speaker wire

[galois427]

i'm new to the sound area so plz bare with me. i want to replace the filmsy speaker wires on my z-680 with some decent ones. which brand should i get? the monster xp seems to be a popular choice. what does the guage refers too and which guage number is the best? also, can someone explain how do i go about cutting up the wire and installing it. if you have a link to a tutorial, that would be perfect.

[12am]

Sit tight. Here we go! First off brand is not the most important thing to look at when selecting speaker wire, the gauge of the wire is. Here is how it breaks down. The lower the gauge the better and here's why. Lower gauge wire is able to handle more power than a higher gauge wire, also lower gauge wire runs cooler under heavy power usage, and heat in your wires will degrade performance just like it does when your trying to squeeze that last few mhz out of your o/c. Another reason lower gauge wire is better is that the signal does not get degraded as much when it's travelling long distances (10+feet). Lower gauge wire will always tend to sound better as you go down in gauge. Now keep in mind that the lower gauge you go the thicker the wire will become (this is of special concern as the terminals on the z680's are quite small) and the more it will cost. If I remember correctly gauges go from 20-8 in increments of 2, so here is what it would look life from worst to best. 20,18,16,14,12,10,8. I belive the stuff that ships with the z series is 18gauge wire so a step up to 16 or 14 would be just perfect for your needs, and wont break the bank either. On a side note to all this, you should look for wire that is all copper or copper with gold plating, as this will provide you with the best connections possible. I use Acoustic Research Pro SeriesII 12gauge oxygen free copper wire to connect my Infinity Alpha50's to my h/k reciever and I was quite impressed with the quality of that wire in particular. To get an idea of pricing 30feet of that wire cost me $70cdn. For your z680's I would reccomend 14 gauge as for the heck of it I tried fitting my 12g wire into my z560's and it was too big to fit into the binding posts. As for cutting/stripping the wire head on down to radioshack/home depot and get a pair of wire cutters/strippers and that will allow you to cut/strip the wire. You want to strip about and inch to an inch and a half off each end for connecting into the speaker/amp. If you have any other questions feel free to ask. Oh yeah and Welcome to the Forums!

Edit: oh and before I get crucified by other members I had better mention that another reason lower gauge is better is that the resistance is less in lower gauge wire therfore allowing the electricity to flow more easily.

[Droban]

Hey Galois let us know what gauge you use and if it fits. I just got the z680's and was planning on upgrading the wiring.

[galois427]

thanks 12am. that really cleared things up. this forum is one of the friendliest and helpful one i've been too. really great people too. i just have another question. do i need to get those special "banana connectors" or can i just use the bare speaker wires? any quality loss by just using bare wires?

[sLk]

I've always had tremendous success with Kimber Kable.

http://www.kimber.com/

[12am]

I always just use bare wire, I've never worried about the bannana plugs as it was always more work for me to do :) there is no performance/sound quality loss by not using the bannana plugs.

[stratcatprowlin]

Originally posted by 12am
I always just use bare wire, I've never worried about the bannana plugs as it was always more work for me to do :) there is no performance/sound quality loss by not using the bannana plugs.

Actually bare wire is the most efficient transfer possible.
Anything u add on ,like bananna plugs or other connecters only puts extra resistance between the amplifier and the speaker.

[stratcatprowlin]

Oh, btw dont believe all that audiophile "voodoo" about certain speaker cables sounding better than others.I think audiophiles are mostly obsessive compulsive people expressing thier sickness through audio equipment.

The big name brands dont sound any better than radioshack speaker cables with the same gauge.They just cost alot more.

Also i'm a professional guitarist who's got almost perfect pitch,so my ears can be trusted.I've been in a zillion recording studio's
and have heard the highest end audio equipment as well,so any audiophiles want to debate this issue,dont even bother.

[tom10167]

Honestly, people will tell you "Gold Plated, double x-tra hyperactive nitro-shield cables are the ones to get.)

Well, you're throwing money away doing that. I've PERSONALLY juxtaposed Monster cable speaker wires and some cheap generic stuff I have. The Monster Cable stuff was expensive. http://www.monstercable.com/productPage.asp?pin=41

I notice absolutely no sound difference, and trust me, I have a very powerful sound system.
Two JBL 4311B studio monitors. With 12" woofers, and a whole bunch of other kickass stuff.

I only bought them because my old cables were too short.


Then, when our parents built our home theatre they bought all Monster cable stuff.

http://www.monstercable.com/home_av/audio_cables/rca_core.asp They went with those there.

They realized they bought extra, and gave them to me. When I got my DJ setup, I used them, no problems. Then I rearranged and got new cables. Gold plated, shielded, etc. NO difference. My conclusion is that unless you're running a movie theatre, club, or concert hall, you will NOT notice the difference.

[kct2]

Originally posted by stratcatprowlin


Actually bare wire is the most efficient transfer possible.
Anything u add on ,like bananna plugs or other connecters only puts extra resistance between the amplifier and the speaker.

Bare wire is the good until it corrodes and there is a layer of oxidation between the binding post and the wire. That is why people use gold or gold plated banana plugs, lugs, or other connector instead of bare copper wire. Basically it maintains a high quality connection that will not degrade over time.

Banana plugs also make connections much easier, but most people don’t connect/disconnect their system very often.

I don’t use connectors in my system and I'm not saying they are necessary. I’m just saying that is the reason people use them.

[tom10167]

Where do you live that you have the problem of copper corroding? Even over time. I still find pennies in my change drawer from 199X that are still very shiny.

[kct2]

Originally posted by tom10167
Where do you live that you have the problem of copper corroding? Even over time. I still find pennies in my change drawer from 199X that are still very shiny.

Pennies made after 1983 are 97.5% Zinc, 2.5% Copper, hence your shiny penny.

Unprotected copper corrodes. Where do you live that it doesn't? Outer Space?;)

[galois427]

copper will corrode but if it does, i think it would be easy just to snip off the layer thats corroding and just use the remaining wire.

[12am]

or you could just use isopropyl alchohol to clean the section of bare wire and it should be good as new.

[seamadan000]

home depot is a great place to get it by the way...

lowes works too

[stratcatprowlin]

Originally posted by galois427
copper will corrode but if it does, i think it would be easy just to snip off the layer thats corroding and just use the remaining wire.

That's exactly what i do once in a while.

[KaHNZa]

Its one thing for a penny to stay shiny. Its another for a wire with power flowing through it. The power attracts stuff. ;)

[seamadan000]

a layer or two of gunk won't really make much of a difference either. I have read a very serious double blind test that was done at a university comparing some several hundred dollar a meter solid silver wire to a rusty coat hanger. The coat hanger won (not really, it was a tie for all intents and purposes). So don't worry too much about the condition of your wire...

[Droban]

Im wondering if upgrading the wire will really make a difference on my Z680s. Since the sattelites deal with higher frequencies will there be any performacnce gain?

[stratcatprowlin]

Originally posted by Droban
Im wondering if upgrading the wire will really make a difference on my Z680s. Since the sattelites deal with higher frequencies will there be any performacnce gain?

I would buy a thicker gauge speaker cable as the ones you said were flimsy.

I hate flimsy speaker wire!!! But honestly unless your running really long leads,16 gauge wire is strong enough and will be efficient enough for your needs.

Performance gain? you mean will they sound better? It's up to your mind and ears to figure that out.

[DeepScience]

You have to go REALLLY flimsy (like, one or two strands) for it to make a difference in my opinion (for home situations).

http://cygnus.ipal.org/mirror/www.passlabs.com/spkrcabl.htm

This guy suggests there might have been a difference as far as his listening opinion went but the hard data he collected said there wasn't a significant difference.

Points to note from the article:

Some amplifiers actually prefer a higher impedance cable!
Clean tight connections make the most difference.
Length of cable makes some difference, 40m is not the same as 2m.