I am building a new house and installing a new surround sound system. It is time to do the rough in and im not sure what speaker cable/wire i should use? I was thinking of using Pure/AV by Belkin (Silver series) since it is CL3 rated? Any thoughts are appreciated.
Speaker Wire Help
- Thread starter jrclift658
- Start date
Agree with post above. Do not buy "name brand" speaker wire. But make sure you get at least 16 gauge.
I'm an audio electronic design engineer, and I think the wire weenies touting extremely expensive wire are blowing smoke.
If you intend to install the wire in some closed run, the two most important specs you need to know are the length of your wire run and the maximum power you ever expect per channel, which will determine the guage of wire you need. Once you've got good quality stranded wire of a sufficient guage, as long as the copper isn't contaminated or oxidized, spending outrageous money for fancy wire will help the vendor pay for his advertising budget and his Escalade, but it won't do anything more for your sound.
How much power per channel and how long is your wire run?
If you intend to install the wire in some closed run, the two most important specs you need to know are the length of your wire run and the maximum power you ever expect per channel, which will determine the guage of wire you need. Once you've got good quality stranded wire of a sufficient guage, as long as the copper isn't contaminated or oxidized, spending outrageous money for fancy wire will help the vendor pay for his advertising budget and his Escalade, but it won't do anything more for your sound.
How much power per channel and how long is your wire run?
The longest run might be 25' at max. I was thinking of buying a Yamaha RX-V863 receiver, per the specs of it I am looking at 105W x 7. (Man to be honest this is greek to me, I think that is what you were asking me.)
Yes, that's exactly what I was asking. In determining the length of wire, don't forget to include vertical drops and any bends or angles that would make it longer than the linear distance from the amp to the speakers.
To help you understand it, consider it like plumbing. If a pipe is too narrow, it will create back pressure.
Wire is not "ideal." That is, its resistance is not 0.00000 ohms. It has a small but finite amount of resisitance. Thinner wire has greater resistance per foot. If the wire is too thin, it will likewise present a back resistance to the electronic signal flow, which will result in power loss. In other words, using a heavier guage of wire is like porting and relieving an exhaust system on your car.
It doesn't take much resistance to matter. Consider a speaker with a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. If the resistance in the wire is a mere 0.08 ohms, it would be 1% of the nominal load. All other things being equal (which they aren't), that means 1.05 watts would be lost in the wire.
And since all other things aren't equal, especially that 8 ohm spec for the speaker, it could cause various kinds of distortion.
This speaker wire gauge calculator may help. Thinking conservatively, you can always go another gauge thicker, as long as your connectors will accomodate the diameter of the wire.
Something people haven't mentioned that you brought up is the CL rating. CL2 and above is fine for in-wall use. If you're running in a plenum (think air duct, HVAC, etc) you need CL2P (not the P suffix) or above for proper installation. What I mean for proper installation has nothing to do about audio quality, and everything to do with building/electrical codes.
Is that calculator looking for the power output in watts? If so, it seems a little overboard. I don't think 125 watts at 8 ohms for a 19 foot run really requires 11 gauge wire.
:beer: :thumbsup: back at ya, Rio
For best performance, you'd want it for a single wire pair going to a full range system or for a woofer or sub-woofer in a multi-amp (bi-amp, tri-amp) system. In addition to power loss, using too light a gauge of wire spoils the damping effect of the power amplifier.
That's the ability to control the motion of the speaker motor. In this case, the comparison isn't between the resistance in the wire and the speaker impedance. It's the impedance of the source signal as seen by the speaker. The source impedance of a good solid state amp is well below one ohm so it doesn't take much to affect the sound. The effect on bass response is usually perceived as soft or "flubby" bass.
The alternative is to use a separate preamp and send line level signals to power amps located at each speaker. That's also one of the advantages of using powered speakers.
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
- 76
Make sure to get CL2 rated wire at the least or check your local building code for what they require , some want CL3.
What are the things called they can transfer your remote control signal to recevier, dvd player, cable box, etc that are hidden behind cloased doors. I have seen small infared boxes that tranfer that signal to the appropriate electonic device for power, volume, etc.
Modelworks
Lifer
- Feb 22, 2007
- 16,240
- 7
- 76
IR repeater or extender
Or build your own IR boxes.
They don't cost much in parts.
http://web-ee.com/schematics/electronic_projects/remote_control_extender_mk2/index.html
I recently re-wired my HT for 7.1 surround and used Tributaries CS122 12ga/2 conductor 168 strand CL3-rated wire for the 4 surround speakers. I got sucked into the expensive wire a long time ago and still use my Monster M2 cables for the front and center. I got a 200' roll from Wiremeister on eBay for about $1.00 per foot. My longest run is about 32' and seems to hold up well but I am only delivering 200w/ch. I took the easy way out and just got blank wall plates and drilled a hole for the wire to exit the wall to the speakers and just popped out the banana connectors on my existing "main" plate and ran the wire straight through to the receiver. Less ( no ) physical breaks in the wire but more of a pain if I decide to move my gear.
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
- 651
- 126
Capt Caveman
Lifer
- Jan 30, 2005
- 34,543
- 651
- 126
I'm going to ask the same question. My Denon 3803 receiver puts out 110w per channel. Do I really need 12 gauge wire to my surround and rear speakers for 20 ft runs?
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 25K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 21K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter