Speaker Wire

[jmanneff 10+ year member]

This is a newbie question, but is there that much of a difference betweent the name brand speaker wire and the cheap stuff? I know that the gauge makes a difference, but is the extra cash for the monster cable or whatever really worth it? Also what about RCA's and power and ground wire? Thanks in advance for any and all info.

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[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

The more expensive stuff might have a higher strand count (meaning it has more surface area to conduct electricity.)

For speaker wire, as long as it's properly sized / jacketed, any brand is fine. I suggest http://www.knukonceptz.com for that.

RCAs, some people say it matters... but I've always used Radioshack RCA's and I've never had a problem.

Power and Ground wire is the same as Speaker wire... look at Knukonceptz for that, too.

 

[mud 10+ year member]

For the same size wire, higher strand count doesn't increase conductivity. It usually increases flexibility.

Like IDSkoT said, Knukonceptz is great. Relatively cheap, and their stuff is as good as anybody else around (and better than most).

Don't be tempted by cheap kits on ebay. You probably won't get what you're expecting. In the pic below, the smallest red wire is "8 gauge" power wire from an ebay kit. Notice that the actual wire is smaller than the Knu 12 gauge speaker wire. Also, the ebay wire is copper coated aluminum. . . so it will perform like even smaller wire.

Easy answer: just get what you need from Knu.

 

[MTX520 10+ year member]

knu wire is the ****!!..cheap and worth the money.

 

[91Chevy 10+ year member]

knu wire is the ****!!..cheap and worth the money.

Agreed:greedy:

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

For the same size wire, higher strand count doesn't increase conductivity. It usually increases flexibility.

Sure it does. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will benefit from a higher strand count conductor. It's called skin effect.

 

[McIntosh 10+ year member]

Sure it does. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will benefit from a higher strand count conductor. It's called skin effect.

You're an EE major and mentioning skin effect at audio frequencies?

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

This is a newbie question, but is there that much of a difference betweent the name brand speaker wire and the cheap stuff? I know that the gauge makes a difference, but is the extra cash for the monster cable or whatever really worth it? Also what about RCA's and power and ground wire? Thanks in advance for any and all info.

Spkr wire - no. Lamp cord from Home Depot will work as well as the RF twisted/braided/fairy-dust enhanced crap. Just make sure it is truly the AWG you need.

Signal cables -- I think 10-20 is plenty for a good pair of 12' rca's. For me it's more about the quality of physical construction than any noise rejection marketing. The only rca noise issue I've ever had was solved by routing it a few inches further away from my blower motor.

Power and ground -- The main thing is if it's too cheap to believe it's because they're lying about the size.

Sure it does. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will benefit from a higher strand count conductor. It's called skin effect.

at 10Khz skin depth is .66mm, which is roughly equivalent to using all of a 16 ga wire.

At 100khz it's .21mm, so at 20k it's still going to be .50mm or so so there's still really nothing about it worth taking into consideration.

 

[geowick07 10+ year member]

x4 on KnuKonceptz. They have decent quality wiring/accessories for the price. Check them out: http://www.knukonceptz.com

geo

 

[ultimate157 5,000+ posts]

You're an EE major and mentioning skin effect at audio frequencies?

Who mentioned audible frequencies? I was responding to his statement only.

 

[midnightg35x 10+ year member]

You're an EE major and mentioning skin effect at audio frequencies?

+1.... I doubt skin effect would matter even if it was one solid strand of copper for most smaller speaker gauge sizes. Now start getting into the MHz and GHz, then we'll talk skin effect //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Also, pure conductivity is a property of the material, it does not change with size. It can change with temperature, and the temperature can be affected by size, but pure conductivity is a material property.

 

[KOL 10+ year member]

How about car audio vs. home audio speaker wire? I know both will work just the same, but is the jacketing of home audio wire not fit for the elements, like temp changes & such?

 

[loopkiller 10+ year member]

How about car audio vs. home audio speaker wire? I know both will work just the same, but is the jacketing of home audio wire not fit for the elements, like temp changes & such?

That and it is probably more rigid as well.

 

[blackdragonaudi 10+ year member]

I just use the cheapest stuff i can find for speakers wire if its power wire I use kicker hyper-flex.

 

[mud 10+ year member]

Sure it does. The higher the frequency, the more the signal will benefit from a higher strand count conductor. It's called skin effect.

I am well aware of skin effect and its lack of relevancy here //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif