What speaker wire to choose for my new setup?

myke

As the title suggest, I have been piecing together a new HT and wanted some advice on speaker wire. Is monster a very good fall back, how about best buys rocketfish? I don't want to break the budget and don't believe I need the BEST, but I would like something (very) good to compliment my new speakers. Check the sig for the speakers, btw, if it helps I use my livingroom as my theater room and its about 20'x15'.

messiah

You can get 12 gauge wire at monoprice 100 ft roll for 23 bucks. Much better than anything best buy has. It's just basic cable, but heavy enough for long runs.

BTW, what are AudioPhile towers?

WilliamM2

Or if you're running it in the walls, which will look much cleaner, get something like this:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=101-207

Home Depot, Lowes, or any hardware store should have something similar, if you don't want to wait for delivery.

mantis

Audioquest Flex 14-2. It is hands down the very best sounding in wall speaker wire I have ever used. I use it on my current system now and love it. I used it on my Dynaudio system.

Buy it and your done. I spec'd a 250 roll due to the size of your room. You probably will use about 150 to 200 feet depending on rear speaker runs.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_703142250/AudioQuest-FLX-14-2-14-Gauge-In-Wall-Speaker-Cable-250-feet.html?tp=1432

messiah

I have some of the flex 14/4, and it is indeed very good wire.

myke

Messiah,

I meant to write AudioFile 583LR in the signature line. I'll update it thanks. Thanks for the input too guys, I want in-wall but might be moving soon and i'm not sure when. However, I do want to hook up my now side speakers for 7.1 (just to try and experiment vs 5.1) but don't want to spend too much cash for what might be a short term solution. Btw, how do you guys put them in the wall (ie:is there a special tool for cutting strips in drywall) with the studs going vertical, thats a lot of studs to go through?

myke

Another stupid question,

I noticed flex 14-2 and 14/4, is the four for bi-wiring, is that for 5.1 only, and where do the extra wires go on (come from) the receiver?

messiah

With the 14/4 there are 4 wires on each end (red, white, green, and black) I have the red and wired together to form one wire (positive), and the green and black together to form the other wire (negative). There is no benefit of getting the 14/4 over the 14/2 other than to have a larger gauge wire. It's just what someone happened to be selling, and I wanted to try it out.

grimmace19

I run my fronts with canare 4s11 from blue jean cable and love it. I'm sure there is better out there but for about a buck a foot it's hard to beat. I liked it so much that I got rid of my AR Master series cables that I previously used.

And for my backs I use the Belden 5000 cable that they offer. For .50/ft it's working great and was easy to work with.

dorokusai

www.signalcable.com or whatever you want. PLEASE NO Rocketfish before you look into the aforementioned brands by the forum.

ben62670

The Canare 4S11 is great wire for the price. The AudioQuest 14/2 is another good wire, but the 4S11 is better for near the same price.

sm88

I also have used the BJC Canare 4S11 and it is excellent given the price, get the locking banana plugs, they are fantastic; I've got a bi-wire pair for one system.

nguyendot

myke wrote: »

Messiah,

I meant to write AudioFile 583LR in the signature line. I'll update it thanks. Thanks for the input too guys, I want in-wall but might be moving soon and i'm not sure when. However, I do want to hook up my now side speakers for 7.1 (just to try and experiment vs 5.1) but don't want to spend too much cash for what might be a short term solution. Btw, how do you guys put them in the wall (ie:is there a special tool for cutting strips in drywall) with the studs going vertical, thats a lot of studs to go through?

Just an FYI - you know the Audiofile speakers are white van speaker scam speakers, right?

comfortablycurt

ben62670 wrote: »

The Canare 4S11 is great wire for the price. The AudioQuest 14/2 is another good wire, but the 4S11 is better for near the same price.

+1

The Canare 4S11 is a great budget cable. I've got a pair of 4S11 cables for my 2 channel rig that I terminated myself with GLS Locking bananas...and they sound great. They look great too if you follow this guide like I did...

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94203

I've also got a pair of Audioquest Type 4 speaker cables, which are what I'm currently using. The Type 4's and the 4S11 have a very similar geometry...both being a star quad configuration. The Type 4's have a slight edge on the 4S11, but it's not by much. I've found the 4S11 to sound a tad bit more neutral than the Type 4's, where the Type 4's a little bit warmer sounding, with a slightly more defined low end...which in my system sounds better to my ears. In other rigs though, the 4S11 could very well come out on top of the Type 4's.

dorokusai

Canare cable is ok but I've never liked their connectors very much. They always felt cheap and the strain relief boots are the same way. I'd also pick Canare over Monoprice if forced by gunpoint to do so....but either one is a step up from lamp cord.

messiah

By gunpoint....:D Priceless Thanks Mark! Just made me laugh as I've never heard anyone say "If a gun was put to my head, I'd pick this wire" lol.

mdaudioguy

nguyendot wrote: »

Just an FYI - you know the Audiofile speakers are white van speaker scam speakers, right?

I'm sure they'll be fine handling surround duty. They're only scam speakers if he paid like $500 for them.

myke

Yeah I know they're scam speakers, but since my neighbor gave them to me before he left the country I don't feel too scammed. In-fact, they're actually not that bad, they can certainly handle loud volumes and for free that it makes them sound even better:) As mentioned in an earlier thread, they are side rears now until I can save more. Ultimately I want the RTi A bookshelf and FXi surrounds to round out my HT.

resperc

I wired my Dad's system with 12 guage stuff from BlueJeans and it worked really well. It isn't the absolute cheapest, but it is definitely in the affordable range compared to many other options.