Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Proper Speaker Wire

Bradley, the only factor of significance here would be that the resistance of the the speaker wire should be no more than 5% of the lowest impedance of your speakers. For 4 ohm speakers and a 6 foot run, 20 ga would be sufficient. 16 ga lamp cord would be ample for your purposes and would allow you to have money to spend on something of audible significance.

anonymous

my denon 1602 does play 4 ohm speakers (i have done it with my dads' old speakers), and so yes the 1802 will play 4 ohm speakers.

I don't think it is true that wire does not make a difference. If you use el cheapo crap that costs 5 cents a foot there will be noise and signal loss. good wires will make a difference. I think what Alan meant is that you shouldn't spend a ridiculous amount of money on speaker wire, because at a certain point they stop making a difference. I'll never buy 25,000$ pure gold cables, that's for sure, and I think Alan will do the same!

I agree that cables do make a difference, and can have differing impact on sound reproduction. But as you have stated, there is, and should be a limit to your enthusasim in this arena.

While it is easy for manufacturers of other pieces (amps for example) to discuss the design principles of their work and logically defend and agree, cable designers are many times not as placated. It has been said that there is an air of "huckster" surrounding the cable business, and in some cases rightfully so. I have a couple of systems, one midfi, and one hifi. I have moved the cables between the two, and can hear an audbile difference. But I would be hard pressed to explain in a technical fashion why there is a difference . As an engineer, this is most frustrating too....

I have searched the web for some affordable speaker cables. While I haven't tried any yet, here are the best prices and web-sites I've found for what I would consider to be "good" cables:

DIY - 12 gauge (spades or plugs) 8 ft pair $40
Straight Wire Rhythm 8 ft pair $48 (spade) www.audioadvisor.com
AudioQuest Type 4 8 ft pair $70 (spade) www.audioadvisor.com
Kimber Kable 4PR 8 ft pair $70 (spade) www.audioadvisor.com
Straight Wire Stage 8 ft pair $84 (spade) www.audioadvisor.com
T-14 Silver Sonic 8 ft pair $90 (spade) www.anchoraud.com/default.htm
T-14 Silver Sonic 8 ft pair $95 (spade) www.audioc.com
T-14 Silver Sonic 8 ft pair $105 (banana) www.audioc.com
AudioQuest Type 4 8 ft pair $90 (banana) www.audioadvisor.com