What do you guys like for internal wiring for speakers? I am not looking at high buck snake oil products however.
I have used Teflon coated wire of small gauge when building tube amps and I really liked the coating for not melting when soldering and its ruggedness. I don't see it in 14 or 16 gauge however.
I see some folks use regular speaker wire etc.
I have used Teflon coated wire of small gauge when building tube amps and I really liked the coating for not melting when soldering and its ruggedness. I don't see it in 14 or 16 gauge however.
I see some folks use regular speaker wire etc.
My favorite is solid wire with Teflon insulation (stranded sometimes has issues with breakage near the stripping point and doesn't stay in place as neatly). Silver plated is fine, and with a 2% silver solder, makes outstanding joints. Thick stuff, I bite the bullet and use stranded copper. Home Depot at 6 cents a foot works as well as any of the snake oil stuff.
urrrh, i use #16 stranded Teflon -- but I have a "Stripmaster" -- you can get these with blades for Teflon. I also use CAT5. I use RG-174/U for short shielded runs -- it has somewhat higher attenuation than RG-58/U, but is very flexible, and I have a spool of it!
I second SY's wire choices but like Cardas for signal wires. The trick to soldering stranded wire so it doesn't break is to leave a dime's width of unsoldered wire between the soldered joint and the insulation. Lockheed-Martin used to use this for QC checks for their electronic assemblies...maybe they still do.
My favorite stripper for teflon-insulation wire is the Patco thermal stripper from Digi-Key.
My favorite stripper for teflon-insulation wire is the Patco thermal stripper from Digi-Key.
How long a run.
How many watts /
I think it's easy to overkill.
These copper electric wires are very conductive !
For short runs @under say 100watts, I use 18ga. lamp cord.
For longer runs up to 25 feet, 16ga.
16ga. can be hard to work with with 'standard' connectors.
Longer than 25 foot runs are inspected for ways to shorten the speaker wire.
How many watts /
I think it's easy to overkill.
These copper electric wires are very conductive !
For short runs @under say 100watts, I use 18ga. lamp cord.
For longer runs up to 25 feet, 16ga.
16ga. can be hard to work with with 'standard' connectors.
Longer than 25 foot runs are inspected for ways to shorten the speaker wire.
Thanks guys! The link to the PTFE coated wires is a good price. I do like the idea of solid wire for working with.
Petemoore I was talking about inside the speaker but your comments are well taken and still apply.
Thanks again.
Petemoore I was talking about inside the speaker but your comments are well taken and still apply.
Thanks again.
I like the Sommer Magellan coaxial speaker cables, although they seem to be more available in Europe than Stateside. Mini RG-8 is a pretty good alternative at 16 gauge. Regular RG-8 comes in at 11 gauge, but it's a real pain in the *** to handle.
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