Another "which speaker cable should I buy" question

DaveS

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Can anyone recommend suitable speaker cable for my set up?

I have an Onkyo 606 amp with Tannoy 5.1 SFX speakers and need about 100ft of cable.

It's going under the floorboards so colour etc doesn't matter.

Not sure if 2.5mm is too thick for the connectors on the back of the Tannoys though. Can anyone confirm either way?

Cheers!
 
Whats the ohm rating of the speakers and what is the longest length of cable? Just one small tip try equalise the cable lengths to each set of speakers IE If front left is 20Ft make front Right equal length Cable. If you are running no more than 20-25Ft per speaker 2.5mm should be enough IMHO. Also read
Speaker Wire A History by Roger Russell of Macintosh its an eye opener.


Speaker Wire
 
Thanks! Really interesting guide (although parts of it were over my head)

The speakers are 6 ohm and the longest runs are about 20ft to the front and centre speakers.

With that in mind, should any 1.5mm be sufficient? Would something like this be OK? ebay

Does anyone have any specific cable that they would recommend?
 
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thanks! Really interesting guide (although parts of it were over my head)

the speakers are 6 ohm and the longest runs are about 20ft to the front and centre speakers.

With that in mind, should any 1.5mm be sufficient? Would something like this be ok? ebay

does anyone have any specific cable that they would recommend?

in my opinion more than sufficient
 
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Thanks! Really interesting guide (although parts of it were over my head)

The speakers are 6 ohm and the longest runs are about 20ft to the front and centre speakers.

With that in mind, should any 1.5mm be sufficient? Would something like this be OK? ebay

Does anyone have any specific cable that they would recommend?

That cable looks suspiciously like the first roll of cable I got recently for my cinema setup, the Hartlepool address is the same I think.

I found that the cable I got had higher resistance than I had hoped - see this thread -

http://www.avforums.com/forums/inte...t-speaker-cables-have-resistance-figures.html

If you do still get some can you measure the resistance of the cable if you have a multimeter, please? It would interest me to know the reading. :)
 
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You can look up the resistance of standard speakers wire on various spec charts around the Internet -

American wire gauge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Unfortunately, I've never been able to find similar charts for Euro Wire. The wire in this chart is Brown & Sharpes or AWG (American Wire Gauge), but the chart has wire diameter, and cross sectional area (mm²), and has resistance in ohms per 1000 feet and ohms per kilometer.

For example, the nearest equivalent to 2.5mm² is 13ga at 2.63mm², which has resistance rating of 2.003 ohms per 1000 feet (6.571 ohms/kilometer).

Keep in mind that for speakers wire you must double the value. For example, 10 direct feet of single wire has a resistance of 0.02 ohms per 10 feet, but for twin lead speakers wire, the value is double at 0.04 ohms per 10 feet. Speaker wire is 10 feet out and 10 feet back for a total of 20 linear feet.

The real mystery variables are inductance and capacitance per linear unit (foot, meter, etc...). The manufacturer's do have this information available, but they don't give it out to consumers easily.

Here is some information on speaker wire from Roger Russell who is a designer for McIntosh amps -

Speaker Wire

Farther down on that page, he recommends various wire sizes and lengths for various impedance of speakers. Keep in mind that the lower the impedance of the speakers, the higher the wire gauge need to be.

In addition, the cost of wire and cable should be in reasonable proportion to the cost of your system. When your wire and cable costs get so high you are compromising the quality of your equipment, then you spending too much money.

Illustrated -

Which do you think would sound better, a £500 system with £500 worth of wire, or a £900 system with £100 worth of wire?

For most consumers, speaker wire in the £0.75 (bulk) to £3 per meter range is more than enough, assuming it is of sufficient size of course.

But for the front three speakers (Left/Center/Right) the runs are very short, and you won't break the bank with wire in the £3 to £10 per meter range.

It would a a rare and unusual circumstance in which I would recommend wire over that price range.

To some extent, you have to let your wallet and a healthy dose of common sense be your guide.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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You can look up the resistance of standard speakers wire on various spec charts around the Internet
Steve/bluewizard

Yes, you can “look it up” but this assumes you know for certain what the conductor is made of.

The only way to be reasonably sure of the actual value of the resistance of the loudspeaker cable conductor that you actually have, is to measure that resistance with at least two independently-calibrated resistance meters.

I diablo’s case, he purchased two different gauge cables, one from each of two different suppliers.

The conductors in both cases had a resistance nearly 3 times greater than should have been the case for a copper conductor.


Alan
 
I think Van Damme can be trusted, that cable is listed at 12.5 ohms per kilometre, which for your 20 foot run would be 0.15 ohms if I've done my sums right. Sounds good enough to me. :)
 
Weigh the costs of Van Damme 1.5mm² against the Van Damme 2.5mm². I think you will find the 2.5mm² is better value, more wire for only a trace more money.

Fisual Super Pearle is also a wire of a quality and price very similar to the Van Damme.

Fisual Speaker Cable - Audiovisual Online - High Quality Audio Video Cables and Accessories

Van Damme Speaker Cable - Audiovisual Online - High Quality Audio Video Cables and Accessories

A quick check at the link above indicates that Van Damme Blue 1.5mm² is £1.40 per meter, and the Van Damme Blue 2.5mm² is £2.00 per meter. Both will work for you.

In Fisual Super Pearl, the 1.5mm² is £1.20/M and the Super Pearl 2.5mm² is £1.80/M.

Either one is a good choice in speaker wire. Both are shown in black, but I think they might be available in black or white, and the wire is double insulated and color coded.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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Thanks for the help fellas!

I'm thinking of the 1.5mm as the above posts suggest that it should be just as good as the 2.5mm

I would go for the 2.5mm to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure if it will actually fit with the Tannoy SFX stands as they are quite a tight fit. I'll make another post to find out in fact...

Thanks again for the advice :)
Dave
 
fisual 2.5mm cable is Ok, good quality copper, but a pain to strip and not very flexible.

I would recommend the vandamme blue 2.5mm - i got a load from avonline only £2 per meter
 
i also recommend the van damme blue 2x2.5mm (or the black 4x2.5mm if you're bi-wiring / bi-amping)

there's offers for forum members in the cable group buy section :)
 

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