Will this cable work as speaker wire?

[Toonaroond]

Hi am looking for some flat cable to run under the carpet for my front, centre and rear speaker - will this do the job?

Any other suggestions for similar money that will be better in this application?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=XR00A&DOY=18m4


Cheers

 

[Andy98765]

Why get mains cable?

For price this is excellent, but you have to buy two reels and P&P most likely will = the cost of the cable http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/Cable,+W...IPS/SWA3539/10/displayProduct.jsp?sku=AV15692

 

[Toonaroond]

Not sure - was told that mains cable is best value for money for speaker wire....that cable you linked to looks better though and will cost £11 inc P&P for 50mtrs! Will get some of that unless anyone has better ideas...

 

[Andy98765]

Mains cable is not good value speaker cable, it's not good speaker cable full stop.
Speaker cable is made up of large amounts of strands that assists in keeping the resistance down and therefore allows better bass reproduction, it is designed for low voltage and high amps.

 

[Toonaroond]

Like Manuel - I know nothing!

Cheers

 

[Dave Brown]

Toonaroond - what length will your speaker cables be, and what type of speakers do you have?

Lots of people successfully use mains cable for speakers. It's not my personal choice as mains cable is inflexible and "a bit rough looking", but if the cross-section of the copper is big enough, it will sound just fine. (Stranding does not lower resistance or increase sound quality, it just makes cable more flexible)

[Edit - just checked that CPC deal, it's a cracker. 16 gauge is about 1.3mm cross section, so from the picture I would guess the overall cable thickness is about 4-6mm. Just check that will fit under your carpet. Also, be aware that if you intend to run the cables a LOOONG way, you might suffer some loss of quality as 1.3mm is quite small]

 

[Deleted member 30535]

I spotted the CPC deal the other week and posted a note in th specials section. Even allowing for min order of 2 reels and delivery, and putting two lengths in parallel (i.e 4 conductors), you get 2.6 mm^2 CSA for £0.46 per metre! Bargain!

EDIT: "Please note: this product will no longer be stocked"

 

[Toonaroond]

Dave - cheers for response. The reason that I was looking for something cheap is that I will only need a temporary solution initially as we will be moving house in the not too distant future (hence the cheapness!).
I will be running some Kef 2005.1 eggs off a pioneer vsx ax5i amp and the runs will be 2 x 4 mtrs and 2 x 2 mtrs and 1 x 1mtrs.

They do have to go inder a carpet so a flat profile would be ideal - the cpc stuff looks good and I think I will get that, unless its all gone!

 

[Dave Brown]

I will be running some Kef 2005.1 eggs off a pioneer vsx ax5i amp and the runs will be 2 x 4 mtrs and 2 x 2 mtrs and 1 x 1mtrs

They are short runs - the cheap CPC cable will work just fine.

 

[JohnWH]

Mains cable is not good value speaker cable, it's not good speaker cable full stop.
Speaker cable is made up of large amounts of strands that assists in keeping the resistance down and therefore allows better bass reproduction, it is designed for low voltage and high amps.

Sorry, but this isn't correct. The resistance of the wire relates to its CSA not the number of strands.

John.

 

[Andy98765]

Dave - cheers for response. The reason that I was looking for something cheap is that I will only need a temporary solution initially as we will be moving house in the not too distant future (hence the cheapness!).
I will be running some Kef 2005.1 eggs off a pioneer vsx ax5i amp and the runs will be 2 x 4 mtrs and 2 x 2 mtrs and 1 x 1mtrs.

They do have to go inder a carpet so a flat profile would be ideal - the cpc stuff looks good and I think I will get that, unless its all gone!

So you are looking at 13metres of mains cable that will cost you £6.5 only to be thrown away, or for £12 get 50 metres and have 37 metres spare for the new house. I think the CPC speaker cable solution is the one to go for, cost of wiring up your new house = £5.50

 

[CJROSS]

Mains cable is not good value speaker cable, it's not good speaker cable full stop.
Speaker cable is made up of large amounts of strands that assists in keeping the resistance down and therefore allows better bass reproduction, it is designed for low voltage and high amps.

Can you explain this further ? in more detail ?

OP - T+E is perfectly acceptable speaker cable, as long as you use decent CSA (2.5mm2) over a reasonable length (1-10m) its as valid as any other speaker cable, check out also CAT5 & Van Damme Blue & Black Tour Grade, Speakerflex Cables too.

HTHs

 

[pmanson]

Why get mains cable?

For price this is excellent, but you have to buy two reels and P&P most likely will = the cost of the cable http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/Cable,+W...IPS/SWA3539/10/displayProduct.jsp?sku=AV15692

Just what i've been looking for! Will it work with 4mm banana plugs?

Thanks,

Phill

 

[Deleted member 30535]

Just what i've been looking for! Will it work with 4mm banana plugs?

Thanks,

Phill

Yes!

 

[Peridot]

This has to be one of the most sensible threads I've seen on the Cables forum in a long time

 

[Toonaroond]

Have had the CPC cable delivered and it is perfect and such a bargain - thanks for all the input!