Does twisted speaker wire make a difference?

[06dmax00camss 10+ year member]

I would like to put my truck back together as I've been putting it off for 2 months now. I "completed" my system in February, but ran out of wire for the tweeters. I had some cheap wire laying around and used it to wire up them up. Well I didn't have quite enough so I had to cut it short, not being able to hide it.

Anyhow, all the panels that touch the floor have been out because I didn't want to install them, then take them back out whenever I redid the wiring.

I found some Monster Cable wire at Wal-Mart. One roll was 12 awg. 18 ft. long for $25 and another roll 16 awg. 50 ft. long for $20. Both were a twisted design. I was tempted to buy it, but I know I could get it cheaper online and plus, the 12 awg. was WAY over priced.

My question, is twisted wire better?

I'm thinking about doing my wiring all over again because for one, I don't like the color of what I have now (purple) and since I'm short on some of it, I might as well do it all over so that it will match. I know some of you will say, why, you can't see it. Well you can where it connects to the amps. I'd rather have silver, black, or blue.

I found this:

http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISWX12BLU1

I know its a little pricey and I"m sure that's because of the twisted design. Should I get it or just stick to the regular (non-twisted) wire?

Where's the best (cheapest) place to purchase Stinger, Kicker, Monster, etc. speaker wire? Thanks.

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[thesandman 10+ year member]

"twisted" wire is a marketing gimmick, just make sure its the actual AWG

 

[guting 10+ year member]

lol!!! twisted wire is just a twisted wire. go buy regular wire and twist it. riddicks

 

[06dmax00camss 10+ year member]

Just wondering as I have no clue. For some reason, I've seen audio installers get regular wire and put it at the end of a drill while someone on the other end holds it and twists it. Then I seen it online already twisted, so I figured there was some reason for this.

 

[LinxuS 10+ year member]

Its to make it not as messy..

To keep the wires together basically

 

[msrpIZtooMUCH 10+ year member]

I don't care for twisted wire...it all bling...no real benefit other than looks.

Another thing I don't like about it is that it essentially makes it so that you need more wire to cover a given amount of distance. I like to keep wiring as short as possible to minimize any loss that takes place in the wiring and using twisted wires is just like using a non-twisted wire that is longer than it needs to be.

My 2 cents

 

[grassroots 10+ year member]

yup, makes it easier to run/pull....

 

[brchd]

that twisted wire is a b!tch to work with...wish i woulda never used it....

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

I'm pretty sure walmart has 50ft of 14 gauge for about $12. It was only slightly smaller than the stinger hyper series 12 gauge I usually use. Well worth the $12 and the insulation was pretty nice as well.

 

[Elton 10+ year member]

if your just doing your speakers im sure 16ga will be just fine i got this when i did my speakers http://www.cardomain.com/item/STISWT16BLU5

 

[THUNDERBIRD 10+ year member]

i use regular 14-16 gauge speaker wire. only time i use the twisted is in my sub enclosures. but 12 gauge is to big for tweeters 12 is mainly for subs 14-18 is what is used for regular speakers. use 12 gauge if your crossover is up front if you want

 

[Kriszilla 10+ year member]

Twisted pair is necessary for data transmission (network cables, etc...) but for speaker wire it's only for looks.

 

[Mr. Smiff 10+ year member]

The twisted wire is supposed to help cancel out noise.

 

[Soler 10+ year member]

twisted wire is key

especially when free

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

The twisted wire is supposed to help cancel out noise.

Ever gotten noise in your speaker wires? Me either.