred to me that they make the clear plastic insulator real thick in order to make the conductor look bigger than it actually is. Also it doesn't say what gauge it is, which I thought suspect. So now I use rocketfish 16 ga. stranded copper from BB. IMO pretty much anything will do but maybe I'll switch to 14 ga. someday. But not today. My friend has a Walmart stereo (Sanyo or Funai or something) and the speaker wires on it look to be about 28 gauge. So little they're hard to see. But the thing does work.

https://www.amazon.com/KabelDirekt-...ocphy=9021434&hvtargid=pla-572007769137&psc=1

 

[mkawa]

zip cord from monoprice. stranded, tons of it for cheap, useful for all kinds of other projects. comes in lots of gauges.

 

[audio2design]

Careful tinning the ends of wire if are installing in any sort of non spring loaded compression cable. The solder flows and the wires loosen. You are better off leaving bare and/or attaching a spade or bananna.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Blue Jeans is good for interconnects and speaker wire. High quality and great pricing.

 

[Twitch54]

long time fan of Frank's products ...........

http://signalcable.com/ultraspeaker.html

 

[Spkrdctr]

I couldn't remember the name Signal Cable due to old age. That is another decent recommendation. Usually once you get to that price range those two companies offer very good product. Of course, it can all be bought much cheaper if someone wants to add on their own banana plugs.

 

[Twitch54]

I couldn't remember the name Signal Cable due to old age. That is another decent recommendation. Usually once you get to that price range those two companies offer very good product. Of course, it can all be bought much cheaper if someone wants to add on their own banana plugs.

one of Frank's pluses for his cables is low capacitance and as 'Logan guys' know that's important !

 

[Spkrdctr]

one of Frank's pluses for his cables is low capacitance and as 'Logan guys' know that's important !

Hi Twitch!

 

[preload]

Romex?
Rut ruh ruck!!

 

[ReciprocalSpace]

Bling + you want someone to terminate the cable for you --> Blue Jeans
Bling + Plan on terminating the cable --> Canare
No Bling + Plan on terminating the cable --> Parts Express
No Bling + Plan on terminating the cable + Long Runs / Low Impedance --> Belden 1313A 10AWG

 

[Wes]

Greatest breed EVER. (Note my profile pic)

What??

 

[Twitch54]

Hi Twitch!

 

[TimF]

I use speaker wire made from cat5 (or cat6) cable. I use all the twisted pair from two cat cables cut to length for each speaker. A good wire cable self-adjusting stripper makes this relatively easy.

 

[Teeter]

Well, I use stranded wire that is used in communications, which is: 2 conductor, Twisted pair, Stranded, 99% pure copper, Shielded & jacketed.
Most important, the 2 conductors are TWISTED pair. In my case, because my run lengths are under 50 feet, I use 16GA.

I have the luxury of having communications wire available, due to my son working for a large electrical contractor. They have a division that installs communications wiring, equipment, and solar panels. The other division is industrial such as businesses, schools, buildings, to power plants. So, having shielded and jacketed wire, is an added bonus for free.
Twisted Pairs: Why are Wires Twisted? | Audio University (audiouniversityonline.com)

 

[BrianP]

The stuff I really used to like -- Meniscus doesn't seem to carry it anymore -- was Stinger brand high purity oxygen free copper multistranded cable, 16ga (for internal speaker wiring) and 12ga (for amp-to-speaker connection). It had a nice flexy insulation, clearly marked for + and -, and took the solder really well. Soft and pliable, not sproingy.

 

[audio2design]

Did anyone in their "youth" make a low inductance high capacitance cable by using copper foil from Alpha air core inductors and double sided tape? I found mine from what must have been the early-mid 90's when doing some cleaning last week. Seem Goertz had been selling them all along, but now there are uber expensive version with wild claims about characteristic impedance. I used something like this below as my "wire". No comment on these for inductors, but it was a great source of copper foil that has been used many times of the years.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/goertz-12-awg/goertz-cf1.0-12-awg-copper-foil-inductor/

 

[escksu]

Just use high quality 12-14AWG stranded copper wire will do. High quality as in high purity copper (99% are commonly available). Do not use those aluminum/copper alloy ones. There is no need for those ultra-high purity ones like 99.999 or 99.9999 commonly referred to as 5N/6N copper, those are a waste of money. There is no need for extremely thick cables as well.

I do not recommend solid core as they are extremely stiff and hard to work with.

 

[escksu]

Well, I use stranded wire that is used in communications, which is: 2 conductor, Twisted pair, Stranded, 99% pure copper, Shielded & jacketed.
Most important, the 2 conductors are TWISTED pair. In my case, because my run lengths are under 50 feet, I use 16GA.

I have the luxury of having communications wire available, due to my son working for a large electrical contractor. They have a division that installs communications wiring, equipment, and solar panels. The other division is industrial such as businesses, schools, buildings, to power plants. So, having shielded and jacketed wire, is an added bonus for free.
Twisted Pairs: Why are Wires Twisted? | Audio University (audiouniversityonline.com)

I am not sure if shielded is a good thing for speaker cables as this will increase the capacitance, the same goes for twisted pair. I do understand the noise rejection properties but I do not feel this is needed for speaker cables. This is because speaker cables are not that susceptible to noise compared to interconnects (unless your environment is very noisy).