Best Place to Buy Speaker Wire

[zephyrprime]

home depot.

 

[Staples]

I bought 16 gauge Speaker King wire at Parts Express last year. They don't seem to carry it anymore. It seems to be great wire.

 

[mrchan]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Just go to Home Depot.

Yup.

 

[quikah]

Originally posted by: Staples
I bought 16 gauge Speaker King wire at Parts Express last year. They don't seem to carry it anymore. It seems to be great wire.

It is their generic speaker wire, think it used to be called Sound King actually. That is what I use, I bought the 12 guage though. Last order I bought they sent me 4 reels of it when I ordered only 1.

 

[Staples]

Originally posted by: quikah

Originally posted by: Staples
I bought 16 gauge Speaker King wire at Parts Express last year. They don't seem to carry it anymore. It seems to be great wire.

It is their generic speaker wire, think it used to be called Sound King actually. That is what I use, I bought the 12 guage though. Last order I bought they sent me 4 reels of it when I ordered only 1.

I stand corrected. I wasn't sure of the name, all I knew is that it was called ---- King. Took a guess with Speaker. Parts Express is a specialty store and most their generic stuff is really good quality. I buy a lot of audio/video connectors from them. Their brand is called Dayton.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: dmw16
I had gotten home depot wire in the past. It was good enough for my computer speakers. It's good to get confirmation tho. Thanks.

Home Depot or Lowes, FTW.

Just get the right gauge. Brand does NOT matter at all.

To my knowledge, nobody has ever been able to tell the difference between expensive and el cheapo wire in a true scientific test.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Do a Google search for Roger Russell. For a long time, he was the head of speaker development at McIntosh, a company that makes pretty much the best speakers you can buy, and always has.

His site has a section called "The truth about speaker wire".

He ran all sorts of tests and comparisons, and basically says there is no difference as long as the wire is large enough to carry whatever current you're trying to push through it.

I'll take the word of the man who designed some of the most revolutionary and best speakers in history over every so-called "audiophile" magazine there is.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Do a Google search for Roger Russell. For a long time, he was the head of speaker development at McIntosh, a company that makes pretty much the best speakers you can buy, and always has.

His site has a section called "The truth about speaker wire".

He ran all sorts of tests and comparisons, and basically says there is no difference as long as the wire is large enough to carry whatever current you're trying to push through it.

I'll take the word of the man who designed some of the most revolutionary and best speakers in history over every so-called "audiophile" magazine there is.

and I'll take the fact that speakerwire "can" make a difference.

For most 12 gauge is fine though.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: spidey07
and I'll take the fact that speakerwire "can" make a difference.

For most 12 gauge is fine though.

12 gauge is huge, and more than enough for nearly anyone.

And there is no "fact" that speaker wire can make a difference....unless you have too small a size to begin with.

Again, other than so-called "audiophiles" that imagine they here some difference in different kinds of wire, there is no actual scientific proof that there really are any differences.

The size and resistance of the wire is all that matters. If it's big enough to carry what current your system needs, and the resistance is within tolerances, then spending more on some fancy wire won't make a difference.

Try this: Take apart your speakers, amp/preamp, or your receiver: Look around really good.
Now tell me: What kind of wire do they build those components with? Plain old copper wire.
And if you have a large floor-standing speaker, there's quite a bit of wire inside, too...plain old copper wire.

So tell me now: How does putting some fancy, expensive wire between components with regular copper wire make a system sound better?

Edit: And better yet, if all that expensive wire really made a difference, don't you think that the manufacturers of the components would use it, too?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Home Depot.

\thread

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb

Originally posted by: spidey07
and I'll take the fact that speakerwire "can" make a difference.

For most 12 gauge is fine though.

12 gauge is huge, and more than enough for nearly anyone.

And there is no "fact" that speaker wire can make a difference....unless you have too small a size to begin with.

Again, other than so-called "audiophiles" that imagine they here some difference in different kinds of wire, there is no actual scientific proof that there really are any differences.

The size and resistance of the wire is all that matters. If it's big enough to carry what current your system needs, and the resistance is within tolerances, then spending more on some fancy wire won't make a difference.

Try this: Take apart your speakers, amp/preamp, or your receiver: Look around really good.
Now tell me: What kind of wire do they build those components with? Plain old copper wire.
And if you have a large floor-standing speaker, there's quite a bit of wire inside, too...plain old copper wire.

So tell me now: How does putting some fancy, expensive wire between components with regular copper wire make a system sound better?

Edit: And better yet, if all that expensive wire really made a difference, don't you think that the manufacturers of the components would use it, too?

QFT.

 

[spidey07]

pacfanweb,

electrostats are a different animal.

Inside there is even 6-8 gauge wire.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: spidey07
pacfanweb,

electrostats are a different animal.

Inside there is even 6-8 gauge wire.

No Monster cable, though. All just plain old copper wire. And most of it is not 6-8 gauge...only the high current stuff is larger.

 

[Staples]

For you guys saying that there is no difference between different wires and it is just size that matters, how about subwoofer wire? I have heard that there is a relationship to how tightly the braids are are the clarity of the lows (bass). Is there any truth to that?

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Do a Google search for Roger Russell. For a long time, he was the head of speaker development at McIntosh, a company that makes pretty much the best speakers you can buy, and always has.

His site has a section called "The truth about speaker wire".

He ran all sorts of tests and comparisons, and basically says there is no difference as long as the wire is large enough to carry whatever current you're trying to push through it.

I'll take the word of the man who designed some of the most revolutionary and best speakers in history over every so-called "audiophile" magazine there is.

Here's that article

wire article

 

[Scarpozzi]

See if you have a electric supply company around. Sheilds electronics is here and they are cheaper than radio shack on most of their stuff as they buy for contractors, etc....so you get a discount and buy it straight off the big spools.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
Just go to Home Depot.

 

[b0mbrman]

Uh...Last time I checked, Walmart's speaker wire was cheaper than Home Depot's speaker wire...

Unless you're all talking about that not-so-flexible wire.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Staples
For you guys saying that there is no difference between different wires and it is just size that matters, how about subwoofer wire? I have heard that there is a relationship to how tightly the braids are are the clarity of the lows (bass). Is there any truth to that?

Nope, not at all. Current is current. If the wire is big enough to carry it, and has resistance low enough, it does not matter.

 

[Excelsior]

Basically...

Pacfanweb speaks the truth.

Go to HD or Walmart and get some 14 guage (12 is sometimes recommended, but it is MORE than enough for most people). 14 is thicker than some of you might think...it works fine.

 

[Apex]

100' of 12 gauge wiring with CL rating for in-wall use for $33.16

100' of 14 gauge wiring with CL rating for in-wall use for $22.27

 

[Eos]

I can't wait to build my own house. I'm gonna spend more on networking and speaker cable than she spends on curtains...

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: eos
I can't wait to build my own house. I'm gonna spend more on networking and speaker cable than she spends on curtains...

Thats the spirit!

 

[waggy]

go to lowe's. i baught a bunch of 16 gauge wire cheap. they will even cut it to the lenth you need

 

[oldbutdumb]

Gentlemen, if you want to educate yourselves about speaker wire, I suggest you get to the numerous sites for audiophiles and do some searching for the physics of transmitting high frequencies and low over the same wire. The Size of the wire controls the energy lost per foot when direct current passes through the wire. The music frequencies are affected by capacitive impedence and the inductive impedence properties of the winding patterns of wire.
Thus, the wave front of lowest bass notes may reach the speaker in a SLIGHTLY different time than the higher frequency notes. Can most people hear this in a typical room? Not on your life! But for a purist setup where all timings and reflections have been controlled, it is one of the factors you try to control.
It certainly is not for everyone but if music reproduction is your hobby you try everything to get it right. That's why some are still using tube amplifiers instead of transisters. That's why I have a large collection of vinyl lp records that I have a washing machine to clean. And the platter alone for the turntable cost me 100 bucks.
Yes I have spent over $100 each for 3 meter pairs of interconnect cables. And a lot of cables cost nearly 1k a pair. I custom made my speaker wires of the flat parallel cables of the type used for connecting printers to computers. Now I have upgraded to flat cables with individual twisted pair wires in the bundle. They have lower base noise. This is only for golden ear hi-fi nuts. But it was fun.