Speaker wire help for newbie!!!

gspence

Hi, I just put together a new surround sound system with some christmas money. I am not an audiophile but I do appreciate good sound on a budget. I have a 46 in Sony LCD, PS3, XBOX 360 and DTV hooked up to an Onkyo TX-SR 605 receiver. I got the Polk 6750 5.1 surround system and right now am using my old speaker wire that came with my old HTIB system. I waited to buy new speaker wire until my Monitor 50's came in this week.

So I have a 7.1 system with the 6750 speakers and I will be using the two Monitor 50's as my fronts.

I just have never bought speaker wire before and don't really know what to do so I trust all the people on here can show me the way. I need some solid but affordable speaker wire that will work for the entire system.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

janmike

Good to identify your budget and then go from there.
Signal Cable is a good place to start if it falls within your budget.
My entire HT is wired with Signal Cable. Good luck.

Signal Cable

gspence

Lasareath wrote: »

I just bought two pairs of the following, they work really great and are not that expensive

http://www.mitcables.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=404&category_id=113&manufacturer_id=&Itemid=29

Did that really just say $4,000 or whatever???

Wow, I spent less than $1000 on my total package of speakers and receiver. I just need some solid speaker wires, nothing amazing, like I said I am not an audiophile. I don't really know what my budget is, but I don't think I want to spend more than $100 on wire. I dont have the 50's plugged in yet, just got them the other day, but the 6750's sound great to me with the HTIB speakerwire so as you can see I am not asking for something that cost me $4,000, no offense.

Thanks for the help but I need something affordable. I am a HS coach and teacher, don't have $500, let alone $4,000 to spend on speaker wire, haha.

gold01ca

ya, I couldnt believe that price!
inexpensive????

Conradicles

How may feet do you think you may need?
Nice system and much love and respect to all teachers! Thanks for your service to our kids!

Conradicles

Audioquest type 4 seems to be great and can be had for $4 per foot. If you need a lot of feet, that may not be the best option.

Face

janmike wrote: »

good to identify your budget and then go from there.
Signal cable is a good place to start if it falls within your budget.
My entire ht is wired with signal cable. Good luck.

signal cable

+1...

Toolfan66

go with Blue Jeans wire or Mono 12awg.

Toolfan66

lasareath wrote: »

i just bought two pairs of the following, they work really great and are not that expensive

http://www.mitcables.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=404&category_id=113&manufacturer_id=&itemid=29

hahahaha wow!!!!!!!

gspence

I live in an apartment right now, so my living room is not that big. Not sure of the dimensions but it's a typical size apt living room. Sorry that is not more help, appreciate the responses.

mantis

Did anyone pay attention to my mans system???

Dude get some good quality 16 or 14 guage wire. I suggest checking out this website and select Audioquest 16 or 14 gauge wire.
http://www.crutchfield.com/g_22112/In-wall-Speaker-Wire.html?search=speaker+wire&tp=2906

Dan

gspence

mantis wrote: »

Did anyone pay attention to my mans system???

Dude get some good quality 16 or 14 guage wire. I suggest checking out this website and select Audioquest 16 or 14 gauge wire.
http://www.crutchfield.com/g_22112/In-wall-Speaker-Wire.html?search=speaker+wire&tp=2906

Dan

The audioquest looks reasonable, should I go for the 125ft? Will that be enough or more than enough?

gspence

Thanks Lasareth, funny joke! haha


500 ft sounds like quite a bit for what I need though don't you think? I really want to spend $100 or less for what I need.

Also I don't know if I need banana plugs or anything like that.

gold01ca

spence,
check out monoprice.com, good quality wire and good pricing.

John K.

Coach, welcome to Club Polk. The first point is that you may not necessarily need new wire. The old ones don't wear out unless they get a break in them. If the wire you have now is long enough for your new setup you should try it first before considering buying new ones. There's an awful lot of rather bizarre advice that floats around audio discussion forums, even about simple pieces of wire. These are just pieces of metal that form a path for the power and signals to ride down their outside to the speakers. If you'd like to study what's widely recognized as the best no-BS info on speaker wiring that's available online, written by a well-respected veteran audio professional, follow this link .

If you decide that you do need new or at least more wire, a local supplier such as Home Depot, Lowes or any supplier of electrical wire may be your simplest and least expensive option(although online dealer MonoPrice does have very reasonable prices). Typically there'd be 16ga wire available for around 20-30 cents a foot, and there's no good reason to pay more. It can be labeled lighting wire, lampcord, power cord, etc., it's all the same stuff. Unless you're planning to install wire behind the walls you don't need the more expensive wire that has an outer jacket to reduce dangerous fumes formed during a possible fire. Enjoy your new speakers.

gold01ca

John K. wrote: »

Coach, welcome to Club Polk. The first point is that you may not necessarily need new wire. The old ones don't wear out unless they get a break in them. If the wire you have now is long enough for your new setup you should try it first before considering buying new ones. There's an awful lot of rather bizarre advice that floats around audio discussion forums, even about simple pieces of wire. These are just pieces of metal that form a path for the power and signals to ride down their outside to the speakers. If you'd like to study what's widely recognized as the best no-BS info on speaker wiring that's available online, written by a well-respected veteran audio professional, follow this link .

If you decide that you do need new or at least more wire, a local supplier such as Home Depot, Lowes or any supplier of electrical wire may be your simplest and least expensive option(although online dealer MonoPrice does have very reasonable prices). Typically there'd be 16ga wire available for around 20-30 cents a foot, and there's no good reason to pay more. It can be labeled lighting wire, lampcord, power cord, etc., it's all the same stuff. Unless you're planning to install wire behind the walls you don't need the more expensive wire that has an outer jacket to reduce dangerous fumes formed during a possible fire. Enjoy your new speakers.

excellent advice john!
thanks

themuskr

Blue jeans cable makes some great cheap speakerwire

metal83

John K. wrote: »

Coach, welcome to Club Polk. The first point is that you may not necessarily need new wire. The old ones don't wear out unless they get a break in them. If the wire you have now is long enough for your new setup you should try it first before considering buying new ones. There's an awful lot of rather bizarre advice that floats around audio discussion forums, even about simple pieces of wire. These are just pieces of metal that form a path for the power and signals to ride down their outside to the speakers. If you'd like to study what's widely recognized as the best no-BS info on speaker wiring that's available online, written by a well-respected veteran audio professional, follow this link .

If you decide that you do need new or at least more wire, a local supplier such as Home Depot, Lowes or any supplier of electrical wire may be your simplest and least expensive option(although online dealer MonoPrice does have very reasonable prices). Typically there'd be 16ga wire available for around 20-30 cents a foot, and there's no good reason to pay more. It can be labeled lighting wire, lampcord, power cord, etc., it's all the same stuff. Unless you're planning to install wire behind the walls you don't need the more expensive wire that has an outer jacket to reduce dangerous fumes formed during a possible fire. Enjoy your new speakers.

I've read a lot of this type of stuff on the internet lately, and it seems your always going to find the people that say wires don't matter, and the people that say wires do. There's always going to be advocates for one side or the other. It doesn't seem like this topic is dying anytime soon, and there are plenty of articles to read no matter which side of the debate your on.

The only solution for someone seriously curious, is to try out different speaker cables and figure out which side of the debate they want to join.

metal83

Keiko wrote: »

This guy learns quickly!

I'm not going to debate either way though. I've already learned that cables can and do make a difference. Couple years ago, I wouldn't have given this much thought. My ears, my money, my choice, my cables.

Thanks CP for showing me the light.

Agreed!

reeltrouble1

gspence wrote: »

Hi, I just put together a new surround sound system with some christmas money. I am not an audiophile but I do appreciate good sound on a budget.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated!

www.parts-express.com

you will find some wire here to use for your HT, 12, 14 or 16 guage depending on what you want to spend, I use it and its fine for HT.

RT1

heiney9

gold01ca wrote: »

excellent advice john!
thanks

Actually it's horrible advice.

Those that don't know; don't know that they don't know

ben62670

gold01ca wrote: »

excellent advice john!
thanks

Another vote for real bad advice. Too many people think that wire is just a path from A to B. They are under the impression all that matters is LRC(inductance, resistance, and capacitance). They ignore things like construction, insulation, and the make up of the actual wire.

BlueFox

gspence wrote: »

Wow, I spent less than $1000 on my total package of speakers and receiver. I just need some solid speaker wires, nothing amazing, like I said I am not an audiophile.

More than likely, at that level of quality you will not hear much, if any, differance between expensive and inexpensive wire. Go to the hardware store and buy 12 guage copper stranded.

reeltrouble1

John K. wrote: »

There's an awful lot of rather bizarre advice that floats around audio discussion forums, even about simple pieces of wire.

And then there are the TOOLS who post links to try an impress new guys, so typical of anti hi-fi audio insurgents.

RT1

nooshinjohn

go to Menards... you can get monstercable 600 70 feet for 15 bucks per roll... two or three should get the job done... If you have no menards close to you I can send some to you...

zingo

I second the 12AWG Monoprice stuff. It's high quality and cheap.

Knucklehead

Well my system falls into the category of starter systems but i noticed a huge difference with 14awg from Monoprice. It works for me. Listen to the guys who have been doing this for awhile they wont steer you wrong.

Pioneer VSX D411 Reciever <<<<<<<Getting my Marantz soon!
Cerwin Vega VE 5C center channel
pioneer speakers front- SH253BK
Polk Audio rear speakers- R-150
PSW10 sub
Maganavox NB500MG9 Blu-Ray
Siemens 500 gig dvr
Monster HDP1800 power management
Panasonic 42" plasma
Xbox 360
Monoprice cables