What is speaker wire

The purity and amount of copper used has been increased from the previous Equator version that we reviewed in , too. Atlas believes that less oxygen results in better sound quality, and while OFC conductors are claimed to improve conductivity, the increased purity of copper should result in a cleaner overall sound. Read the full review: Atlas Equator 2. The Rocket 22 continues the fine work of its Award-winning sibling and, in a suitably talented set-up, the difference in price between the two can be justified by the improvement in scale, detail and authority.

The conductors use strands arranged in concentric layers, where each layer spirals in the opposite direction to the one below it. For the money, there isn't much to grumble about as far as the XT25 is concerned.

It allows for an extremely insightful and detailed sound, which is up there with the very best at this level. Music is encouraged to display an airy sense of openness with plenty of subtlety and sophistication.

It's the kind of cable that would be a good option for warm-sounding, less spacious set-ups. Along with low DC resistance, low-loss dielectric and its near entirely oxygen-free copper make-up, QED says its cables measure better with audible sonic improvements when compared with other hi-fi speaker cables.

If you're looking for a speaker cable that can fit into tight spaces, then the Clearwater is definitely an option. It's terminated in attractive dinky plugs and is covered in an almost jelly-like jacket which helps with flexibility. We were impressed with its ability to keep music sounding balanced, involving and cohesive while it also helps deliver plenty of power and depth from low frequencies.

Add natural-sounding vocals and lashings of detail into the mix and you've got yourself quite the speaker cable. Read the full review: Van den Hul The Clearwater. What Hi-Fi? Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies.

Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence. The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire. Thicker wire presents less resistance to current flow. Thick wire 12 or 14 gauge is recommended for long wire runs, high power applications, and low-impedance speakers 4 or 6 ohms.

For relatively short runs less than 50 feet to 8 ohm speakers, 16 gauge wire will usually do just fine. To figure out how much speaker wire you need, run a string from your receiver or amplifier location to each of the speaker locations.

Measure the string, and then add a few extra feet to provide some slack for easier connection to your gear. Attaching bare wire ends to a home theater receiver is a real pain. If you're going to run speaker wire inside your walls or ceiling, you'll need UL-rated speaker wire labeled CL2 or CL3.

If you want to install your outdoor speaker wire underground, you'll need wire rated for direct burial. Take a look at our comprehensive in-wall wiring guide for more information. In-wall wire is available with two conductors or four. With a 4-conductor cable, you pull a single cable over the long distance from your amplifier or receiver to an in-wall volume control in another room. You can then run 2-conductor cables from the volume control to each of the stereo speakers in that location.

Four-conductor wire is also good for connecting stereo-input speakers. Look at our wide selection of Audioquest speaker cables. Read the mostly 5-star customer reviews. People rave about the quality of the construction and the sonic improvements they hear. From left to right: bare wire, pin connectors, spade connectors, single banana connectors, dual banana connector.

Speakers have one of two different types of speaker wire terminals — spring clips and binding posts see illustration below. Spring clips are very easy to work with. Simply press down on the clip, insert the speaker wire, and release. The spring-loaded mechanism holds the wire in place. Spring clip terminals can accept bare wire and pin connectors, but not spade connectors, banana plugs, or dual-banana plugs. A spade connector slides around the collar and is secured once you screw the collar back down.

See our complete selection of connectors. In this step-by-step guide, we show you how to set up your home theater receiver. Learn about placement, connections, calibration, network setup, and remote control. Looking for tips on connecting surround speakers? Hoping to avoid a tangle of cables tripping up anyone who crosses your living room? These guidelines should help. Learn how to conceal the wires hanging down from your wall-mounted TV. Hide the wires running to your rear speakers.

A comprehensive DIY guide, with videos. Find out what it all means! Using a 7-channel receiver to power five speakers? That extra power need not go to waste. See how to put the two unused amplifier channels to work for better sound. For free personalized advice, call Our Advisors have listened to most of the speakers we carry, and can help you make the best choice for your system.

Close contact box. Call This wire comprises of three interior wires, including an insulated hot wire, insulated neutral, and bare earth wire. The three wires are then insulated by an outer plastic covering just like with NM cables. These two types of electrical wire are used for high-voltage wiring through conduit. They comprise of at least two insulated wires. The wires are enclosed in an outer plastic sheathing.

Each insulation is color-coded. Besides, these cables are protected by a plastic or metallic tubing. In this type of electrical wire, T represents thermoplastic, H represents heat-resistant, HH represents high heat resistance, W represents wet locations, and N represents nylon-coating. This is a type of electrical wire used in wiring low-voltage circuits, especially those below 50 vols. They are insulated and mainly come as a twisted pair. One of the wires is a hot shielded cable and the other is a neutral shielded cable.

Coaxial cable is another type of electrical wire that comprises of a shielded solid wire surrounded by a bare braided wire. The two wires are then shielded by an exterior cable. This type of cable is typically used for connecting satellite dishes and aerials to decoders or TV sets. Coaxial cables carry extremely low voltage and hardly cause any shock.

These are a type of electrical wire used for internet and landline telephone connections. You have to use something to connect your amplifier and speakers. So, what is the difference between speaker wire and plain old electrical wire?

Not as much as you might think. In theory, you could use anything that will pass electric current from A to B — the cable that is used to power your lamp, for example, or a wire coat hanger…. This comes in different sizes and at various price points; you just need to decide which is the right choice for your equipment.

You will hear many opinions that you need to buy an expensive audiophile speaker wire to get the best sound in your room. However, if you think it helps, you should buy whatever you are comfortable with. One advantage of buying wire that is designed to be used for speakers is that one side will be clearly marked with a line or with ridges. This makes it easier to connect positive to positive and negative to negative at the amplifier and speaker. It will also have a flexible and resilient outer insulation that makes it easy to install — and reduces interference from other electrical signals.

However, you will also see other features of dedicated speaker wire that are supposed to improve performance. Some of these include:. There have been arguments raging for years about if it is possible to hear the difference between different types of speaker wire.

Some brands offer speaker wires with connectors already fitted at each end of the wire. This is why copper has always been used as the core conductor for electrical and speaker wires. Copper is an excellent low resistance conductor for electricity.

Speaker wire should also have low capacitance and inductance — but these are less important than resistance. The insulation should also protect the core from electrical interference and oxidization — and not deteriorate over time and contaminate the core. There are two main things to look for when buying speaker wire; the material that is used for the internal conductor and the thickness of the wire. There are other differences that you will see, but most of it is marketing smoke and mirrors to make you buy the wire.

There are 3 main conducting materials commonly used to make speaker wire you may find more exotic versions if you look hard enough :.

It is slightly confusing for me at least because the higher the gauge, the thinner the cable. This has always seemed a bit counter-intuitive to me. Although the AWG specifies a wide range of sizes, the most common sizes for speaker wire are probably 12, 14, and gauge.

These will be ideal for most wiring duties in an average home theater and stereo music system. I would like to say that this standard is recognized around the world. There are several different wire gauge standards used worldwide.

Here is a wire gauge comparison download which might be useful if you want to compare wire sizes around the world. In the UK, speaker wire is often measured by cross-sectional area in square millimeters. This is not the same as the diameter. And, sometimes the AWG is quoted. Here is a chart that shows the comparison of the most common AWG speaker wire sizes and cross-sectional areas:.

For example, 1. The gauge of speaker wire is the most important feature when deciding what to buy. Because as the wire gets thicker, the resistance decreases. And, to get the best audio performance, we want the resistance to be below a certain level. If you need long cable runs, then it is more important to use thicker wire to keep the resistance low. Depending on the length of the speaker wire that you need, a thinner speaker cable may have the same audio performance as a thicker one.

But if you need to run a cable for a longer distance then, yes, a thicker speaker wire might be better.