Surge protector/Speaker cable, again!

cindy100

Hi! I wanted to get some suggestions on a surge protector. Although I don't have tons of equipment, I think it might be best if I get one. Are you suppose to buy one according to how many pieces of equipment you have or what?

Also, a friends husband offered to run speaker cables for me this weekend into an additional room. I recently bought some BJC Twelve White (5000UE) (White jacket, 12 AWG) from Blue Jeans Cable. The guy who says he'll do this wants to do it this weekend. Knowing I couldn't order from BJC and get it here in time, I called a local store to see what they had. The salesguy said since the cables were going to be run in the attic and down the wall that I should go with 16 guage; he says I don't need 12 guage.

Of course I wanted to come here and see what you think. I just hate to ask the guy who will do this for me to wait until my order comes in since he is being nice enough to do this. As always, thanks so much for your time and I look forward to your opinions.

Cindy

I do hope I have posted this in the correct place.

Zen Dragon

Hi Cindy. Two factors affect the gage of wire you want to use. The amount of power you will be sending through them, and the length of the run. Speaker cable has a level of resistance to it which increases as the length of the run increases.
Can you use 16 gage? Yes. Would you be better off with 12 or 14? Yes.
Is this run for the mains, or the surrounds, or a pair of mains in another zone? If it is to a larger set of speakers which likes more power, then the heavier gage becomes more important. Don't get me wrong, 16 gage will work, but if you are putting it in the wall you won't be able to change it later. I would go with at least 14 gage, and 12 would not hurt, but may be overkill.
BJC has good cable. If you are short on time you can try Circuit City or Best Buy. They will both likely recommend Monster, again not bad cable, just a little over priced. I believe one or both of them will also stock Tsunami, possibly in the car stereo section. This is similiar in quality to Monster at less cost. They may also have other alternatives. You want a high purity copper, low oxygen content. I also believe RCA makes home theater cable in heavy gages. You might even find the RCA Home theater cable at one of the "mart" stores.
As to a surge protector, they are usually a good idea. I will not recommend one, but will give you a link to a recent forum discussion on them.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39963

shack

cindy100 wrote:

The salesguy said since the cables were going to be run in the attic and down the wall that I should go with 16 guage; he says I don't need 12 guage.

Let me guess...the salesguy doesn't sell anything larger than 16 guage for inwall applications....hmmmmmm.... If he doesn't sell it, you must not need it.

Will 16 gauge work? Yes...but I too would recommend a "minimum" of 14 gauge and 12 would be better when you have runs of any length.

cindy100

Brian,

Hi! Sorry for the delay; my internet was out last night when I got home. Spent a little over 1 1/2 hours on the phone ith Earthlink. Not fun! I haven't measured yet on the length of cable but just guessing I would have to say will be 30 to 35 feet. It will be for a pair of mains in another room. I'm going to call Circuit City when I finish here and see what they have. The sales guy I spoke to yesterday was at Best Buy and of course he tried to get me to buy the Monster brand. Hopefully someone will have the Tsunami you mentioned. Even though I don't know a whole lot about this, I didn't feel comfortable going with the 16 guage. We do have HiFi Buys here, which is where I got the receiver, but they tend to be a lot higher than BB and CC. I may end up having to wait and buy from BJC if the stores don't have 12 or 14.

Cindy

Skynut

I recomend surge protection.
As for which one that depends on your budget.
I just ordered one of the Belkins talked about on that other thread.
This one looks like a good surge protector to me but there are many opnions about this subject.
I prefer power conditioners because I believe they actually do clean the power going to your components however, there is alot of opnions on that subject also.
If you want a lengthy read on the subject click here.

cindy100

Hi again! Just checked with CC on the cable and this is what he told me. He's trying to get me to buy the Monster cable, 100 ft roll, $129. Basically, he's saying it is not 12 or 14 guage but because it is Monster, it is a better quality so I will be okay. Unless someone here tells me different, I think I will just wait and order from BJC. So much for that! Even though I want it done now, the way I see it is I have waited almost 3 weeks (since I got the new Polks) and a few more days won't hurt! I'm still thrilled to have gotten the receiver going!

As for the surge protector, I am going to read through the link you gave again and then go from there. I do feel I should get one.

Cindy

Zen Dragon

Gauge is guage. 16 gauge monster would not be equivelant to 12 or 14 of another quality brand. Imagine cable gauge as say pipe size in your plumbing. A larger gauge pipe allows more water to flow. A larger gauge wire allows more current to flow. You do really not want 16 gauge wire.
You could try Magnolia if there is one nearby. If your friend who volunteered to do the install for you can be coaxed into waiting, then getting some of the cable from BJC is still a great bet.

Holydoc

Cindy,

I agree with you to just wait and order BJC. I originally used some of that "quality" monster cable that was not 12 or 14 gauge. Matter of fact it had a hard piece of plastic running down the center of the cable to make it appear as a larger gauge. Never again! Unless it is labeled as the exact gauge, I do not recommend purchasing it. BJC has excellent prices and excellent quality products (as you already have discovered).