i have a my speakers hooked up with some rigged up ps2 power cord im usin n one speaker has some shitty cheap wire that was like 5$ for 35 feet would bugger wires help much or is it all the same
The bigger wire is more efficient at carrying the signal. A good all-around wire to use is 14 AWG wire. For long runs of wire, you should use 12 AWG. The smaller the number AWG, the bigger the wire is.
Hi JVC!! I hope you don't mind but I thought I'd add my two cents worth. @jiggles...JVC is absolutely right but beware of the "bargain" stuff. 14g speaker wire isn't much better than that really thin stuff if it's 50% tin or some other cheap and barely conductive stuff. You needn't buy the overpriced monster stuff; regular brand names do fine like Philips, Radio Shack but avoid the cheap stuff you buy at those brand-X electronics stores.
Hey gerry! I don't mind at all. Hell, add $.10 worth! ) I don't know what it's made of, but my 14 AWG wire came from Lowe's, and it has served me well. Do you know anything about it? Yeah, jiggles.......stay away from Monster! It's extremely overpriced.
idk my gauge right now im using a ps2 power cord i cut up but thanks ill get some and see if it sounds any different n i heard alot about monster wire n i dont think ill be usin that expensive stuff
I guess gerry didn't know anything about it........... The more I think about it, I think the wire might have been the Phillips brand, which should be decent. As I said.....it's worked well for me.
Whatever you get makesure it's pure copper, or mostly copper. And is somehow terminated, or just get a soldering iron, and some good rosin core and tint the ends. If you got some laying around lamp cord, cut both ends off, and you can use that if your running a small distance. Its equiv to 16-14gauge.
Wrong.. unless you are using solder required plugs DO NOT tin the ends with solder. It turns the wire into a single conductor, and the sn02 oxide layer which forms on the surface is actually a voltage dependent semi conductor.. In contact one side with copper and the other with chromed steel it makes a slight rectifier.. (and also a very slight galvanic battery) which affects sound quality, and can cause increased oxidation of terminals.. that black coating you see on the teeth of clip type speaker terminals. Leaving the conductors in the wire bare is best for all clip and binding post speaker terminals. Doen to types.. for reasonable runs.. 20 feet or so I use the twin core mains cable around 8A (240v) rating that you find on hoovers and that type of thing.. For longer runs I use the same cable doubled for up to 300W at 50 feet.. Above that you need to get heavier gauge, which costs more... super dooper expensive no oxygen speaker cables are a false economy..and some are actually high capacitance and can cause damage.. unless you are running extreme high end equipment (doubtful or you would already know all this stuff)
