2 questions for the group:

1. Is it OK to use a different gauge speaker wire for one of the surround speakers than the wire for all the other speakers?

2. Is it OK to temporarily tie 3 lengths of speaker wire together, wrapping the connections with electrical tape?

I ask these questions because I was wiring my speakers and ran out of 12 gauge wire for the run to the left surround. I'm waiting for another order of wire to arrive. In the meantime, I plan to do the above in order to continue setting up the system.

1. Yes-however, use the higher gauge wire for the longer runs.
2. No and Yes -- sounds like crap, but it works. I heard a massive improvement in my total piece of crap speakers (I mean total piece of crap-shelf system speakers with Radio Shack drivers crap) when I went from tied together and electrical taped 18 gauge to 16 gauge. Same type of wire-Radio Shack.

1. No problem so long as you don't use a low enough guage over a large enough area to dramatically add impedence.

2. It won't hurt anything but I wouldn't leave it that way, personally. It will work as a temp solution, though.