going crazy choosing speaker cables!@#

[NGL_BrSH]

Ok so i bought myself some nice speakers.. and i bought some decent electronics, now it's time to properly hook it up. I've read the two guides about speaker cables and that some cables are way over-priced and could actually sound worse than others.. I've read alot about banana plugs and soldering.. I couldn't really conclude what would be the best bang for the buck or really who makes a good cable or what a good cable consists of.

People talk about banana plugs good because wire becomes oxidized but this seems sill because even though the plugs are gold plated the wire that is screwed into the plug and WILL still oxidize.. so i've concluded that if i plan to move stuff around alot i'll use banana plugs. However i would buy the solder banana plugs and that would make it so there isn't any bare wire eliminating oxidation.
I'm good at soldering and have all the proper equipment so i wonder if it would be good to just put some silver solder on the end of a decent stripped back wire and call it good.. or is there better solder i should use?

Now for all of this to work i need to choose a wire. I definitely know that for lack of resistance i want a decent gauge, thats the easy part.
Can i get away with going down to radio shack and buy 12 gauge wire, put some solder on the tips and call it good?
Do i need better wire? If so recommendations?


Kind of a run on everything sorry.. but i'm confused so to recap:
Questions:
what type of solder (silver, rosin core, ???)
what kind of wire (braided, shielded, flat, high strand count, oxygen free, etc, ?, whatever else is out there) ?



thanks, i'm lost..

 

[Nick250]

I don't know what kind of solder. For speaker wire I use Radio Shack 14 gauge because they are one mile from where I live. If Home Depot was closer I would go there. If your run is over 50 feet I would consider 12 gauge. Other than that IMO one wire is good as another, you don't need to worry about oxygen free etc. You might use flat to go under a rug other than that six of one, half dozen of another. If you plan to put the wire a wall you need to check what the code is in your area.

 

[ScottMayo]

If you're panicking, you could go with Bryston's recommendations - ask James Tanner there. (I'm assuming you bought Bryston because of the icon you used.)

But to be honest, any copper wire between 12 and 8 gauge will do the trick nicely, and 8ga would only be useful for a long run. The part of the wire that is tightly caught in the lugs won't oxidize in any case. If you are really worried about it, or live in a humid area or something, buy some gold or silver coated spades, and attach them with silver solder. It will be more than good enough, and the equal of cables that get sold for hundreds of dollars.

 

[jaxvon]

I would advise against silver-plated spades or terminations. Silver oxidizes much more easily than gold and defeats the purpose of coating the spades.

Also, 8ga wire? That's obscene overkill. 12-ga will be FINE, even 14-ga.

 

[alan monro]

dont worry about thickness of wire or solder just put it togeather and enjoy the sound . scientific tests have proven even the best "golden ear" can not tell any differance between the most expensive large special speaker wire and normal sreaker wire special speaker wire is just a con by a lot of retailers to take money from the uninformed kind reguards,alan

 

[Daz3d&Confus3d]

Any decent 12 gauge that's shielded and buy your own banana's or spades and alittle heatshrink if you're concerned about air still getting in and oxidizing....

 

[danglerb]

Short answer, I like to make a tight mechanical connection, then solder, then heat shrink.

Long answer, I don't think you should use a poorer quality connection for your speakers than a decent electrician would make for a table lamp. The only thing that clearly is better than two copper wires squished tightly together is one copper wire (with no splice). The idea is that at some psi of pressure, which I have no clue about, the two wires don't let any oxygen get between them, so they don't corrode at the point of contact. Just soldering puts some amount of solder between the wires, and I know it isn't much higher resistance, but its not something the electrician would do with your table lamp, so why do it to your speakers. Crimp, then solder and it seals the already tight metal to metal connection. Spade lugs are good choices if you can use them directly, but I don't like to see too much "junk" between actual wires.