Suggestions for Speaker Cables

[MacCali]

Hey guys, back at it again. So caught up in my research I forgot about speaker cables

Any thoughts on some cheap beginner cables?

I found the cables I want to purchase but they are telling me 6-8 weeks. I’m not trying to wait that long and maybe looking for something temporary as my speakers should arrive in 5-7 days.

I will just wait until Black Friday to get my entire cable set up and speakers.

Only purchased two speakers so I don’t need a 100 ft of cable.

very open to DIY, but which cable?

I saw the parts express suggestion. Open to that and just seeking your opinion.

I was thinking audioquest rocket 11, just purchase 12 feet for 42 dollars.

I dont own any equipment prior to this, just bought my receiver.

 

[mazersteven]

Blue Jeans Cable -- Quality Cables at Reasonable Prices

 

[Speedskater]

There must be hundreds of available, suitable and reasonable loudspeaker cables, Audioquest is NOT on the list.

 

[ryanosaur]

Monoprice Choice, 12 or 14 AWG. (For in-room)
Monoprice Access if you go in-wall.
If you want Banana Plugs, Monoprice Affinity, Straight or 90º options available.

Nothing against Blue Jeans... just way more money than cables warrant.

Stay away from Audioquest. Not worth their audio-phoolery.

 

[Swerd]

Any thoughts on some cheap beginner cables?

Yes. Use them without fear, even 18g lamp cord available in most hardware stores. If you have longer runs, you might benefit a little from 16, 14, or 12 gauge.

As long as your speaker cables actually connect the amplifier or receiver to the speakers, you will be good to go. All modern wires do include insulation – always a good idea.

It is often said that speakers are where the rubber hits the road. If you made a list of all the things that contribute to good sound quality, it might look like this:

1. Speakers
2. Speakers
3. Speakers
4. Speakers
5. Speakers
6. Speakers
7. Speakers
8. Speakers
9. Speaker placement in rooms
10. Amplification

Note that speaker cables appear nowhere on this list.

 

[NINaudio]

There is no such thing as "beginner" speaker cables! Either your speaker cable is thick enough for the length of the run and the speaker's impedance or it isn't. Monoprice 12 AWG is just about perfect for most common speaker runs.

 

[mazersteven]

When only the Best will do

 

[Teetertotter?]

If there is an electrical contractor or distributor near you, I would stop in person at their desk. I'm sure they will roll off any number of feet at a good price. Just ask for 14ga, 2 conductor, stranded, for example. More than likely, they will have US made wire vs China. I think Blue Jeans uses US made Belden Wire, but not sure.

My son is an operations manager for a large electrical contracting firm for both industrial and communications industries. With my distance of needing 30 foot lengths max, I chose 16ga, 2 cond, stranded twisted pair, 99.9% copper, shielded, and jacketed. USA NO BANANA plugs.

Good luck!

 

[MacCali]

Thank you guys, I think I found my solution. Inexpensive, no shipping and it’s local. Didn’t even know this place existed, it’s 2 miles from where I live. They custom make cables to length and they terminate. They suggested Gotham’s if I’m trying to be a cheap ba$tard, everything else is overkill.

 

[lovinthehd]

Lots of good info about speaker wire http://roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

 

[stalag2005]

End to end shielding is only needed in a challenging RF active environment. Generally the power levels in speaker cable is such that inductance from neighboring cables of similar power levels washes out. If you are really anal they do make twisted pair speaker cable. For normal 100 to 200 watt per channel 16 gauge is fine, but I would for speakers (ie woofers/subwoofers) use 12 gauge as the heavier gauges at low frequency do have an impact due to lower resistance. The higher the frequency the more pronounced skin effect becomes. RF propagation (AM/FM/TV/Wireless ethernet, etc.) usually uses coax that is shielded as the skin effect down the conductor is very pronounced as you go from AM to Wireless and the skin effect is more important for conduction in the antenna wire. Receive is generally a minute fraction of the power of transmit, but the shielding helps limit interference. For me, electrical transmission of an analog audio frequency for 20 Hz is the same as a transmission down a wire at 5 GHz. Given this, use of 12 gauge is generally more than sufficient unless you go to crazy amplification levels of 1K watts or more. These levels are generally seen in commercial equipment used in large venues. If you see this in a home system you are running massive power and your ears may be in jeopardy. Audio should be a pleasure thing and not a pain thing.

 

[stalag2005]

Typical equipment line level is fine on 18 to 22 gauge wire as the power levels are miniscule comparatively to power on an amplified speaker output. You can run speaker signals on these gauges, but you may end losing some low end due to resistances.

 

[MacCali]

End to end shielding is only needed in a challenging RF active environment. Generally the power levels in speaker cable is such that inductance from neighboring cables of similar power levels washes out. If you are really anal they do make twisted pair speaker cable. For normal 100 to 200 watt per channel 16 gauge is fine, but I would for speakers (ie woofers/subwoofers) use 12 gauge as the heavier gauges at low frequency do have an impact due to lower resistance. The higher the frequency the more pronounced skin effect becomes. RF propagation (AM/FM/TV/Wireless ethernet, etc.) usually uses coax that is shielded as the skin effect down the conductor is very pronounced as you go from AM to Wireless and the skin effect is more important for conduction in the antenna wire. Receive is generally a minute fraction of the power of transmit, but the shielding helps limit interference. For me, electrical transmission of an analog audio frequency for 20 Hz is the same as a transmission down a wire at 5 GHz. Given this, use of 12 gauge is generally more than sufficient unless you go to crazy amplification levels of 1K watts or more. These levels are generally seen in commercial equipment used in large venues. If you see this in a home system you are running massive power and your ears may be in jeopardy. Audio should be a pleasure thing and not a pain thing.

Yes, I’ve actually heard that there’s a sweet spot for cables. I believe it was directly related to skinning or whatever that term is for the way a signal will travel.

too big is not good and too small isn’t either.

don’t quote me, it has been a while. I think 13/14 awg is the sweet spot. From what I was reading which was a couple months ago

 

[stalag2005]

Yes, I’ve actually heard that there’s a sweet spot for cables. I believe it was directly related to skinning or whatever that term is for the way a signal will travel.

too big is not good and too small isn’t either.

don’t quote me, it has been a while. I think 13/14 awg is the sweet spot. From what I was reading which was a couple months ago

You might be right for midrange and above. The number of strands can have a big impact also at higher frequency.

 

[mazersteven]

don’t quote me, it has been a while. I think 13/14 awg is the sweet spot.

12-14 Is the sweet spot

 

[ryanosaur]

Lots of good info about speaker wire http://roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

This.

 

[Alex2507]

There is no such thing as "beginner" speaker cables!

Ryan is still working his way up to BJC.

Belden 14 ga is what I got a 1000' spool of off CL from some shady sparky.

 

[MacCali]

Now it’s time for speaker stands, man

 

[lovinthehd]

Now it’s time for speaker stands, man

What, no speaker wire elevators? Stands need a new thread?

 

[TLS Guy]

Yes, I’ve actually heard that there’s a sweet spot for cables. I believe it was directly related to skinning or whatever that term is for the way a signal will travel.

too big is not good and too small isn’t either.

don’t quote me, it has been a while. I think 13/14 awg is the sweet spot. From what I was reading which was a couple months ago

Someone has fed you a real dose of cod's wallop. There is no such thing as too big. The main thing that matters is that the resistance is low enough. So the rule of speaker wire is that the resistance of the cable should not be more than 5% of the minimum impedance of the speaker. The resistance is measured by twisting the ends together at one end only and measuring the resistance at the other end. If you don't know the minimum impedance of your speakers, assume it is 4 ohm, no matter what the speakers are rated to be and you will be right nearly all the time. So the speaker wire gauge is determined by the length of the run and speaker impedance, and NOTHING else. It does NOT matter if the resistance is lower than 5%. Speaker wire can not be too thick, only too thin.

The only other issue is RF rejection and it helps if the wire pair is twisted. Insulation needs to be adequate, but that is really a given.

There is absolutely nothing else to be said about speaker wire. That skinning nonsense is right out of the back of someone's neck.

Unfortunately when it comes to speaker wire there is more myth out there than fact. Interestingly when I have looked at some costly cables, they actually fail the simple criteria I have outlined. You only need to pay for cables that meet the criteria I have outlined and not one cent more.