Speaker Wire Help

tmartin

Hi there,

My basement rear surrounds had been pre-wired from a renovation done a few years ago. I'm a newbie to HT setups.

Unfortunately I think contractors used a cheap a 18 AWG wire and now I've been running my setup through my receiver in this manner:

Receiver connect using 12 AWG --> into wall/ceiling with 18 AWG --> out to 16 AWG connect to rear surrounds

Sound is alright. Can anyone tell me if this is a problem/improve? Also, would you recommend using banana plugs and wall plates for connections or is wrapping copper around posts and making connections with electrical marretts enough?

Thanks ALOT!

TM

---

Sony KDL-60NX810
Pioneer VSX-1020-K
Polk TSi500 (2)
Polk CS10
Polk FXi A4 (2)
Polk PSW505
Logitech Harmony One

quadzilla

Hi, and welcome to the Club. For surrounds, 18 ga is probably enough since they don't typically get a lot of watts. 16 ga would have been better, but a lot of it also depends on how long the run is. Basically, the longer the run, the larger gauge needed. 18 is probably fine for anything up to around 20 ft. or so for surrounds. Other than for looks, wire nuts are probably fine. But if the wire is really cheap, does it look like it's turning green inside the housing? If it does, it needs to be replaced.

tmartin

Thanks quad for the welcoming.

cowtrimmer

I have the same scenario. Should I replace the wire for a better sound ? Some of my speaker runs are 50' +

mdaudioguy

cowtrimmer wrote: »

I have the same scenario. Should I replace the wire for a better sound ? Some of my speaker runs are 50' +

Personally, for a run that long, and if it's possible and feasible to do so, I'd upgrade the wire. Distance is a factor. Check out Crutchfield's guidance: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-GSFMxOkvGDF/learn/learningcenter/home/speakers_wire.html

Btw, welcome to Club Polk!

cowtrimmer

Thanks for the welcome and the article links. Its very much appreciated.