Wire quality?

[Forty-Ouncer 10+ year member]

Hey guys just a quick question...

how much of a difference would it make using cheap wal-mart speaker wiring (schose stuff $10) or the exspensive stuff (such as monster ~$60) on my speakers?

any ideas before i waste money i might not have to?

Also, what about the audio (the red and white ones) cables? Should i buy the exspensive ones or the cheapo walmart brand??

dunno if it makes a differnece but i got

4V preouts

110rms x2 amp running to 50rms type r speakers....

Click to read more...

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

Wire is wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

i win !

The walmart RCA's are crappy, you want something that is " shelided "

 

[themainjam 10+ year member]

yeah just get upgraded RCAs. 14 gauge speaker wire should be fine.

**** supa C........

 

[themainjam 10+ year member]

hahah D A M N is a curse word?

 

[Shyne151 10+ year member]

Question...

I have those shitty walmart rca's.... what would I notice if I switched to some higher quality ones?

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

less noise.

10 chars

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

you might. and you might not. it all depends, but i have knukoncept rca's and they work fine. (the twisted blue\clear ones) and i have schoshe wire from walmart. (for my component amp)

wire = wire

however "better" wire is SOFT CORE and has as many strands of wire as possible. it will also be copper that is 'tinned' with some kind of metal that oxidizes slower- such as.. well. tin (i think... maybe its a different metal) so silver wire that is copper inside is better than pure copper wire - this is refeering to the power\ground\speaker wire.

so if you have a choice over tinned and non-tinned. choose tinned

and if you have a choice between soft and hard wire, choose soft.

and if you have a choice about # of strands. choose more.

other than that. it dosnt really matter, and those options dont really matter too much eaither. i used hard core wire that only had about 10 strands for my speaker wire for almost a year (non-tinned) and it worked fine. it was just a pain in the *** to solder and hook to anything, because the ends kept breaking and i had to re-strip them.

have fun =)

scoshe 8awg should be good up to ~500w. 500~1000 i would go with 4awg, 1000~1500 i would go with 2awg, and if possible 1000+ 1\0 awg. thats just a rough estimate =)

good luck.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

but for speaker wiring and power wiring, the cheapest stuff (as long as the gauge is enough) is fine...tell me the difference between Monster Cable or Esoteric Audio 12awg and the 12awg you can get at Home Depot, and I'll be impressed...and skeptical //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[bibby 5,000+ posts]

Q...

I have walmart 4awg power wire and walmart 8awg ground and 60amp fuse to a kicker kx800.2 amp that reccomends 0awg power and ground, and a 150ANL fuse also with walmart RCA's if I upgrade to say this with stinger RCA's would i notice a difference in my two kicker comp vr 12" subs in a ported box?

hehe, i see lots of post where people say not enough detail, so i tried to be as detailed as possible.

 

[supa_c 5,000+ posts]

I bought that stinger kit.

It was nice but not enough wire for my amp, (both + and - were 1/0 and it was in a burban )

It actually comes with a 250A ANL fuse

 

[waNtsumBuMP 10+ year member]

tell me the difference between Monster Cable or Esoteric Audio 12awg and the 12awg you can get at Home Depot

Well the wire you buy at home depot, is just regular copper wire that has lless strands and is for outdoor use with little power going through it, where as the monster wire is usually oxygen free, has many more strands, (in theory more stands the better) and also the monster cable wire is made to be used in under heavy conditions, is made for high power projects......

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

Well the wire you buy at home depot, is just regular copper wire that has lless strands and is for outdoor use with little power going through it, where as the monster wire is usually oxygen free, has many more strands, (in theory more stands the better) and also the monster cable wire is made to be used in under heavy conditions, is made for high power projects......

Wrong! That thicker wire is meant to carry more current. It may have less srands, but it's strands are THICK and it's cross sectional diameter equate to that of regular wire. wire = wire. Monster cable is a name brand you pay for.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

tell me the difference between Monster Cable or Esoteric Audio 12awg and the 12awg you can get at Home Depot, and I'll be impressed...and skeptical //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Ask that to the wrong people and they'll start getting into the differences in resistance between wire, wire capacitance and effects on impedence, yada yada yada...........

And more strands = easier to bend, that's about it.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

And more strands = easier to bend, that's about it.

and electricity flows better WITH less resistance in the wire. I can give you a qoute on that one out of the Yamaha Professional Sound Manual if you want.

 

[Nikuk 5,000+ posts]

Well the wire you buy at home depot, is just regular copper wire that has lless strands and is for outdoor use with little power going through it, where as the monster wire is usually oxygen free, has many more strands, (in theory more stands the better) and also the monster cable wire is made to be used in under heavy conditions, is made for high power projects......

So you mean to say that Home Depot wiring rated to 220vac+ is of less power handling then you're $17/foot Monster 8ga?

Roflmao