Speaker cable for new Home cinema setup

[Jack Summers]

Hi Guys, new to the forum, all the way from London, England.

So I am putting together a new home cinima system. Might go for Monitor Audio Silver surrounds with a Yamaha 1060 amp to power them.

I am looking for some speaker cable to kit the system out and trying to learn about speaker cables.

I was looking at QED XT25 which is £6.00 / $8.00 a meter - states have it as a 14 AWG, silver plate with lifetime guarentee. For 30 meters this would be $240

Having looked at Amazon (who have their own, AMazon basics 12/14 guage wire, there is also, FosPower Speaker wire 12AWG at around $40.00 for 30 meters. Which means they are under a dollar a meter

So Question is, both wires have the same guage. Ok, QED is silver plate, but the cost is 8 times more expensive. Am I going to hear the difference if I go with the QED? When hooking up an AV system that requires 30 meters, how much would you spend on speaker cable, when purchasing a system that costs around $5000 (Silver monitor audio claim 4 ohm, but most of the time I suspect they will run at 6)

 

[lovinthehd]

Not familiar with what's available on your side of the pond, but I only spend as much as needed for proper gauge/length/impedance, altho I generally just buy 300ft reels of 12g as that meets my worst case needs. If you want particularly attractive wire, then maybe spend a bit more on it. Try reading thru this site http://roger-russell.com/wire.htm#introduction

 

[moves]

Check out blue jean cables.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hmmm....I wonder if BJC ships internationally?

 

[Verdinut]

Hi Guys, new to the forum, all the way from London, England.

So I am putting together a new home cinima system. Might go for Monitor Audio Silver surrounds with a Yamaha 1060 amp to power them.

I am looking for some speaker cable to kit the system out and trying to learn about speaker cables.

I was looking at QED XT25 which is £6.00 / $8.00 a meter - states have it as a 14 AWG, silver plate with lifetime guarentee. For 30 meters this would be $240

Having looked at Amazon (who have their own, AMazon basics 12/14 guage wire, there is also, FosPower Speaker wire 12AWG at around $40.00 for 30 meters. Which means they are under a dollar a meter

So Question is, both wires have the same guage. Ok, QED is silver plate, but the cost is 8 times more expensive. Am I going to hear the difference if I go with the QED? When hooking up an AV system that requires 30 meters, how much would you spend on speaker cable, when purchasing a system that costs around $5000 (Silver monitor audio claim 4 ohm, but most of the time I suspect they will run at 6)

Reply
Greetings Jack,

Welcome to Audioholics,

Don't waste money on silver containing speaker cables. Oxygen free copper is good enough and actually the best speaker cable which I use and I recommend to anyone.

I have had a look at what's available from Amazon in UK and I recommend the following product that should do the job adequately, unless your listening room is very huge, necessitating either a bigger wire gauge or connecting two 14AWG together to reduce resistance:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Feet-Direct-Burial-Speaker-Lighting/dp/B0002ZPH7Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1525742851&sr=1-2&keywords=14+GA+OFC+speaker+cable

By the way, I don't have much confidence in Amazon's own brand of cables. Some of them contain aluminum which is a crappy conductor and actually increases the cable resistance and can cause problems as two different metals are contacting each other. I also agree with Lovin in suggesting you peruse Roger Russell's website.

That is my recommendation based on my long time experience in speaker building.
Cheers,

 

[TLS Guy]

Check out blue jean cables.

He is in the UK so not helpful advice.

Don't fuss over wire. The adage wire is wire really holds true. It really is the resistance that matters, which in essence means that when it comes to copper wire the only thing that matters is the gauge. So you can just as well go the hardware store and buy the right gauge copper wire, It will sounds as good as wire costing hundreds of pounds per foot. Yes, that stuff is out there and if you buy it "more fool you".

 

[KenM10759]

I find that in the UK there's a LOT more focus on "front end first", meaning amplifiers, DACs, players, and yes...cables should be chosen first, then speakers. I guess we here (especially on Audioholics) tend to go completely the opposite with speakers, the room treatments, then the other stuff. And cables is at the very bottom of the list or not on it at all except to say get the right gauge for the distance and make sure it's quality copper.

 

[Speedskater]

In another forum, a knowledgeable UK audio person suggested:
Something equivalent to the old Supra 79 strand. Or something 1.5 sq. mm or larger.

 

[Beave]

I find that in the UK there's a LOT more focus on "front end first", meaning amplifiers, DACs, players, and yes...cables should be chosen first, then speakers. I guess we here (especially on Audioholics) tend to go completely the opposite with speakers, the room treatments, then the other stuff. And cables is at the very bottom of the list or not on it at all except to say get the right gauge for the distance and make sure it's quality copper.

And I blame the audio rags (magazines) there for continuing to propagate the confusion in the UK. What Hi Fi is a complete joke. It's like the audio equivalent of The Onion, but unsuspecting readers believe it.

 

[Speedskater]

Hi-fi magazines have a vested interest in propagating the audiophile myths that:

a] everything sounds different and anything & everything matters.
b] these differences often can't be measured.
c] ears only listening is bad.
d] almost everything burns-in over a long period of time.

 

[lovinthehd]

Hi-fi magazines have a vested interest in propagating the audiophile myths that:

a] everything sounds different and anything & everything matters.
b] these differences often can't be measured.
c] ears only listening is bad.
d] almost everything burns-in over a long period of time.

Seems for (c) they usually do promote ears only rather than doing something like measuring response in your room, etc...

ps Wasn't think of blind testing for ears only....

 

[Beave]

By 'ears only listening,' I think he's referring to blinded listening, instead of sighted listening where you know what components are being listened to.

They certainly do promote listening over measurements, but it's sighted listening they promote, while blinded listening is dismissed.

 

[Speedskater]

Yep, ears only means the reviewer is not aware of what model he is listening to.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yep, ears only means the reviewer is not aware of what model he is listening to.

Makes sense now....I keep thinking guys who encourage others to "test" cables with their ears only!

 

[GarryP]

Definitely check out Blue Jeans Cable as they do ship internationally. I had no problems getting cables delivered to New Zealand.

 

[Verdinut]

Definitely check out Blue Jeans Cable as they do ship internationally. I had no problems getting cables delivered to New Zealand.

Why pay more if you purchase from overseas when you can get oxygen free copper 14AWG or 12AWG wire locally at a cheaper price? The more expensive Blue Jeans won't perform any better.

 

[BMXTRIX]

It really comes down to distance. Yes, pure copper wire is pretty much all you care about, but I typically run 14/4 or 12/4 wiring to all speaker locations. As this is a theater space, with decent speakers, you should plan on running 4 conductor wiring to all locations to allow you to bi-amp at some point in the future if you desire.

This minimal cost in wiring, up front, saves tons of cost on the back end if you are going with an in-wall wiring setup. It prevents the need to open walls just to run 30 bucks of wire you could have run to begin with.

I can't speak to specific availability to your part of the world, but any pure copper speaker wire, at whatever price, is appropriate. Don't go overboard on thickness if there is no reason to. Typically 14 or 12 gauge is just perfect.

ie: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Oxygen-Free-Conductor-Speaker/dp/B00BWRZRNA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526417395&sr=8-3&keywords=speaker+cable+12/4&dpID=31lmGeKkdBL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

12 gauge, 4 conductor, at 100 or 250 feet. Price is pretty typical to the market.

 

[Verdinut]

It really comes down to distance. Yes, pure copper wire is pretty much all you care about, but I typically run 14/4 or 12/4 wiring to all speaker locations. As this is a theater space, with decent speakers, you should plan on running 4 conductor wiring to all locations to allow you to bi-amp at some point in the future if you desire.

This minimal cost in wiring, up front, saves tons of cost on the back end if you are going with an in-wall wiring setup. It prevents the need to open walls just to run 30 bucks of wire you could have run to begin with.

I can't speak to specific availability to your part of the world, but any pure copper speaker wire, at whatever price, is appropriate. Don't go overboard on thickness if there is no reason to. Typically 14 or 12 gauge is just perfect.

ie: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Oxygen-Free-Conductor-Speaker/dp/B00BWRZRNA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526417395&sr=8-3&keywords=speaker+cable+12/4&dpID=31lmGeKkdBL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

12 gauge, 4 conductor, at 100 or 250 feet. Price is pretty typical to the market.

I'm not against the use of 14/4 or 12/4 gauge cable. I use it in my HT system.
But who would need to bi-amp surround speakers apart for an installation in a large public venue and even then?

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm not against the use of 14/4 or 12/4 gauge cable. I use it in my HT system.
But who would need to bi-amp surround speakers apart for an installation in a large public venue and even then?

No arguments from me on that, but the cost is minimal to just throw in the 4 conductor wiring. As well, the speakers that the OP is looking at allow for that capability, so if it is desired, it is possible with 4 conductor cabling, if it is desired and the cabling isn't there... Well, then you are opening walls. So, while I would not bi-amp, having the wire in place doesn't hurt.

 

[KenM10759]

I uses a 14/4 Canare 4S11 cable for my KEF LS50's. It's a short run, LS50's don't have dual binding posts, and neither does the amp. The two pairs are joined at each end to make one pair that's bigger gauge size than a single 12 gauge.

Of course it doesn't sound any better, they just look kind of cool all twisted up at each end. When you go really long, bigger gauge is needed. Maybe that's why he's running it?