What gauge speaker wire should I use?

I will be connecting a NAD 3120 integrated to Fisher XP-7 speakers rated at 8 ohms. The runs will be about 12 feet each. I plan on buying Grover's speaker wire down the road and basic average joe wire to start. So what gauge wire should I buy? I read that the thicker the wire, the better. Is that true for your average speaker wire? Does that mean I should buy something like 12 gauge?

 

I think the gauge is the least important aspect of speaker cable. At CES, the crazy Swiss folks from Audio Consulting had beautiful organic sound using very thin pure silver wires between their custom crossover and the speakers. Similar thin wires ran from the battery powered amps to the crossover.

Cheap wire will work, but don't use cheap stranded cable - cable that is composed of a number of uninsulated strands twisted together inside nasty PVC insulation; like lamp cord, cheap Monster or Vampire wire. This stuff sounds awful.

Solid core works best - some thin pure copper wire with Teflon insulation. It will break in nicely and give a coherent sound. Don't get heavy guage solid core (like mains wiring) as it has horrible skin effects that kill the sound. On paper, lower resistance - in practice, terrible sound.

 

I'm using Belden 6400FE right now. It's technically not "Speaker wire." I used the red and gray wire and snipped the common. Is this not a good thing?

 

Geoff, I somehow ended up looking at your system and I'm intrigued about those DIY silver foil speaker cables.

Care to comment about them (where did you get the idea, how hard they are to put together, cost, sound, any other comments you can think of)?

 

Can anyone point me to where online I could purchase a 50 or so foot spool of solid core speaker wire? I read articles talking about Radio Shack selling this, but I see only stranded wire on their site.

 

Damian,

I'm not Geoff, but I think this is the link he posted on DIY silver cables:

http://www.laventure.net/tourist/cables.htm

I was so intrigued, that I made sure to bookmark the link. Haven't had the time to pull the trigger, but I'd like to get there to replace my current Nordosts.

 

Thanks!

 

That looks like an interesting way to go. I could have solid silver 20 gauge speaker wires for under $70. Any idea how hard it is to push 20 gauge wire through 20 gauge rated spaghetti tubing? Should I get larger spaghetti tubing, say that sized for 19 gauge wire, to make it easier? Would there be any down side in having that little bit of extra space inside the tubing?

 

Is there any reason why this solid core silver wire by itself (as in unbraided - just the single core of wire to each terminal), would not work well?

 

I use 12 gauge, OCF wire that we at NorthernLightFX sell for $.25 a foot, with a few extensions.

 

What's an extension?

 

Extra wire added to the wire to make it longer.

 

Is that wire where you work that you mentioned solid core or stranded?

 

it's stranded, but well insulated and everything.

http://www.northernlightfx.com and type speaker cable in the search and you will get to it to order it. Pics can be seen at http://www.audiopipe.com/Product.asp?CategoryID=SKCB&CompanyID=AUDIOPIPE

 

Thanks, Bradley. I think I'll go with the Audiopipe to start. Still, does anybody have any idea how they think single (as opposed to braided) strands of this teflon insulated solid core pure silver wire would work?

 

You will like the Audiopipe stuff, tone ded freb, it is so sturdy and everything it will be just what you'll need. It sounds great on any system.

 

But if you are in a band or DJ and need pro quality speakers, we sell ProCo Sound product at NorthernLightFX as well, but for your use, I recommend Audiopipe as far as products we sell. Information on ProCo Sound is at www.procosound.com

 

Damian,

I got the idea from ChrisVH, who probably got it from Allen Wright (Vacuum State) - who is famous for his "Super Cable Cookbook".

I had made the Cat 5 cables using the recipe Chris VenHaus published some years ago on the Asylum. I had had them for a year or so when I read one of his posts saying that he no longer used braided Cat 5s but was using silver foil cables. That started my research, and when a group buy on AA was organized by John Chapman (Bent Audio), I bought the foil and Teflon tape. These are so easy to make compared to the braided Cat 5s, but the raw material is far more expensive - around $6 a foot.

Here is a link to a search I made on the Cable Forum over there with me as the author and the keywords "silver + foil".

I made the same pair twice - the first method was no good. Later on, I bought some more foil from John and made another pair. My technique is the simplest of all.

The foil comes in one long piece - cut it into 4 equal lengths with scissors. Polish the foils to a mirror sheen, and wash them with distilled water and let dry. Do not touch the silver with bare hands. Then wrap each foil in Teflon tape, put them back to back, and wrap them again. Leave some of the end exposed, fold and shape the ends (that's the tricky bit), and with a very fine pair of scissors, cut out a notch for the speaker binding post.

These cables are not domestically certified! But they sound divine.

 

That's for car use. You don't want to use it.

I like your idea about single runs of Teflon insulated silver wire. It's not a proven recipe like braided Cat 5, Jon Risch's cross connect, or Allen's silver foils. But it would be a great experiment - the only problem is, you need 48 feet and it's more than $2 a foot. $100. That's Grover territory, no?

 

That teflon insulated solid core silver wire is probably a third of the way into Grover territory. I changed my mind on what to start out with and ordered the 18 gauge megacable from Radio Shack after reading this page.

 

I use something very similar if not identical. Each wire length has two bundles of silver strands. I use one for ground and one for positive per speaker or approximately 18AGW
My speakers are bi-ampable so I run a set of wire to the tweeter and driver per speaker. That’s 4 wires lengths per speaker. I bundled them and twisted the end with a drop of solder to keep them from fraying.

http://208.185.94.62/pics/diycable01.jpg

http://208.185.94.62/pics/diycable02.jpg

http://208.185.94.62/pics/diycable03.jpg

I think they sound great and were relatively cheap to make. Some like solid core and others like stranded wire. I know allot who that like the stranded silver over the solid. I believe for IC's the solid maybe better. I use the stranded for speakers.

 

Speaker cables TNT Triple T

http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/triple_t_e.html



Plenum Category 5e Cable from Radio Shack.
http://www.radioshack.com/searchsku.asp?find=278-1585

 

So much for my advice about staying away from stranded cables. You'll just have to discover these things for yourself.

 

Ah... Cat5 braided interconnects. The difference between men and men who have lots of blisters on their hands

Try and make some... they are awesome and cheap.

 

My work does lots of permanent installations of pro audio systems and some speakers require straight wire connections so the Audiopipe product works well plus as I said, the cables are great and top notch. For Audiopipe, we sell 12, 14 or 16 gauge. ProCo brand speaker wire is the ultimate for mobile DJ and band settings.