Most home owners find that the most difficult part of installing their new surround sound system is choosing the best speaker wire for their system. Their goal is the get the right speaker wire type that will give their system the power and sound its needs to perform at the highest level.
The reality is that nobody wants to install a complete sound system and later find out they used an inferior speaker wire product that is causing their new speakers to under-perform. This type of mistake could prove to be very expensive and very time consuming, especially if installing new speaker wire is the only option. So why not do it right the first time?
The speaker wire industry is a huge market. There are many manufacturers out there trying to push consumers to their products. Many manufacturers are flooding the market with marketing material that touts their wire as the best. All this marketing for sure confuses consumers and makes it harder on them as they try to buy the right product for the job. But the truth is that speaker wire is relatively simple to choose if you just know some of the basic facts.
High Quality Copper is Key
Copper is the most popular and best material used in the construction of a speaker wire. It will no doubt deliver the best quality signal from your receiver or amplifier to your speakers. When evaluating a speaker wire product you may notice a lot of brands pushing the 99.9% oxygen free copper characteristic as a major selling point of their wire. Most manufactures of quality speaker wire products use 99.9% oxygen free copper as a standard, but don’t let them tell you it is for sound quality. Although it may help a little, this increase in sound quality really cannot be heard by the human ear. This increase can really only be measured when using special test equipment that can test pure sound quality.
The truth is that 99.9% oxygen free copper describes the copper type and how the copper is processed and manufactured into the cable form. The most vital byproduct of using 99.9% oxygen free copper is that it is the best for combating corrosion. Since the impurities are filtered during the manufacturing process the 99.9% oxygen free copper wire will last much longer than regular copper. So the specification of using 99.9% oxygen free copper is an important one, and one you want to ensure is part of the speaker wire you choose to buy.
Strand Count Does Matter
The strand count of speaker wire is another characteristic that many manufacturers and consumers talk about. Many manufacturers tout their speaker wire as superior because it is made with a high strand count. The strand count refers to the number of copper strands that are woven together to make a wire conductor.
The strand count is another one of those characteristics that have been over-glamorized by the industry. Although there is an argument that the more strands equal more surface area which in turn means more performance, the reality is again that the sound quality difference will be so little you would never notice the difference. The reality is that the more strands your speaker wire is constructed with equals more flexible it will have. This increase in flexibility assists in making your home audio installation much easier. It is much easier to install a high strand count speaker wire in the walls and ceilings of a home. More flexibility is also nice if you are dressing a rack or head-end which is your central distribution point for your sound system.
Most professional installers will prefer a high strand count speaker wire because it is much easier to dress, control, and route during an installation. At the end of the day the strand count does matter and is just another characteristic you want to evaluate when making your speaker wire purchase.
Speaker Wire Gauge is Vital
The gauge of the speaker wire is no doubt the most vital characteristic of any speaker wire product. Like in all applications where signals and voltage are being sent over a wire or cable there is naturally resistance and voltage drop. This means that the signal carried through a speaker wire will lose some of its strength every foot it travels. By the time the sound signal reaches your speakers it could be so weak that your speakers will simply be under-powered, which will also cause them to under-perform.
The best way to combat this signal degradation is to increase the copper gauge or thickness of the speaker wire. This will give your signal more surface area to travel over. The AWG or gauge describes the thickness of the copper conductors in a speaker wire. So a 14-2 speaker wire is a 14 gauge wire, and a 12-2 speaker wire is a 12 gauge speaker wire. It is important to understand that the smaller the number (gauge) gives you the thicker cable with more copper in the construction. So it is important to choose the right speaker wire gauge that best supports the distances you have between your speakers and the amplifier or receiver.
For speaker wire that runs less than 60 feet, a 16 gauge speaker wire will give you the surface area you need to ensure your speakers perform. For speaker wire runs between 60 to 180 feet, a 14 gauge speaker wire may be the best gauge for the distance. For speaker wire runs more than 180 feet, a 12 gauge speaker wire will provide the best performance.
There are other factors that could affect these recommendations like using powered subwoofers and powered speakers, but in general these recommendations can ensure you make the best buying decisions possible.
Ratings and Certifications Mean Everything
The final aspect of choosing speaker wire is to pay close attention to the ratings and certifications that come with the speaker wire. It is important to use in-wall rated speaker wire for any in-ceiling or in-wall speaker installations. This means if you are installing speaker wire in the walls or ceilings you must follow your local building codes. It is always important to be aware of your local building codes and use the speaker wire products that best supports them. The last thing you want to do is install a speaker wire type that may create a fire hazard at your home. Most quality speaker wire products will have their certifications clearly documented on the box and on the cables jacket. Common certifications for in-wall rated cables arte CMR and CL3 ratings, plus good quality cable will have a UL rating on it.
At the end of the day it is not the brand, price, or marketing that will make up a great speaker wire. Look for some of these basic specifications on how the cable is constructed and the materials that are used in the jacket and the copper. Paying close attention to the specifications will ensure you get a cable that performs at the highest level!
About the author: Guest writer Erik Johnson is a low voltage wire and cable professional with over 15 years of security, surveillance system, and home theater experience. He works with home owners and business owners all over the country assisting them in making the best technology decisions when buying low voltage products.
