Speaker wire and banana plugs - recommendations please!

[dannyjl]

It's time to upgrade my wires and I'd like to add ban. plugs to my setup - just wondering what everyone here is using, especially what guage wire for a home theatre setup in a small room. Thanks in advance.

I'm still old school in that I just go with the best Monster Cable I can afford at the time. There are many product lines that people find superior, but I tend to stick with the ones that have been in the game for a long time.

[buckshot]

i'm one of the loyal monoprice.com people. I don't know about banana plugs (make a damn good banana split) but I did get their 12 gauge speaker wire and WOW what a difference it make. and for $0.20 a foot! awesomeness. what exactly are these banana plugs anyway? when I was rewiring my speakers I looked at the plugs but everyone told me it was more of a convenience thing.

[victorvondoom88]

Truthfully any good quality oxygen free copper is fine. Usually 14 awg is fine but if you wan t go 12 awg it wont hurt and doesn't cost much more.
If you want to make/ have some more "boutique" looking cables you can make your own. Using Canare 4S11 wire. http://www.geocities.com/RnB180/diy.html

These aren't too hard to do and don't cost a huge amount of money.
Here is some "name brand" ones that are terminated already.http://www.accessories4less.com/cgi-...peakerWireTerm

I have used the AR 10 awg. ones couldn't "hear" a difference from the rat shack 12 awg I was using.

Also look here http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....able&sm=1&so=1

I haven't used these but I use the top of the line HDMI cable the build quality is exceptional for the price. They also sell raw bulk wire and banana plugs so you can make your own.

[dannyjl]

Buckshot - I came across one of your posts from a few months ago where you mentioned monoprice.com. I checked their site tonight and found 12 gauge wire for about $13/50ft. spool. This is about 3 times cheaper than some of the other places I've seen. Was wondering about the quality? Monster cable wire goes for 5-7 times this price so I don't think I'd want to invest in that. Thanks for all the advice to everyone else.

[buckshot]

its good stuff. i'm setting up my parents new system with it. i switched from my "home theater in a box" 22 gauge wire to the monoprice 12 gauge and even with my old receiver and crappy speakers saw a dramatic improvement in clarity at all volumes. definetly worth the very low price. i had some monster cables before, an hdmi and optical cable, and have never been able to see or hear the difference between monoprice's and monster's.

monster's are scary anyway.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by dannyjl

Buckshot - I came across one of your posts from a few months ago where you mentioned monoprice.com. I checked their site tonight and found 12 gauge wire for about $13/50ft. spool. This is about 3 times cheaper than some of the other places I've seen. Was wondering about the quality? Monster cable wire goes for 5-7 times this price so I don't think I'd want to invest in that. Thanks for all the advice to everyone else.

...according to Monster...the difference is huge?!! literally!

Ordinary speaker cable never stood a chance.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by dannyjl

It's time to upgrade my wires and I'd like to add ban. plugs to my setup - just wondering what everyone here is using, especially what guage wire for a home theatre setup in a small room. Thanks in advance.

Depends on your budget, but the cheapest option might be available from the most unexpected source: Home Depot. Get some of the heavy gauge mains cables. I used to use something similar before I upgraded my cables to Nordost.

[jubaiweaponx]

i wouldnt go any higher then 12 gauge maybe even 8 but thats me

[dannyjl]

Victorvondoom88 - thanks for the great links and tutorial. I'd love to go that route and make my own ultra cables like you have! Don't know if I have the expertise to do so plus the added cost of all the extra tools leve me wondering if that's the way I would want to go. Very interesting and informative.

[victorvondoom88]

Victorvondoom88 - thanks for the great links and tutorial. I'd love to go that route and make my own ultra cables like you have! Don't know if I have the expertise to do so plus the added cost of all the extra tools leve me wondering if that's the way I would want to go. Very interesting and informative.

Your welcome but those aren't my speaker wires. I have made them before thats just a link to a tutorial I found. truthfully you only need a knife, wire strippers and a blow dryer.

[foots]

Here is what I just bought last week:

Banana Plugs

14 AWG Oxygen Free Speaker Wire

[THE STUD]

Monster Cable-the End

[ryoohki]

I bought a roll of 50 feet of 12AWG and 15 pair of Banana Plug (screw type) and costed me 60$CAD with ultra fast shipping (to Canada)...

If i browse locally a 25feet roll is about 50$ without any banana...

[Dace]

I am a loyal customer of Blue Jeans Cable (http://bluejeanscable.com/)

I purchased their 10 Gauge speaker cable along with some Banana plugs...very happy with them....fast delivery too, even though they are on the westcoast and me in the eastcoast. I also purchased 2 HDMI cables from them which I find to be of very good quality for a great price.

Give them a try.

[GooMan]

I just bought this set from Costco it includes:
1x - 6 ft braided Digital Audio Cable [looks like it is optical]
1x - 15 ft subwoofer Cable
1x - 100 ft High Performance Speaker Wire
20 Pin-Style Speaker Wire Plugs
1x - Wire Stripper
Rated for household and/ or behind the wall application

It should come in by the 17th and I will install them this weekend. I'll post my thoughts when I'm done. The nice thing is if I don't like it I can bring it to the store and they refund the purchase price plus the shipping costs.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...at2341&topnav=

[AV_Integrated]

In my experience (not opinion) Monster CIPRO cable is absolutely the best installer cable possible with a very high strand count and a cable jacket that is easy to strip, is hihgly flexible, and is durable enough to stand some wear.

Yet, the cable itself is no better or worse than most cable you will find anywhere else. I have used cabling from Blue Jeans, Monoprice, and Impact Acoustics and they just aren't as easy to work with, but the price was better.

For banana plugs:
http://www.impactacoustics.com/produ...3106&sku=29785

These plugs are excellent because they provide insulation on the back which will help prevent them from shorting out should a wire fall across the connectors or as you pull them out of a speaker or the back of your A/V receiver. I have used the all-metal type and while they are good, the risk of shorting out really bugs me.

Also, they use two screws to hold the wiring in place. No soldering. So, they are easy to install, but very secure once you have the cable in place.

In a average size rooom with a typical A/V receiver I would recommend 14 gauge cabling and call it a day.

[Gremal]

I use Alpha Core Goertz MI cables with banana terminations all around.

http://www.alphacore.com/mispeaker.html

"Many audio companies do not even manufacture their own wire; packaging and marketing the products of others instead. As a primary maker of high-tech laminated conductors for industrial electronics applications, Alpha-Core was uniquely suited to transform the promising Goertz design into reality. Using the dielectrics Polyester Terapthalate and Teflon applied around each solid rectangular conductor, we achieved an extraordinarily thin profile between the two stacked wires. To provide maximum protection while maintaining thinness, the cable sandwich is then sheathed in tough, high grade polymer.

The result is a wire with a characteristic impedance that closely matches the impedance of loudspeakers. Alpha-Core's Goertz MI wire presents 2 to 4 ohms characteristic impedance as opposed to the 50 to 200 ohms presented by even the most expensive speaker cables. This correct electrical matching results in improved stereo imaging, better clarity, less high-frequency roll off and better low frequency definition."

[Iceman_II]

12ga from Radio Shack with gold bananna plugs. I never used bananna plugs before, but after moving 4 times year before last, I installed them on the last move, and oh, what a difference it makes, no more contortions behind the TV stand trying to tighten the plastic screws.

[Iceman_II]

"Correct Electrical Matching"???

WTF???

Speaker impedance is so much more than simply resistance, it is the sum total of resistance, capacitance, and inductance. seems kind of simplistic to say that you want a wire with 2-4 ohms. Speaking of which, this kind of begs the question, where in the hell do they get this 2-4 ohm figure, is it because they are measuring the "characteristic impedance" of their wire, which may only be 10 feet long (who knows), and comparing it to a number of 50-200 ohms which is for a wire length of what?

The company that makes Alpha Core Goertz MI seems to be throwing out meaningless numbers with their "50-200 ohms" line... this number is meaningless unless you put it into context of what the resistance is per unit length, and also identify what the length is.

The bottom line is, spending big bucks on speakerwire is a lot like spending big bucks on Monster HDMI... if you want to do it, do it, and be content with yourself, just please don't try to spread your self delusion that there really is a difference to the rest of us.