Speaker cable shielding? - Axiom Message Boards

Hey guys,

Noob here who is about to get some Axioms soon. I was curious what speaker cables everyone is using and yes I did see a similar thread in HT. Was considering getting a 50-100ft spool of 12ga and line it against the wall or possibly under the carpet.

My question is, what gauge cables are used inside Axiom speakers? I read somewhere that its no use getting large expensive cables if the internal wiring of the speakers use lesser cables. Also, is shielding an important factor with speaker wire or is it just marketing BS? I leaning towards just getting a large spool.

So fellas, is a 12ga spool the way to go or get some of the cables from the Axiom store which are shielded but cost more?

Thanks

welcome to the board..

shielding is somewhat BS. i mean, i am sure it doesnt hurt, but is it beneficial enough to warrant its higher price, definitely not. the only time i could see it really necessary, is if you were gonna run speaker wire closely adjacent to electrical wiring that is carrying high current. other than that, dont bother.

good rule of thumb is to try and get 12g wire for runs over 30 feet. anything less, and 14 will be fine. and you can even use 16g for runs under 10 feet. i just went to home depot and got their basic 14g bulk wire at .27 cents a foot, and ran that to all my speakers. terminate the ends with a basic banana plug, and you will be good to go.

as far as what gauge is 'in' the speaker.. i have no idea.. but, rest assured, these are well made speakers, so i would guess it is of above average quality.

bigjohn

Random thoughts :

- the big advantage of the Axiom cable is that it is high quality AND 12 gauge AND very flexible... normally you only get 2 out of 3. Twelve-gauge wire is the best for long runs (I forget the guidelines, think it's anything over 30 feet ?) but normally is a bit of a pain to work with (hence the Axiom premium stuff is an option)

- you will be told things like "the wire in the voice coil is very fine, you don't need anything heavier" which is total BS -- the idea is that you want the impedence/resistance of the speaker wire to be essentially zero compared to the impedence/resistance of the voice coil, otherwise you don't get the full voltage into the voice coil (bad)

- the guidelines about "16 gauge up to 10 feet, 14 gauge up to 25-30 feet, 12 gauge up to 60 feet" or whatever are meant to give you that "near zero compared to the voice coil" impedence -- can someone post a good link ?

- speakers often have smaller wire gauges inside but that doesn't make a difference because the length of the wire is so short. 50 feet of 16 gauge wire would be a problem; 1 foot of 16 gauge wire is not a problem

Most people get their speaker wire from Home Depot. General consensus is that it all sounds the same -- paying more gets you three things :

- lower oxygen means it won't corrode as quickly (cheap wire sometimes turns green after a year but that's rare these days)

- more expensive wire tends to be easier to strip and solder if you're putting ends on the cables

- some of the better wires (eg. Axiom's) have very fine strands and so are more flexible and harder to damage

My first thought would be if you're willing to spend money for better speaker wire get it from Axiom -- theirs seems pretty good -- if not, just go to Home Depot or equivalent.

Make sure whatever wire you get is polarized (ie either insulation or wire colour lets you tell one wire from the other at both ends, or you'll be cursing for hours). Note that Monster 16ga speaker wire is not polarized but Radio Shack 16ga speaker wire IS polarized.

- it's possible that you can get away with smaller wire for surrounds where the bass is being handled by the sub but I have never read anything to confirm this. Lots of people (myself included) have used 16 ga wire for long runs to the surround speakers (generally out of desperation because Rat Shack and Home Depot were closed) -- never had a problem but I can't recommend it in good conscience.

I use 12 gauge SoundKing. Not pretty, IMHO, but it does the job. It's surprisingly flexible for a thick wire. You might find the less expensive 12 gauge Carol In-Wall better looking; might not. I've never used it so I cannot speak to it's flexibility.

the Axiom is more expensive than both, but IMHO is much better looking, and is reputed to be very flexible also.

Speaker wire is unshielded, including the Axiom. That's just a nice thick rubberized jacket on the Axiom wire.

There is varied opinion as to whether or not expensive speaker wire makes a difference in how your speakers sound. Some are in the "any wire will do" camp, and other's are in the "my system sounds better with expensive wire" camp. I'm in the former. IMHO, just get the spool of decent 12 gauge that looks best to you, and be happy.

I use Axiom's 12 ga. for my speaker runs, not because of any audible difference, but I needed 12ga. for my surround runs, it looks good (yes, the Axiom brand banding on the cable is worth it to me) and the jacket on it is like butter... it makes you just want to touch it... incredibly easy to work with.

If you're going 30 ft or further, maybe look to 12ga. - shorter than that, 14ga. Those are good, safe estimates. No boutique wire or anything, just get something that looks easy to work with (and doesn't stink to high hell like the 12ga. I bought once)

Bren R.

In reply to:
and the jacket on it is like butter... it makes you just want to touch it...

OH GAD! On this board we've already got port molesters, and driver pokers. Now we've got cable fondlers. A VERY strange bunch of weirdos around here.

An interesting piece of information: at one point the internal wiring for the Axiom AX lineup was Sound King. My AX3's needed new drivers, and as they have lifetime warranty, I called and ordered a new set. When I took them apart, they were very well designed and built.

I also took advantage of a pair of AX2's I bought, and upgraded the parts I did not like - binding posts, etc.

In reply to:
OH GAD! On this board we've already got port molesters, and driver pokers. Now we've got cable fondlers. A VERY strange bunch of weirdos around here.

Trying to take some heat off BigJohn... between the grill and port jokes, he's getting slammed pretty heavy.

Bren R.

Hash, what you read was mostly hogwash; the foot or two of wire inside the speaker terminals doesn't have to be of thick gauge. The overall resistance of the speaker wire isn't drastically affected by the wire at the very end of the line.

Speaker wire, including Axiom, as Jack points out, generally isn't shielded. The power carried along a speaker wire is far too strong(about a thousand times stronger than that in an interconnecting cable)to be affected by any interference field found in the home.

A study of this discussion on speaker wire by a well-respected veteran audio professional is worthwhile.

Awesome link!

Thanks for everyone's input

Speaking of all the weirdos on this forum, this is a bit OT but ah thats ok.

Newbie- "I want an amp that will really power my speakers"

Axiom Forum addict- "Id sure like to push her drivers!"

Alright. I'll stop

In reply to:
Trying to take some heat off BigJohn

thanks bren.. i need all the help i can get.

but i have to admit.. when bray was working his STF-3 with the 16Hz tones, i sure wanted to flip that baby over and see how much the woofer was traveling. its one thing to fondle your own speakers in your own house, but to mess with another mans in HIS home.... terrible..

bigjohn

Wait til you see an EP600 in action. Take off the grill and you can bask in the full glory of the piston-like motion of the woofer!