Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Looking for comments on bulk 12 gauge speaker wire

Happy to be of help ...
Bill's in the mail ...

I recently found some leftover LV cable at home and thought it or 12 gauge LV cable would work well for audio. I looked at 12 gauge at Home Depot which was about $30.00 for 100'. Sure it's black, but for some home applications it would work well such as on dark hardwood floors, carpet, or 'hidden'. Not sure if it's 'oxygen free' or whatnot, but its got a high strand count and audio signals should be well within the normal 12V that this cable is typically used with.

Any thoughts?

Hobart, that cable is advertised for use with 12v landscaping lights and also outdoor speakers, but any two conductor power cable also has to be suitable for use with 220v lines that have a voltage peak a little over 300. Audio amplifiers, which typically have a power supply section maximum voltage around 40, are no problem.

Also, all commercial copper wire is better than 99.9% pure, so don't worry about either oxygen or whatnot. It's often not understood that a speaker wire simply serves as a guide rail for the electromagnetic wave traveling along its outside. The energy that penetrates into the wire and latches onto the electrons for guiding is lost as heat and doesn't directly contribute to the sound. There's no possible way for using "lighting wire" to be harmful to the sound(or any other wire to be more helpful).

I didn't see any issues by using LV cable. I also found one mention of it by Roger Russell ( former McIntosh R&D ) at this website:
http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

Also of interest is Russell's mention of Home Depot 'speaker wire' which oxidized after 6 months.

I tried to find the cable's voltage rating to see if it would be NEC or NFPA -approved for in-wall installation, but I could not find it. I suspect it's rated for 150 volts at best, even with it's relatively large dialectric (insulation).

In the meantime, I found what would appear to be a better alternative at Amazon with their 'Metra' wire offerings. 2x50' of 10 gauge was about $30.00 with free shipping. 12 gauge was a few dollars more.

I got my speakers and the axiom speaker cable. The cable is very nice-for 90 cents a foot it's a great deal. It is laying flat, was easy to connect to my banana plugs, and has a sturdy feel. It comes on a spool that my 7 month old thinks is the coolest toy ever.

Hi: I ordered 62 feet,two runs of 31 feet and they sent me 71 feet, all on a spool, bonus!! Huck

i plan on getting 160ft from bluejeanscable.com because they are rating for inwall installation and I really like how the PVC is around 2 individually wrapped 12 guage. Their standard cable is grey jacket with black and white interal 12 guage wires.

at only $0.38/ft i think thats a killer deal, $60 for 160ft of 12 guage thats rated for in wall installation?

-Hutz

I was looking at BlueJeanCable initially, but then graphicsman suggested I check out monoprice.com. They have some really cheap cable there and it seems to look normal, so I'll give it a try. Also the cheapest banana plugs I've seen that actually look good.

I purchased most of my cable from monoprice, and some from bluejeans and have been very happy with the quality.

Monoprice is amazing!