I know some of you guys are more audiophillic than I, so I'm hoping one of you has a good spot to get speaker wire (kinda like newegg is for computer stuff). I need about 50ft of 14 gauge wire, I don't give a shit the brand name (as long as it isn't shit wire). So, if you know a place, hook a geek up!
Home Depot. Speaker wire by the foot. There are some who swear by lamp cord, but I think the stuff that actually looks like speaker wire costs the same.
Also, monoprice.com has unbelievable prices on cables in general. I rewired my entire stereo system with high-quality cables for about $70 total.
Radio Shack...
Quote from: x136 on July 01, 2008, 11:16:38 PM
Home Depot. Speaker wire by the foot. There are some who swear by lamp cord, but I think the stuff that actually looks like speaker wire costs the same.
Good advice - the only reason you'd pay any more for "speaker wire" than lamp cord of the same copper cross section is if you value the transparent insulation and visible copper because of the "look". At audio frequencies there is _no_ difference.
There was a great blog post a few months back about a guy who set up a blind test between some ludicrously expensive Monster Cable and some coathangers, the alleged "golden eared" subjects couldn't tell the difference in any statistically significant way...
'course there's kudos to be had for using "Monster" branded cables in the shed [laugh]
big
Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CAT_ID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=374) is the shizzle for stuff like that!
try www.monoprice.com I bought HDMI cables from them and they have the best prices around.
Quote from: Monsterlover on July 02, 2008, 04:13:59 AM
Parts Express (http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?webpage_id=3&CAT_ID=56&ObjectGroup_ID=374) is the shizzle for stuff like that!
+1
Stay away from Monster Cable speaker wire if you plan on pulling it any distance through framing. It has a very soft/pliable outer jacket and has a huge tendency to kink. Pro Flex is my favorite, its cheap, plenum rated and doesnt kink.
If the wire is going inside walls/floors/ceilings, make sure your its "plenum rated" meaning it wont act as a fuse bringing a fire from stud bay to stud bay.
Good Luck!
my friend who is some what of an audiophile recommended me to go http://bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm (http://bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm) for my wire needs.
I dont know your needs but this place is suppose to have the most bang for your buck. Maybe the grade of wire you get is overkill from them? I dont know what you want to do. What are you trying to hook up?
i second bluejeans... i've bought HDMI cables and speaker wire from them.
only caveat is check the wire strand count for speaker wire... the stuff i got is very inflexible.
"high end" speaker wire is pure snake oil... the only thing i maybe subscribe to is "good" interconnects. but even then this stupid kimber cable level stuff is just ludicrous (monster's got nothing on the boutique stuff).
speakers are not amplified past their inputs, so speaker wire only needs to carry the signal through with minimal reactance. as big said, that's not hard to do at frequencies less than 20khz.
apparently you can find good speaker wire at the following people's houses
x136
bigian
Ash
a few drinks, some tylenol PM, and some cable pulling later and you have what you need pretty cheap!
;D
I'll third bluejeanscable.com.
If you're slightly more DIY, you can pretty much use a good extension cord, cut off the ends, cap the grounds and run with that. It's heavy, very well insulated, usually big gauge and sounds pretty good. The guy that taught me the trick swears by one specific type of cord, but I've found any with good insulation and copper wiring sounds just about the same.
http://www.cablestogo.com is another one to check out.
Quote from: KnightofNi on July 02, 2008, 06:47:25 AM
a few drinks, some tylenol PM, and some cable pulling later and you have what you need pretty cheap!
;D
[laugh] [laugh]
Home depot by the foot is best for in wall. For in room runs you can get a 50 ft roll of 12 ga wire from any car audio place for much less (30-40% less) than you'll find it at box stores or home audio sites.
bluejeans does good cables as well.
parts express is a great resource.
Thanks for the suggestions guys, this is great. FTR, this is gonna be in-room, not in-wall (I rent).
ANother quick question for those in the know, I have B&W 602s for my front speakers and I just run wire into them, is there any benefit to using banana plugs? What do you guys think about connectors?
Quote from: darylbowden on July 02, 2008, 10:58:24 AM
Thanks for the suggestions guys, this is great. FTR, this is gonna be in-room, not in-wall (I rent).
ANother quick question for those in the know, I have B&W 602s for my front speakers and I just run wire into them, is there any benefit to using banana plugs? What do you guys think about connectors?
Save your money, dont use them. [thumbsup]
It's more convenient if you find yourself changing components or moving them around frequently. Some would say that they provide a better connection, especially if you use conductive glue. I don't think it's a poor investment considering a set of banana plugs will run you 10$ but you really can use them forever and ever and ever. Saves you from re stripping cable and getting those nasty copper splinters when you twist them to get them into the binding posts.
If you get the wire inserted properly and snugged down there is no real advantage as far as sound quality goes.
banana plugs provide 2 benefits.
1. They're easier to plug / unplug
2. They ensure a consistent connection
Since it's internal you may want to make your own cable. It's cheap and not difficult at all.
1. buy a 12 or 14 gauge car audio roll (50 ft)
2. buy the following from parts express -- techflex 1/4" sleeving, 12mm heat shrink, banana plugs (compression or sodered)
1. measure and cut wire to lenght. 2. Feed the cable through the sleeving (many colors I chose the granite). 3. attach the banana clips 4. slide the heat shrink sleeve over the wire and clip and heat with hair dryer.
If changing components a lot I think they are worth it. I see it as just one more connection interfering with a "pure" home run. Kinda like wall plates, why not just run the wire directly from source to speaker.
Quote from: darylbowden on July 02, 2008, 10:58:24 AM
Thanks for the suggestions guys, this is great. FTR, this is gonna be in-room, not in-wall (I rent).
ANother quick question for those in the know, I have B&W 602s for my front speakers and I just run wire into them, is there any benefit to using banana plugs? What do you guys think about connectors?
up to you.
i like to solder the bare wire end and then use screw-down terminals. you get a pretty good contact area that way (which is what matters)
Quote from: KnightofNi on July 02, 2008, 06:47:25 AM
apparently you can find good speaker wire at the following people's houses
x136
bigian
Ash
a few drinks, some tylenol PM, and some cable pulling later and you have what you need pretty cheap!
;D
never inviting you over... EVER
Quote from: Ash on July 02, 2008, 03:45:33 PMi like to solder the bare wire end and then use screw-down terminals.
This is what I tend to do. Less of a pain than bare stranded wire getting all frayed and splintery.
Quote from: Ash on July 02, 2008, 03:47:41 PM
never inviting you over... EVER
I don't know, sounds like quite a party to me...
What, I'm the only one using cat5? :)
I read somewhere about using cat5 and sure enough, works fine! I soldered 2 pairs together. I had 100ft laying around and wanted to run speakers in the basement at a townhouse I was renting.
Quote from: Ash on July 02, 2008, 03:47:41 PM
never inviting you over... EVER
so does that mean i have to get my toothbrush and clothes out of your closet now? :-* :'(
Quote from: vwboomer on July 03, 2008, 07:10:35 AM
What, I'm the only one using cat5? :)
I read somewhere about using cat5 and sure enough, works fine! I soldered 2 pairs together. I had 100ft laying around and wanted to run speakers in the basement at a townhouse I was renting.
cat5 is great for interconnects, but unless you're using the entire set of pairs for one speaker (four conductors per terminal), then you really don't have anough cross-sectional area to prevent voltage drop over long runs (translation: the wires are thin and present high resistance). this may not matter for your application but it's not ideal either. for high-powered speakers i wouldn't recommend it.
for interconnects they are great because of the low-voltage application, and the twisted-pair topology.
Yup I was using 4 wires per post. I've got regular HomeDespot speaker wire now but it worked at the time.
I sure get a kick of out those super high quality Monster HDMI cables for $125. Sucker born every minute right?
Quote from: vwboomer on July 03, 2008, 02:06:41 PM
Yup I was using 4 wires per post. I've got regular HomeDespot speaker wire now but it worked at the time.
I sure get a kick of out those super high quality Monster HDMI cables for $125. Sucker born every minute right?
megabuck digital cables are just re-damn-diculous... they are work, or they don't. period. stupid.
as i said, analog interconnects are important, and do pick up EMI (although I would propose that the home environment is a helluva lot nicer than a car, and you can get stinger silver bullets for cheap and they work perfectly).
for interconnects, UTP (unshielded twister pair), or directionally shielded (shield grounded at the input/receiver) is really all you need. noise rejection up the wazoo. for those that hear sonic differences ("air", "realism", "waawaaweewaa") i posit that you are on crack!
Does it matter what quality hdmi cable you use? I dont think so. Its a digital signal compared to analog. The composite of what the wires are made are make a big difference in the transmission of an analog signal. Is this not so?
Mini jack, I was told to use the cheapest hdmi cable i could find.
signal loss and smearing is what matters. and then, the major spec is resistance, so it boils down to wire gauge and length. if your run is three feet, go cheap and thin (I use $4 cables from tartan and they pass my 1080p signals just fine). if you need 100' then get a thick cable with good flexibility.
obviously with a terminater cable, the terminations themselves should be of reasonable stability so as not to degrade over time (ie be too loose, or for soldered contacts to break).
Quote from: Ash on July 03, 2008, 03:23:07 PM
signal loss and smearing is what matters. and then, the major spec is resistance, so it boils down to wire gauge and length. if your run is three feet, go cheap and thin (I use $4 cables from tartan and they pass my 1080p signals just fine). if you need 100' then get a thick cable with good flexibility.
obviously with a terminater cable, the terminations themselves should be of reasonable stability so as not to degrade over time (ie be too loose, or for soldered contacts to break).
I know it is to some degree but is that still so with a digital signal?
Quote from: vwboomer on July 03, 2008, 02:06:41 PM
Yup I was using 4 wires per post. I've got regular HomeDespot speaker wire now but it worked at the time.
I sure get a kick of out those super high quality Monster HDMI cables for $125. Sucker born every minute right?
Sheeit, when I was in the high end stereo business, the shop owner regularly sold Kimbers that resemble a python and cost over 5 grand for the 3 meter pair...each cable came in its own box. Friggin idjets got more money than sense...
yep. if the HDMI cable isn't adequate the signal just won't pass. it won't degrade- it'll just drop out entirely (or you'll get intermittent handshaking issues between components)
Quote from: Ash on July 03, 2008, 04:32:00 PM
yep. if the HDMI cable isn't adequate the signal just won't pass. it won't degrade- it'll just drop out entirely (or you'll get intermittent handshaking issues between components)
+1
There is some benefit to be had in not buying the very cheapest digital cables available, but the improvements you'd look for are mostly mechanical ones. Do the connectors and their backshells look solid enough to survive a few plug/unplug cycles without pulling the wires from the connectors? Are the terminals/sockets made of or plated with something with reasonably high corrosion resistance (and if plated, thickly enough to not all scrape off on the first insertion)? Is he cable/insulation suitably weighty and flexible for your installation - stiff heavey cables in long drops can put undue strain on the sockets they're plugged into.
Don't pay one extra cent for "oxygen free", or "time aligned", or any of those other snake-oil buzzwords...
big
So, in case anyone cares, I went with monoprice.com. I was able to pick up 13 pairs of banana plugs and 50ft of 14 ga wire for 38 bucks including tax and S&H. It came out cheaper than Home Depot and not having to deal with the clustermake the beast with two backs that is the Home Depot checkout line makes it an even better deal.
Oh, and the wire IS oxygen-free, but that was the only kind they had and it was only 10 bucks for 50ft of it.
I'll let everyone know how it works out (if anyone gives a damn - I barely even do).
Quote from: bigiain on July 03, 2008, 05:23:01 PM
+1
There is some benefit to be had in not buying the very cheapest digital cables available, but the improvements you'd look for are mostly mechanical ones. Do the connectors and their backshells look solid enough to survive a few plug/unplug cycles without pulling the wires from the connectors? Are the terminals/sockets made of or plated with something with reasonably high corrosion resistance (and if plated, thickly enough to not all scrape off on the first insertion)? Is he cable/insulation suitably weighty and flexible for your installation - stiff heavey cables in long drops can put undue strain on the sockets they're plugged into.
Don't pay one extra cent for "oxygen free", or "time aligned", or any of those other snake-oil buzzwords...
big
yep, great points. terminal reliability is important, but once plugged in, have no bearing on the signal quality.