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Help... speaker cable recomendation... electrician help?
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| midaV |
Ok I just got my new set of Klipsch Pro Media Ultra 5.1 surround speakers, and the rear speaker wires are not long enough, now I dont want to kill the quality of the speakers by cutting the wire and extending it (im not even sure if that does, so correct me if im wrong) so I am here to ask for advice.
Here are the wire specifications and some info:
VOLTAGE:
120 volt
EXPORT VOLTAGE:
230 volt under development
WIRE GAUGE ACCOMODATED:
18 gauge supplied
BTW.. in the manual for the speaker wires it describes it as "tinned wire leads"... whatever that means...
But lets say I buy a whole new set of wires for the 2 back speakers that are totally different than the ones that came with it, will it matter that the front set of speakers use a different wire..... cause I have no idea what kind to buy, or what quality/type I should be looking for, so somebody who knows what's going on... plz help!..
Should I save the money and just cut the wire and extend it... or just buy a whole new solid set...cause i dont want to spend extra if the quality will stay the same if I just cut and extend...
THX! |
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| DJ Mikey Mike |
| quote: | Originally posted by midaV
But lets say I buy a whole new set of wires for the 2 back speakers that are totally different than the ones that came with it, will it matter that the front set of speakers use a different wire.....
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Yea it's okay you can mix them. I wouldn't try extending the wire yourself though. Theres quite a range of cable you can buy, but anything listed on the following site is 10x better than the crap that most standard hi-fi's come with.
Click
The quality of your speakers should determine the amount you would wanna spend per metre. I wouldn't get to carried away though, it's not like your gonna be using your speakers in clubs or anything :toothless |
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| Orbax |
| I work in home theater hehe I do this all day long. Just grab some 16-18 gauge Monster cable. 100 foot roll is 40 bucks or so. Acoustic research has 100 feet for 17 dollars, but isnt near the quality. |
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| midaV |
Nice... thx for the info.
So orbax you say the 16-18 gauge monster cable should do it?... is their a specific type of wire I should be looking for, or does the 16-18 gauge come in one standard type? |
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| Orbax |
itll be standard. Monster cable is a fairly average 16 guage harder to find the 18. THere will be a white coated one and a clear coat and the lnly difference is the color like if you wanted to runit along a white wall itd look better...
AR wire will be 18 and 16. I like 16 the best just because it also allows you to push more juice through. |
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| midaV |
| Is it ok if I use 14 gauge Pro flex wires, my uncles got that and I can hook it up with that right now if it's ok.... whats the difference between the gauges.. is it ok if the current one on the speakers is 16, and i use 14?.... and is Pro flex a good brand?:eyes: |
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| igottaknow |
| quote: | Originally posted by midaV
Is it ok if I use 14 gauge Pro flex wires, my uncles got that and I can hook it up with that right now if it's ok.... whats the difference between the gauges.. is it ok if the current one on the speakers is 16, and i use 14?.... and is Pro flex a good brand?:eyes: |
All this talk of speaker wire always seems to bring the audiophiles out of the woodwork. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do know good deal about electronics and the amount of money ppl are willing to spend on speaker wire seems ludicrous. Come on its all copper for god sake! Electrical impulses sent threw a wire controls a magnet which intern moves a speaker's cone, creating sounds waves we hear as music. Just imagine how much cleaner and brighter the lights would be if you used monster wire for everything. :rolleyes: I'll agree that shielded RCA wire protects from interference and can make a difference especially when using long lengths. But I dare anyone to do a blindfold test exchanging normal wire for ultra expensive stereo wire.
Anyways to answer your question, it would be fine to use a different gauge. Its a weird system, the smaller the gauge number the thicker the wire. Thicker wire can handle more amperage or power without getting hot. So 14g is over kill for computer speakers but should be fine. |
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| tranceDJ |
| quote: | Originally posted by igottaknow
All this talk of speaker wire always seems to bring the audiophiles out of the woodwork. I don't claim to be an expert, but I do know good deal about electronics and the amount of money ppl are willing to spend on speaker wire seems ludicrous. Come on its all copper for god sake! Electrical impulses sent threw a wire controls a magnet which intern moves a speaker's cone, creating sounds waves we hear as music. Just imagine how much cleaner and brighter the lights would be if you used monster wire for everything. :rolleyes: I'll agree that shielded RCA wire protects from interference and can make a difference especially when using long lengths. But I dare anyone to do a blindfold test exchanging normal wire for ultra expensive stereo wire.
Anyways to answer your question, it would be fine to use a different gauge. Its a weird system, the smaller the gauge number the thicker the wire. Thicker wire can handle more amperage or power without getting hot. So 14g is over kill for computer speakers but should be fine. |
I know what you mean, often people buy expensive cable they don't really need. Unless you're running the wire really far or have some really expensive, powerful speaker setup, you don't need the expensive cable really. Some people like to get it though just to say they have it I guess. |
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| Orbax |
| There is a HUGE difference in speaker wire. Not only quality of sound and how much you can push through it, but longevity of wire plus dirty impulses (not the pedophile kind). ty wire rots and corrodes and it makes all the difference in the world between a clean system and an average system. |
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| igottaknow |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orbax
There is a HUGE difference in speaker wire. Not only quality of sound and how much you can push through it, but longevity of wire plus dirty impulses (not the pedophile kind). ty wire rots and corrodes and it makes all the difference in the world between a clean system and an average system. |
You work in one of these audio stores who preach this stuff like its the gosple so I'm sure there is no way I can convince you that most of this wire stuff is greatly exaggerated or straight bs. Why don't set up test in your store if you think it makes such a big difference, you should be able sell it like its going out of style.
"ty wire rots and corrodes"
That’s simple untrue I've never seen any copper wire fail because it corrodes.
"Not only quality of sound and how much you can push through it"
Also untrue, get out any electronic book and it will tell you gauge/length determines how much power it can handle, not its quality.
Like tranceDJ said ppl buy this stuff not because they can hear difference but because they like to see the difference. Why do you think they sell wiring in clear insulation, because looking at the pretty, shiny wire makes one feel good. The same ppl who salivate over monster wire buy gold connections, like a couple of microns of gold electroplating is going to make an audible difference. But who cares about science, that's why we still have fortunetellers and psychics, to tells us what we want to hear. |
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| DJ Chrono |
it's true, wire makes hardly any difference at all in sound quality. Just stick to 16-14 gauge and that's all you need.
This subject is always being braught up on audio boards all the time, but it seems that people are still mislead about it.
If you take a person and do a double blind listening test, switching between standard 16 gauge and the nordost valhallas, i almost guarantee that the person will not be able to accurately tell which wire is being used. |
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| DJ Chrono |
| quote: | Originally posted by Orbax
ty wire rots and corrodes and it makes all the difference in the world between a clean system and an average system. |
I had a speaker system hooked up with 18guage wire that was 24 years old. the wire was still like new. |
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