Speaker wire choice - need advice

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skads_187

skads_187

Audioholic
Need some help/advice. I am preparing to buy all the cables I will need when I move in to my new house. I will be using a Pioneer VSX-1016TXV receiver. For speakers I might be buying the following, but I will most probably be buying something else (better) I hope.
Just to give you an idea these are the front speakers:
http://www.ikon-audio.com/products/cm550.html
and these are the back speakers:
http://www.ikon-audio.com/products/cm500.html

Now, I've been looking around, and need advice on what speaker wire to buy, this is the first time I will be doing this. I am estimating that I will need roughly 120-130 feet to be on the safe side.

Which of the following is the best way to go:

1.) First how bad is this one Monster THX sp 100 ft = $100 CAD (to make up for the other 30 ft using the same cable)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10027153&catid=

2.) 2 x Monster Cable THX Ultra 600 Speaker Wire 70FT 14 GA =
$120 with shipping
http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-Monster-Cable-THX-Ultra-600-Speaker-Wire-70FT-14-GA_W0QQitemZ110213354478QQihZ001QQcategoryZ14966QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

3.) Bluejeans cables, dont know which model to get, or need, by the looks of things bluejeans will cost me anywhere from 90-140$ depending on the model and that doesnt include the shipping charges (dont know how much they are)

4.) Monster XPMS cable?

Am I looking at the right cables for what I have? So far the second option doesnt look that bad and I will have extra cable, just in case. The longest cable run i will have will be for the back speakers which might run anywhere from 30-40 ft.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Home Depot 14 gauge or if you are feeling froggy 12 gauge. Don't buy Monster or any other "special" cables at retail. The less you spend on cables that do nothing to alter you audio the more that can be spend on things that do, such as room treatments.:)
 
M

mojo_13

Audioholic
Blue Jean Cable is good also take a look at Monoprice, they have some really good deals thats where I have gotten all my cables and am very impressed with them. Great prices too.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I am surprised Seth didn't jump all over that one! Those speakers have SCAM written all over them.... Petty much any wire will work with them ;)
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
j_garcia said:
I am surprised Seth didn't jump all over that one! Those speakers have SCAM written all over them.... Petty much any wire will work with them ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah, I have to admit for once I wasn't paying much attention, then again, look at the post time.;)

To the OP of this thread, DO NOT BUY THOSE SPEAKERS! If you already bought them, find the people that sold them to you, kill them, take all their money and buy speakers that won't break you other good audio equipment. Those speakers and many other brands that look just like them are a scam and not worth the cardboard boxes they come in.:mad:
 
skads_187

skads_187

Audioholic
i havent bought those ikons yet, the only reason i was thinking about them, was because i am looking for floor standing speakers and bookshelf speakers made out of wood, basically the whole set for 800$-$900 any suggestions, Im in Montreal Canada though, so we dont have all the stores like in the States.
I already have a sub though. velodyne dps-12, just missing the 5 speakers.

For the cables I put monster as an example as thats most commonly known, i will take a look at blue jeans. But just as a side note question, are monster cables good at least for the price their being sold at? What I mean is, besides the price, are they at least good quality?

last question, are all these cables fire retardant by any chance?
thanks for the help guys
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
skads_187 said:
Im in Montreal Canada though, so we dont have all the stores like in the States.

But just as a side note question, are monster cables good at least for the price their being sold at? What I mean is, besides the price, are they at least good quality?

last question, are all these cables fire retardant by any chance?
thanks for the help guys
Click to expand...
Try Paradigm or PSB both Canadian companies, and light years better than what you were looking at.

No, Monster cables are not good for the price they're being sold at.

No, all cables are not fire retardant; unless they are CL2, or CL3 rated cable.
You only need that if it's an 'in wall' installation.
Good Luck
Rick
 
skads_187

skads_187

Audioholic
actually it the two back speakers will be in wall, so I guess all of the options I put are no longer good anymore. Do you know of any good cl2/cl3 wires or are the ones from monoprice good enough?
A 12 awg cl2 rated 2 monoprice cable goes for close to 50$ for 100ft.
Whats the difference between the rated 2 and rated 4, is rated 4 for specific speakers?
 
mouettus

mouettus

Audioholic Chief
Hey skads. Hello from Gatineau! ;)

I have a 5 speakers set of Polk for sale. Maybe not real wood but they sound darn good and you could save a lot of money. It's only a 1:45 drive!

For the cables, go to home depot/Rona. I got the 12gag for my speakers and they work flawlessly.
 
Last edited:
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
skads_187 said:
actually it the two back speakers will be in wall, so I guess all of the options I put are no longer good anymore. Do you know of any good cl2/cl3 wires or are the ones from monoprice good enough?
A 12 awg cl2 rated 2 monoprice cable goes for close to 50$ for 100ft.
Whats the difference between the rated 2 and rated 4, is rated 4 for specific speakers?
Click to expand...
Different places have different code requirements. You could probably do a search to figure out the difference if you're really interested. The explanation alone might fill volumes.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
skads_187 said:
actually it the two back speakers will be in wall, so I guess all of the options I put are no longer good anymore. Do you know of any good cl2/cl3 wires or are the ones from monoprice good enough?
A 12 awg cl2 rated 2 monoprice cable goes for close to 50$ for 100ft.
Whats the difference between the rated 2 and rated 4, is rated 4 for specific speakers?
Click to expand...
The difference between the two is that CL2 is rated for up to 150 volts while CL3 is rated for up to 300 volts.
CL2 is what you want.
12 AWG may be overkill for your rear surrounds; unless it's a very long run.
Check Home Depot.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
skads_187 said:
2 x 30 ft runs, do I need 12-14 or 16 AWG?
Click to expand...
I would first, decide on speakers.
If possible, get 8 ohm speakers, they are easier for your receiver to drive.
There isn't a lot of audio signal sent to the rear surrounds during movies.
If your playing SACD's more is sent to the rear speakers.
IMHO I would use 14 AWG. for the rear.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
mouettus said:
Reading this article right now and it says that the guy's home depot wires corroded 6 months after. Geez I've been using mine for 2 years now and they still look new. No corrosion at all.
Click to expand...
About 15 years ago I bought that speaker wire from the Depot, and it turned green.
As you mentioned, that isn't the case anymore.
 
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