Topic: Speaker Wire DIY advice

[Sterling]

I want to replace my speaker cables at home and thought I would make some but am unsure of what/where to buy cable. I've seen the home depot post and am not 100% sure about that. Any ideas? Suggestions? Thanks

[Kevin Straker]

Lowes sells the flat ribbon monster cable. Does well under carpet and such.

[Kyle]

Try the CAT 5E 350 mHz enhanced wire
Got a great review on audio asylum
My friend made up a set and they sound fantastic

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-412

[Sterling]

Try the CAT 5E 350 mHz enhanced wire
Got a great review on audio asylum
My friend made up a set and they sound fantastic

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-412

24ga, wow that seems really big, but what do I know. Thanks guys, any other ideas?

[Todd R]

Actually, that is probably about the smallest I'd recommend for speaker cables.  With AWG, the smaller the number, the bigger the wire.  I'd say for speaker cables you'd want somewhere in the 12-16 AWG range, maybe 10ga if you're really serious.  Since that CAT5 wire has 4 pairs of wires inside, you'd end up with four 24ga wires per signal, which would be about 17-18ga.  Effectively a little on the small side, but not too bad.

The Home Depot cable and CAT5 cable are the recipes I see the most.  But you might also look into buying bulk speaker wire from name cable manufacturers, such as Cardas, Kimber, Audioquest, and Analysis Plus.  You can find bulk speaker wire at Audioadvisor.com, needledoctor.com, DIYcable.com and ramelectronics.net.  I used the Kimber 4TC for awhile and like it alot.  Ramelectronics also has a variety of spades and banana plugs to use.  You might also look into Canare quad speaker cable such as the 4S11 (huge -- AWG of 11 I think) or 4S8 (AWG of 13).  I used the latter in my home office playback system with good results.  You can get bulk Canare pretty cheap at markertek.com.

Also, I've really been enjoying silver-clad speaker cables in my playback systems.  You might want to check with Nickspicks, I think he bought a bunch of raw silver-clad wire off ebay and might have more than he needs.

If you don't want to go the DIY route, I can certainly make you a pair of my Segue Doghouse silver-clad speaker cables.  But I've also got an 8 foot pair of used Kimber 4VS speaker cables in the yardsale section.  And I haven't listed them yet, but I've got a pair of Canare 48S quad speaker cables I'm going to sell.  (Replaced both the Canare and the Kimber with my silver-clad cables.)  The Canare 4S8 is currently a 15 foot pair, but I might break it up into an 8 foot pair and a 7 foot pair if you're interested in something shorter.

[John R]

i agree with todd, whichever route you go, you want a thick gauge, 12 to 16, with a high strand count.  the home depot way seems like the most economical DIY route.

[Sterling]

Actually, that is probably about the smallest I'd recommend for speaker cables.  With AWG, the smaller the number, the bigger the wire.  I'd say for speaker cables you'd want somewhere in the 12-16 AWG range, maybe 10ga if you're really serious.  Since that CAT5 wire has 4 pairs of wires inside, you'd end up with four 24ga wires per signal, which would be about 17-18ga.  Effectively a little on the small side, but not too bad.

The Home Depot cable and CAT5 cable are the recipes I see the most.  But you might also look into buying bulk speaker wire from name cable manufacturers, such as Cardas, Kimber, Audioquest, and Analysis Plus.  You can find bulk speaker wire at Audioadvisor.com, needledoctor.com, DIYcable.com and ramelectronics.net.  I used the Kimber 4TC for awhile and like it alot.  Ramelectronics also has a variety of spades and banana plugs to use.  You might also look into Canare quad speaker cable such as the 4S11 (huge -- AWG of 11 I think) or 4S8 (AWG of 13).  I used the latter in my home office playback system with good results.  You can get bulk Canare pretty cheap at markertek.com.

Also, I've really been enjoying silver-clad speaker cables in my playback systems.  You might want to check with Nickspicks, I think he bought a bunch of raw silver-clad wire off ebay and might have more than he needs.

If you don't want to go the DIY route, I can certainly make you a pair of my Segue Doghouse silver-clad speaker cables.  But I've also got an 8 foot pair of used Kimber 4VS speaker cables in the yardsale section.  And I haven't listed them yet, but I've got a pair of Canare 48S quad speaker cables I'm going to sell.  (Replaced both the Canare and the Kimber with my silver-clad cables.)  The Canare 4S8 is currently a 15 foot pair, but I might break it up into an 8 foot pair and a 7 foot pair if you're interested in something shorter.

Awesome thanks! This is why I love this board so much, quality information from trusted people. I'm gonna check out some of those sources and get back to ya. Thanks again!

[Nick's Picks]

as mentioned...i can set you up w/some silver clad teflon coated 12awg.

i've got more than enough, and i'll sell you what lengths you want cheap.  I paid $40 for 100' of it. 

[jeromejello]

i found some monster (gasp, i know) speaker wire on clearance at target for $3.78 for 30'.  then also picked up the little pin things for the end for $2.48...  thats pretty cheap.  not the best silver clad way, but for my system (and budget) it worked just fine... and it was a serious upgrade over what i was using...