New House Wiring

[dusty011]

Hi Folks
New to the site and need help quickly!!!!
Bulding a new house and wiring it for everthing ran Cat# 5 everywhere and Now I want to run speaker wire I ran some clear shielded rca Hi power audio speaker wire in the walls but the more I read the more I think I should use a different wire any suggestion would be great I ran #12 gauge for long runs and #16 for the short runs

Will this wire work or should I replace it with something else

Thanks in advance
Dusty

 

[bpape]

What you have will work fine. The 12ga will handle just about anything. The 16ga is technically sufficient but I prefer at least 14ga. The 3 things that dictate wire requirements are:

- Length
- Impedance of the speakers
- Amount of power to be applied.

If you really want to future proof, I highly recommend running conduit.

Bryan

 

[dusty011]

Thanks Bpape

So the rca wire is fine and I won't get any interfearance from electrical? I did keep it away as far as possible.and is ft4 a better in wall wire???

Thanks
Dusty

 

[zildjian]

12ga speaker wire is just about as good as you can get for long runs of wire. By RCA I assume you are referring to the brand of wire. RCA is also used to describe the cables with phono type plugs on the ends used to hook line level (not amplified) audio signals such as between a tape player and a receiver, or vcr and receiver. You never want very long runs of RCA/PHONO plug wire; it leads to hum/noise easily in the signal.

With the long runs of speaker wire there are never any 100% guarantee that you won't get hum or electrical interference; just keep the wire away from electrical, cross at 90 degrees when you do have to cross the wires with electrical ones and space them as best you can. That's all you can do. The cat5 running all over the house is an excellent and cheap step towards future possibilities in wiring.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

You guys are forgetting that he needs CL-3 rated wire or whatever is required in his area to meet code.

 

[dusty011]

Thanks for everyone's help , just to add the electrical has been inspected,

Just to be clear the rca wire is a brand of speaker wire and says it is suitable for high power audio equipment.

The runs I made with 16 gauge are less then 30 ft and 12 gauge are over 30 ft.

I did go buy some ft4 2 wire 14 gauge today and I will replace the 16 gauge if you think it is a good idea????.

I just did not want to put the wrong wire in the walls but it seems to be the gauge of the wire not the type that is the issue correct???

 

[Johnd]

Is it not yet plain? I thought the five responses in your other thread on this very same topic were quite helpful...not to mention the three responses in this thread.

Recap:
1) It is best to not run speaker wire in wall so as to minimize efi and rfi.
2) 16 ga is fine for surrounds to 60 or 80 feet.
3) Cl2 minimum in wall.
4) If you must cross the speaker wire with electrical lines, do so only at 90', and then stay a minimum 2' away.

Ummm, on a side note...I don't know what country you're in, but every state in the union requires an electrical (NEC) inspection for in wall wiring. You have written that the "electrical has been passed", how is it then that you are still doing wiring?