Speaker Wire Question

[Knowmadic 10+ year member]

Alright, I've done a fair bit of research but I can't find any definite answers, only split yes it does and no it doesn't answers. My question is does it truely matter if I buy the cheap generic wire verse the high end wire, as long as both are TRUE to their size. So everything is the same gauge, OFC/CCA, length (~12 feet). I'm leaning towards believing copper wire is copper wire but if someone could chip in explaining with facts why the expensive wire is really that much better I'd be very appreciative. Leaning towards buying some off brand wire from someone on here or some home speaker wire on eBay.

Thanks.

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[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

Generally the only things I look for in speaker wire are a jacket that provides adequate protection but easy it's still easy to work with, and a good amount of conductors. I prefer OFC to CCA wire, but as long as the wire is big enough there's no audible difference. I've ran 16 ga to the back of my head unit and tapped into factory 18 ga wires and that worked just fine. There may be psychological benefits to using a good quality wire vs generic wire, but there's no need to get audiophile wire.

You can't get noise in your speakers because of cheap speaker wire. I've seen people say to never run your speaker wires next to your power wire but that doesn't matter. On the other end of the spectrum, you may have heard of people running a straightened piece of coat hanger wire as speaker wire and fooling people into thinking they're "hearing" an audiophile grade speaker wire. Don't stress it too much.

 

[Kingstroker 10+ year member]

I ran some Knukonceptz Karma 12 ga 4 conductor. Good quality but the overall diameter is way too big, it's round and about 1/2" in dia. Flat wire would have been much easier to run. Now that I've had experience with it I won't be running any more round wire. Jacket durability, flexibility and size is what I would consider most.