I posted this in the deals section but just in case anyone is in the same situation as I am - setting up a new HT then this may be a good deal for you. FT4 cable that meets code requirements for in wall installation much cheaper even than monoprice.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/Product.a...product=2788130

They also have cat5 and RG-6 cables at similar pricing. $5 shipping. I hope this doesn't constitute advertising but I figured lots of posts about monoprice in the forums and this is even better price. Apologies if I'm wrong to post this.

Is 14 guage wire acceptable for M80's? I was thinking I needed 12 guage. I hate to be cheap when it comes to this link in the chain. I mean I know I don't need 'Monster' wire or anything oxygen free, etc... but I will shell out a bit more for 12 guage wire if I need to. What are most M80 owners using?

14 gauge should be fine (says the guy using double 14 gauge for a total thickness of ~11 gauge).

Micah, it depends on the ohm rating and distance of run your using, in some cases 16AWG would work, however, I use 12 all over.

Hi Micah,

For short runs, up to 15 feet, 14-gauge is fine. But if you absolutely want to keep resistance to an insignificant level and for longer runs up to 60 or 70 feet, go with 12-gauge.

Regards,

Alan

Wow. Kind of rare to find a deal that's even better than Monoprice!

I'm pretty sure that 'hey, look what I found!' threads are fine. At least, they come up all the time and no one has ever complained. Unless, of course, you're the owner of the business that's selling the product.

My M80's are bi-wired/amped with Canare 4S11 cable from Blue Jeans Cables. Each individually-wrapped wire in the cluster is is 14ga. No problems that I'm aware of on my 15' runs.

Buy Wire.

The M80's will only need around 10 - 12 feet of wire max. My QS8's will need around 30 feet of wire. And my VP150 will only need probably 6 foot at the most.

I love all of the 'should be good enough' comments. Nobody seems 100% sure about it. Makes me think getting the 12 guage would be the safe bet. Like I said, I'm not wanting to spend 4 grand on speakers, then worry about a measly $50 dollar difference in wire price. I'll shell out the extra for 12 guage for peace of mind any day of the week.

I bought a 500 foot spool and certainly don't need all of it. If anyone's interested in splitting the spool just let me know. I think I've seen this somewhere else in the forums but here's an interesting calculator for wire size.

http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/speakerwireselectorassistant.swf

Micah, this isn't just guesswork or personal preferences. Appropriate gauges can be calculated from the speaker impedance and length of the run. An excellent explanation by a veteran audio professional of speaker wire in general, including a table of suggested gauges, is found here . Even 16 gauge would be fine for the uses that you describe.

Well I just removed all the guess work. I went ahead and ordered a 100 foot roll of 12 awg wire from monoprice.com for $22 bucks. I've never heard of wire that's 'too thick', so now I can check that off of my 'worry list'.

Shipping takes 3 - 5 days. I put in my speaker purchase a week and a half ago. I've heard of some people getting their Factory Outlet in as little as two weeks time. If my speakers happen to beat the wire here I can't say I will be disappointed... but it will be a lil aggrivating! lol

Peter, where are you?

Mmmm, girthy wire.

Well ok, I admit that running 0 guage wire to the M80's would probably be a bit of overkill. But I don't think I'll have any problems with the 12 guage.

Micah, I've been using 14 gauge on my system with no probs. The M80s, as with most people here, are located only a few feet from the AVR as is the VP150. Some people may opt for 12 gauge to "err on the side of caution" but if you check on some of the various speaker manufacturers sites, you'll see that they generally call for 12 gauge in only the longest of runs. You'll have no probs using 12 gauge fo-sho.

Exactly why I went ahead with it. I figured at $22 bucks I couldn't go wrong. I think the 14 guage was like $19 bucks. The extra $3 dollars isn't going to set me back one iota.