Speaker Wire

[dubell]

Not sure if this is the place to ask, but here goes. I am finishing my basement and have plans for installing 5.1 surround. I wired 16 guage. The backs and fronts are all at 30 feet of wire. Depending who I ask or what website I read, I get different opinions on the following:

1) Gauge - 12, 14, 16......I get a different answer no matter where I go.
2) Length - I read some places where I should exceed 30' for 16 gauage, then I read 48'.
3) Lengths for fronts - I read some places that I should not exceed 10' for fronts. I am at close to 30' due to not being able to go directly to the speakers (I have to go up to ceiling, down the corner and over).
4) Equal length - I read that wires should be equal, otherwise you'll hear the disparity. Doesn't electricity travel the speed of light?

I have 2 prominent home theater center's near me. One says all they install is 14 gauge and I should do the same. The other says to install 16 guage. Then I call the other place, and they say, "You should be ok".

Regarding all the other issues, the place where I bought my speakers say, go with 16 gauge, 30' is fine on 16 gauge, 30' is not a problem with front speakers, and equal length doesn't matter.

What do you think?......dare I ask ;)

Doug

[giddonah]

1. while we also run 14 guage almost exclusively I'm not sure that I'd go through the trouble to replace the wire if it's in. My question would be more about how much power you're going to put down it than how far it's run. If you're not going over 100w/ch I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen lots of people run their speakers on 18guage wire. Also, I'd base it on what kind of speakers and amp you're putting in. If you plan on going high end, then yes, I'd spring for some heavier speaker wire, for the fronts and center at least.

2. we will take 14 guage over 100' with no problems. I don't think length is an issue for you.

3. rubbish in my opinion.

4. the equal length thing is an issue. I don't think an average person would be able to tell the difference, but you can measure it. To be THX certified, all speakers will have the same length of speaker cable. The extra for the closer speakers is bunched up, but not coiled. Some speaker cable manufacturers will make different components for different cables depending on how long they are in order to make up for the differences. Electricity theoretically travels at the speed of light, but in the real world, it's more like 60-70% of c. 70% of 982,080,000 ft/s is still pretty quick. Again, unless you're going for ultra high end, I wouldn't worry about it.

I say don't let audio snobs ruin your enjoyment of your theater. In the end, there is NO absolute measurement of what is good sound. In the end it all comes down to what you like. We spent four hours one day calibrating some LCR's, but in the end all we could do is ask the homeowner if he liked it. He wanted more bass. Just put it in right, make good connections and if you don't like what you hear, come back.

[dubell]

Thanks giddonah. That is pretty much what my gut is telling me. I am not looking to go high end. This will be in the basement. I want it to be nice, but not that nice. I will be taking my current 4 year old receiver (Denon AVR-1603) and Sony DVD from upstairs to the basement. I did buy new speakers....all Paradigm for under $900 (Titans for the front, cinema series for the back, and a center).

Some feedback:

1) I don't know much about this stuff, so I don't know how much power I am going to put down. I think my Denon AVR-1603 is 50 watts.

For #4, I think all of my wire is within 3 feet of being equal. I know for my fronts, I added an additional 15 feet to the right to make it equal the left.........What do you mean by don't coil it, bunch it?

Thanks a lot...I feel better already!

Doug

[giddonah]

coiling it makes for magnetic fields. You want to zig-zag it to take up the slack. In 90% or even more of our installs we don't worry about the difference in cable length. I wouldn't worry about yours, but since you've already pulled it, just zig zag it up and down the wall or something. Anything but coiling it.

It's another thing I wouldn't worry about in my own home until I was installing >$50k worth of audio gear. And that's not going to happen anytime soon.:(