[oliphillips]

Hi,

I am building a new set up in my room (Link in sig) and now it has come to ordering cabling.

Firstly Speaker cable. I haven't measured it yet but I need roughly 25 metres. Wanting to spend at the most £2 a metre really, but could stretch a tiny bit if it seems worth it. Was looking at this cabling:

Van Damme Studio Grade Blue Series Speaker Cable at £0.98 for 2 X 0.75, £1.48 for 2 X 1.5 and £1.96 for 2 X 2.5

and

Black Rhodium T25 Flat Speaker Cable at £1.76 a meter

and

Atlas Basic 2.0 Speaker Cable at £2.50 a meter

So what would guys recommend? Any of the above any good? Any advice/tips?

Do I need 2 X 2.5 or would 2 X 0.75 do? Or should I go inbetween with 2 X 1.5??

Cheers, Oli

[Dubliner1]

I'm not an audio expert but I do have a nice surround sound set up with good quality speakers...I doubt you would notice a huge (if any difference) spending the extra money on spk cable...I usually buy 25m/50m spools of Acoustic Research (AR) in California for $20/$30...from what I've read its more important to use the correct gauge (thickness) of cable depending on the length of cable run from the AV Receiver to the back of the speaker...I got some info about this with my speakers I will try to dig out later and post.

[oliphillips]

thanks for the info mate!

Originally Posted by Dubliner1

I've read its more important to use the correct gauge (thickness) of cable depending on the length of cable run from the AV Receiver to the back of the speaker...I got some info about this with my speakers I will try to dig out later and post.

It would be as follows:

Front 1 : 3 meters
Front 2 : 3 meters
Center : 2 meters
Rear 1 : 12 meters
Rear 2: 12 meters

With the rear speakers one of them would in fact only need 8m, but am I right in saying it is better to keep the lengths the same?? I am a massive noob to this everyone!

[oliphillips]

Done some reading on cabling and it seems until I buy a massive £5000 soundsystem the quality of the cabling isn't gonna make too much difference. So basically what I'm after is something like this:

2X2.5 or 2X1.5 cable thats under £1 a meter?

[Dubliner1]

I have a nice American made Atlantic Technology 7.2 speaker set up and according to the manual they recommend "[FONT=StoneSerif][FONT=StoneSerif]using

high quality stranded wire of 18 gauge or larger for lengths up to 25 feet. Use 16 gauge or larger for longer runs of wire."

[/FONT][/FONT]

[Dubliner1]

Originally Posted by oliphillips

Done some reading on cabling and it seems until I buy a massive £5000 soundsystem the quality of the cabling isn't gonna make too much difference. So basically what I'm after is something like this:

2X2.5 or 2X1.5 cable thats under £1 a meter?

I'd recommend to just focus on getting the correct gauge (or thickness) of speaker cable for the required lengths...I doubt the brand name is important. I avoid the really cheap no brand stuff and usually use Radio Shack or Acoustic Research which is decent quality and very reasonably priced. One other thing, in the US anyway, the lower the specified speaker gauge, the thicker the cable...so 14 gauge is thicker than 18 gauge....just an fyi- thats one thing I found confusing initially.

[oliphillips]

So I'd be looking at 16 gauge for the rear speakers and 18 gauge for the front and centre speakers?

If i've done my conversions correct:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/30M-399-STRAND...3A2%7C294%3A30

That has 2 X 3.00mm*2 thickness which works out at around 12 gauge. So that should be fine for the whole lot??

[Dubliner1]

Originally Posted by oliphillips

So I'd be looking at 16 gauge for the rear speakers and 18 gauge for the front and centre speakers?

If i've done my conversions correct:

25M.399 STRAND OFC VERY HEAVY DUTY SPEAKER CABLE/ WIRE on eBay, also Speaker Cables, Cables Connectors, Home Audio Hi Fi, Consumer Electronics (end time 06-Jul-09 16:46:52 BST)

That has 2 X 3.00mm*2 thickness which works out at around 12 gauge. So that should be fine for the whole lot??

I'm not really sure- I've been living in the US for the last 15 years and its all feet and inches...all speaker cable here will usually state on the box what the gauge is- I just go by that...but yes, the lower (thicker) gauge for the longer runs of cable and thinner (higher number gauge) for short runs...front L/R spkrs and center channel. Something like this...
50-Ft. 16-Gauge Clear 2-Conductor Speaker Wire: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
Another thing to consider is how you will run the cable..e.g. around the skirting boards, under the carpet...there is also a flat speaker cable available, some also have adhesive backing and are paintable...so as you can realize hooking up all those speakers can be tricky!

[oliphillips]

Originally Posted by Dubliner1

I'm not really sure- I've been living in the US for the last 15 years and its all feet and inches...all speaker cable here will usually state on the box what the gauge is- I just go by that...but yes, the lower (thicker) gauge for the longer runs of cable and thinner (higher number gauge) for short runs...front L/R spkrs and center channel. Something like this...
50-Ft. 16-Gauge Clear 2-Conductor Speaker Wire: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
Another thing to consider is how you will run the cable..e.g. around the skirting boards, under the carpet...there is also a flat speaker cable available, some also have adhesive backing and are paintable...so as you can realize hooking up all those speakers can be tricky!

cheers for all you help!

Yeah I've got it planned out, gonna be quite an effort!! Does the cable in the auction I posted look good enough quality for my setup (link in sig) ?

[oliphillips]

Originally Posted by oliphillips

thanks for the info mate!

Front 1 : 3 meters
Front 2 : 3 meters
Center : 2 meters
Rear 1 : 12 meters
Rear 2: 12 meters

OK so final ask for opinions before I order, I've so far chosen 2 X 3mm*2 / ~12 Gauge Wire. Is this too thick and pointless for the above measurements?? Would 2 X 1.5*2 / 16 Gauge be fine? Opinions please!


and one more thing, using Harman Harmon Kardon HKTS7 Speakers and Yamaha RX-V363 with the back like this:

I wont need banana plugs will I? I want it looking stylish if possible, is there any sort of banana plug style alternative to these sort of speaker outputs??

[Dubliner1]

Originally Posted by oliphillips

cheers for all you help!

Yeah I've got it planned out, gonna be quite an effort!! Does the cable in the auction I posted look good enough quality for my setup (link in sig) ?

Kinda hard to tell from the picture/description. As long as the gauge is correct you'll be fine.

[Dubliner1]

Originally Posted by oliphillips

OK so final ask for opinions before I order, I've so far chosen 2 X 3mm*2 / ~12 Gauge Wire. Is this too thick and pointless for the above measurements?? Would 2 X 1.5*2 / 16 Gauge be fine? Opinions please!

I think the cable can never be too thick..however, if its too thin that could affect the quality. Actually I use 12 gauge on my center channel speaker as I've read something like 70% of all audio information passes thru the center channel (all movie dialog) hence the center channel spk is considered the most important...having 12 on ctr speaker and 16 gauge on L/R is ok...even 16 on all 3.

[oliphillips]

Originally Posted by Dubliner1

I think the cable can never be too thick..however, if its too thin that could affect the quality. Actually I use 12 gauge on my center channel speaker as I've read something like 70% of all audio information passes thru the center channel (all movie dialog) hence the center channel spk is considered the most important...having 12 on ctr speaker and 16 gauge on L/R is ok...even 16 on all 3.

Cool, gonna go ahead and order it! Cheers for the advice. Also do you know if theres some connectors (like banana plugs) I can buy that would fit in the speaker outputs in my amp, pictured above? (Sorry noob to all this!)#

EDIT: Found out I need some Banana pins!

These will be going on the end of my speaker cables:

Moderator: Image removed, please do not link to images on other websites, post a link to their page instead.

[ben.bayliss]

I'd also consider:

"Studiospares" Speaker Cable 2X2.5mm at Studiospares
"Studiospares" Speaker Cable 3mm Installation at Studiospares

Both cheaper for 2.5/3mm cable.

[deltasurfer79]

Originally Posted by ben.bayliss

I'd also consider:

"Studiospares" Speaker Cable 2X2.5mm at Studiospares
"Studiospares" Speaker Cable 3mm Installation at Studiospares

Both cheaper for 2.5/3mm cable.

Is this cable OFC, as the website doesnt say much and couldnt find it on the net.

Thanks

[OKGuy]

Hi Mate,

Came upon this thread by accident, I'm into my hifi so if I may offer my 2-penneth worth.

I run a pair of Monitor Audio GS10's, they are bi-amped and bi-wired by two Arcam Alpha 10 amps..... I recently upgraded my speakers from the Mon Aud GR10 to the GS10's and was running Chord Carnival Silver Screen Plus speaker cable that were fitted with banana plugs (pins)..... that speaker cable was terrific but I thought I'd experiment as I got new speakers I decided I'd get me some new cable. I trotted off to a dealer for some advice, first bit of advice he gave me was to try and match your 'interconnects' with your speaker cable, as I had Chord Chameleon RCA's I asked what would be the best match, he said either stick with what you got or upgrade to Chord Odyssey-2 (I did not want a dedicated bi-wire speaker cable). Amazingly he let me take 2 pairs home for a try out, I can honestly say hand on heart the the difference was amazing. Lots more detail and a fuller bass thought it came at a price, I bought two factory terminated pairs of Chord Oddyssey-2 that were 3meter long for £240 ($300) though I got ££90 for my old cables in part-exchange.

With regard to speaker gauge, you can get cheapo cables that pretend to do a job but I'd rather go to a company with a good reputation as you should allow 20% of your system budget for cables, yes they are that important. The difference in size and weight between my two cables was big too... the Odyssey is about 10-12mm thick where the Carnival was only about 6-8mm.

If your on a budget I'd recomend 'QED' cables..... if you want great quality & clarity go for either Nordost or Chord.Co (UK company)..... if you go to Ebay.co.uk you can check out pricing for all three..... if you want slim cables that are on par with the Odyssey I'd also recomend Chord Rumour-2 which are made for home-cinema set-up and can be run under skirtings, all Chord cables have lifetime guarantees. Chord do other cables some cheaper a few more expensive..... their top cable is about £450 per meter.

Hope I didn't bore you with that but please check out manufactuers websites for best advice, Chord have a advice & cable match on their website. I fully recomend them but hey I would I bought their cables.

Best of luck.

[OKGuy]

also, you can ask/phone Chord for advice for what connector is ok for your speakers & amp..... my amp terminations are different to my speaker terminations, i think you should be ok with banana's at your amp end. Definately go for them on your speakers as they look smart. I recently got some 'RCA end caps' on ebay that tidied the back of my amp, it looks a treat now.

enough of me.

[OKGuy]

ps..... unterminated Chord cables brings the price right down, sorry for all the replies but i keep finding other post in the thread.

[ben.bayliss]

Originally Posted by deltasurfer79

Is this cable OFC, as the website doesnt say much and couldnt find it on the net.

Thanks

OFC is just another 'massively hyped out of proportion' thing spread by the big cable manufacturers.

But yes, it is.