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Anyone replaced the wiring on their PC Speakers?

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Old 09-04-06, 01:35 AM Thread Starter   #1
bongopukerat
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Anyone replaced the wiring on their PC Speakers?


I have klipsch 2.1 multimedia speakers. I didn't have room for a 5.1 setup so 2.1 was the way to go, but I wanted to buy the best 2.1 speakers I could. At the time, Klipsch held that title, however I don't know if they still hold it.

Anyways, I heard a long time ago that replacing the speaker wiring can improve your performance. I heard this was especially true specifically for the 2.1 klipsch speakers since the stock wiring is such a small gauge. I work at compusa and received a free 30 foot roll of 16 gauge Monster cable and decided to go for it.

Unfortunately, it was a long time ago that I heard about replacing the wiring on the klipsch, so I couldn't fine it now. I couldn't find a guide either. I've never taken apart speakers or wired anything in my life (unless you count running a cat6 cable through my apartment ) I basically just tore apart my speakers, ripped out the old wiring, and wrapped my wiring around the mounts and sealed the speakers back up.

I can't play my speakers really loud right now since it's almost one a.m. and I'm in an apartment, but even at low-medium volume they do sound a bit more crisp. But would the larger gauge really do that? I was just expecting them to be louder once I cranked them up, not actually sound better at lower volumes too.
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Old 09-04-06, 04:18 AM   #2
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it all deppends on how much power be being run through the wire. If you have real power, like say 60 watts RMS, then it can help. thicker wire means more electrons and therefore more ability to move current. 16gauge is pritty big, and probaly thicker than you would ever need on pc speakers.

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Old 09-04-06, 12:18 PM   #3
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What would be a good gauge to use then on PC speakers? I have some klipsch speakers as well that need new wiring : P
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Old 09-04-06, 11:40 PM   #4
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Theres nothing wrong with having thicker gauge, you just dont need it with short, low wattage runs.
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Old 09-05-06, 12:51 PM   #5
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My Klipsch 2.1 Pro Media's have a "stereo mini jack" that plugs into the back of each speaker. How did y'all replace that???

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Old 09-05-06, 02:52 PM Thread Starter   #6
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I opened up my speakers and directly attached the 16guage wire to the connectors. I then drilled a hole in the bottom of my speaker for the 16gauge wire to come out of. The jack is not being used at all.

I'm not sure if these speakers HAVE to be sealed or not but I went ahead and sealed the hole around the wire.
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Old 09-05-06, 02:55 PM   #7
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Can you hear a difference? My Klipsch 2.1s are barely 1 month old.

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Old 09-05-06, 07:20 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bongopukerat
I opened up my speakers and directly attached the 16guage wire to the connectors. I then drilled a hole in the bottom of my speaker for the 16gauge wire to come out of. The jack is not being used at all.

I'm not sure if these speakers HAVE to be sealed or not but I went ahead and sealed the hole around the wire.
I had two sets of 2.1 Klipsch's, one set I got on Ebay for a uber cheap, the wiring was messed up and I did what you did as well. Even after adding monster type wiring I couldn't tell any difference between the stock wiring and the larger cable. Maybe others could tell a difference but I couldn't, maybe I'm going deaf

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Old 09-06-06, 02:14 AM   #9
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you won't really notice a difference unless you play something that has alot of low bass or high pitch. You should notice a difference then.

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Old 09-06-06, 06:01 PM   #10
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I'd hate to break it to you, but this is just a placebo effect, you wont be able to tell a difference between them, ever, no matter what matterial you are playing through them. This has been debated between people with a lot more money in their equipment than your klipsch 2.1's.
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Old 09-15-06, 01:54 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chunkylover763
I'd hate to break it to you, but this is just a placebo effect, you wont be able to tell a difference between them, ever, no matter what matterial you are playing through them. This has been debated between people with a lot more money in their equipment than your klipsch 2.1's.
Thicker cables can be helpful when running high RMS-wattage or over increased distances due to something I ignored in physics class about resistance.

Getting OMFG MONSTER CABLE for your Klipsch 2.1's won't do anything though.

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Old 09-15-06, 04:13 AM   #12
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Thats true, guage is pretty much the most important thing with speaker cable, but I guarantee his klipsch speakers wont see a difference.
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Old 10-13-06, 12:06 PM   #13
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As someone who spent some time making braided custom speaker cables for my stereo system from Cat5 cables, I can tell you it _may_ make a huge difference. Its not just about gauge. Its about crosstalk and interference. I have not taken any time to replace the wires on my pc system. Its important to remember the weakest link theory, which applies here. No matter how good 90% percent of the system is, it will be severally hindered by whatever is the weakest link.

So, once you start upgrading wires, you need to replace all of them. then you need ensure there is no intereference for it to pick up. PC systems have a huge amount of interference.

Good luck.
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Old 10-13-06, 11:20 PM   #14
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I have to agree with the folks here who say that the wiring will not make a difference. IMO, Monster Cables are one big rip off. If you go to an audio forum they will tell you the same thing. While the Klipsch cables are small, they are more then adequate for the distance and the power running through them. Klisch has quite a solid reputaion in audio and they wouldn't maintain it by putting on speaker wire that degraded the performance of their speakers.
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Old 10-14-06, 01:51 AM   #15
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In my opinion, better wiring does help, but only a very little. The actual performance gain isn't justified by the money you spend on better wiring at all.

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