sundance-communications.com/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information Speaker Wire theatre room

Jeff, there is a big difference, it has the Radio Shack name on it and bigger numbers on the price sticker. I've been using lamp cord for speakers since probably before you were born, never had a problem.

Ohio, do you already have the speakers or just going by their website? It looks like the only part that's powered is the subs, the rest needs a separate amp.

Well yeah, I know it works
When I stocked all the various colors (clear, gold, white, brown, black, and silver) I figured it was the same...
Wire is wire (don't kill me, Ed!)

I have used colmen in the past and it has always worked out well for in wall installs. if it will not be in walls then I use the radio shack stuff. How heavy depends on the speaker and amount of power I am running to them. Back a lifetime ago when I was a DJ I used an old heavy duty extension cord in a jam.

...they have an almost magical ability to recreate a stunningly realistic holographic sound field.

Wow! With those impressive specs I wouldn't cut any corners- it's lamp cord all the way. :rolleyes:

Seriously, self powered speakers have the amplifier built in so this is a completely different situation. The wiring supplying the speaker (actually the amplifier input) is usually line level and does not handle any power like if the amplifier and speaker were separate items. I would check to see what the requirements are, it may actually require a couple of RCA to RCA cables.

But then, after looking harder at the specs I see it says "compatable with 8 ohms" whatever that means. I hope they don't take the speaker output of a receiver and use it to drive another power amplifier in the speaker.

-Hal

Well Hal I think you are right. But I looked in the catalog of the company whose wire we sell (Woods) and they sell lamp cord AND speaker wire...the speaker wire they sell ranges from 12-24ga. Why anyone would use 24ga speaker wire is beyond me.

As Hal said if the speaker is self amplified it makes a big difference you don't need the heavy gauge. The difference between many strands is for high frequencies the higher the freq. the electrons travel closer to edge of wire the more strands the less resistance. The oxygen free wire is for power handling it has a lower resistance thus less power loss.

for more info on speaker wire check here
https://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

If you can put in some ENT flex conduit to all the locations, sometimes called SMURF pipe, then you will always have the flexibility to add or change. I did it in my house, and it worked great. As far as home theater, minimum 16 gauge stranded, depending on the wattage you will be pushing.

That all depends on what brand of RJ45 it's connected to.

I order 99% of my wire from Liberty Wire and Cable out of Colorado. Good pricing, as it's straight from the factory.

Jeff, it does look like a lamp cord.