DIY speaker cables - did I do well enough?

[laurentiu93]

Hi! I had some speaker cables running through my room walls, and hanging out through some boxes that were left as holes in the walls. The junciton boxes were mounted way too high, but I did not want to break the walls, so I had to become creative. First step was to mount covers and buy blank faceplates. Then I replaced the speaker wires in the walls with 4mm^2 wires. After that I started drilling the blank faceplates in order to mount female banana plugs. Nex step was making the wires between the walls and the speakers. I used the same 4mm wires, with a black sleeving for better looks. I used some heatshrink tube with glue to secure the sleeving, so it stays nice and streched. Also, this type of heatshrink tube becomes very hard, providing rigidity at the end of the cable and also mostly fills the gap inside the male banana plug. Results in pictures below. Everything cost me around 60USD, which included replacing wiring in walls for 4 speakers, male and female banana plugs for receiver and speakers and sleeving. It's the first time I do this, so there is room for improvement. What do you audioholics think about the job I've done? Is it any good or did I waste my time and made some sub-par stuff?

Before:

Banana plugs:

Faceplates with banana plugs mounted:

 

[Mark E. Long]

Very nicely done way better than the bare wire !

 

[keith_h]

Slick finish to your job there.

 

[Eppie]

Nice clean install. Looks great.

 

[Jerkface]

Nice job! And re-fished the wires to boot? Great work, man!

 

[lovinthehd]

Good job!

 

[laurentiu93]

Nice job! And re-fished the wires to boot? Great work, man!

Yes, I used the old wires to pull the new ones through the wall. You do need to take much care with pulling, if the wire gets stuck, try again, don't force it. I tried pulling hard and broke the old wires first time, I got lucky because there was still some left exposed.

I don't know how much influence it actually has, but I did not feel comfortable with those thin wires driving the speakers. Some say thicker wire makes a difference, other day it's nonsense.

 

[Jerkface]

Yes, I used the old wires to pull the new ones through the wall. You do need to take much care with pulling, if the wire gets stuck, try again, don't force it. I tried pulling hard and broke the old wires first time, I got lucky because there was still some left exposed.

I don't know how much influence it actually has, but I did not feel comfortable with those thin wires driving the speakers. Some say thicker wire makes a difference, other day it's nonsense.

The amount of additional resistance for a long run of skinny wire could certainly add up to signal degradation, at least to your rear speakers. Nothing wrong with ditching old, apparently fragile 18-gauge.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, I used the old wires to pull the new ones through the wall. You do need to take much care with pulling, if the wire gets stuck, try again, don't force it. I tried pulling hard and broke the old wires first time, I got lucky because there was still some left exposed.

I don't know how much influence it actually has, but I did not feel comfortable with those thin wires driving the speakers. Some say thicker wire makes a difference, other day it's nonsense.

Generally you have to look at not just the length of the run but the impedance of the speakers being used. Lower gauge/thicker wire is more useful on longer runs and for lower impedances. Try this chart: http://roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable