# Forum Home Renovation Home Theatres  Stereo/Home theatre speaker wiring

## barney118

I have a few parts to my home theatre set up and was curious on the speaker wiring if its worth buying a roll from ebay but not sure on size or if it really matters. 
I have some Wharfedale floor speakers and a Onkyo amp so music is the start.

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## simopimo

As long as it's OFC (oxygen free) cable, it doesn't make a huge difference. Don't buy the cheapest cable you can find, but don't buy the most expensive either. 
Even 16AWG cable will be OK if it's of reasonable quality. No need to get shafted buying expensive cables, but don't buy cheap crap either. 
Sent from my MZ601 using Tapatalk HD

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## barney118

cheers will look into the OFC  :2thumbsup:

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## Moondog55

Law of diminishing returns but I try and use 2.5mm>2; below that the resistance can reduce SPL over long lengths of cable and above that the costs skyrocket.
I usually make my speaker cable from lengths of 15A flex for long runs ( 5metres would be considered a long run ) but I have used 1.5mm>2 stuff for shorter runs of <3metres and this is where I use salvaged 2core flex from old vacumn cleaners and the like. If you are running cables through walls tho I would go with professional 4mm>2 stuff as you only get one chance to do it and it should be done right
If using 3core power flex I solder the Negative and Earth together for the return run to get the return resistance as low as possible.
For some reason prebuilt flex is usually cheaper than cable or flex off the roll and much cheaper sometimes than dedicated "Speaker wire"

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## davegol

I bought bulk speaker cable from thecableconnection.com.au when I renovated. VERY reasonable prices, and great service (fwiw I have no affiliation - just a happy customer  :Biggrin:  ). they recommended me away from their top-shelf stuff and I took the regular cheap 2-core OFC purple cable. awesome.

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## ChocDog

There is some good info here regarding cable size and max recommended run lengths (against speaker load). Speaker Wire 
Based on this, I just went with some plain-jane 16 gauge cable with an additional sheath for in-wall installs. Its manufactured by Tycab. Selbys sell it for $130 for 100m.  Selby | 100m Home Theatre in Wall Speaker Cable 2 Core 16 AWG LMC2VL100 - Pre Cut & Bulk Lengths - Speaker Cable - Cables 
Or you can buy it from the mob below (PVC Insulated and Sheathed"). Normally its $110 from them but they were selling it at $70/100m a couple of months ago. Theyd probably do it for the same price again.  cable and wire Audio Cable

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## simopimo

Good advice there guys. 
Another point worth mentioning - my neighbour who is an A/V consultant and installer (for business, churches and schools - no small scale stuff here) said that for most installations, the issue of cable quality is never an issue, and they said you can get away with standard figure 8 cable, or TPS, or their favourite which is the low voltage 12V outdoor lighting cable which is surprisingly durable and thick - it's supposed to be really good.  I'm using this nowadays. 
I still like the Selby 16AWG cable though.  Great value by the reel and it's thin enough to make it easy to cable through walls etc.

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## SirOvlov

What simopimo said, unless your going full audiofile, figure 8 12v lighting cable is perfect. It is also nice though to have some pricey cables if for small runs that are in view.  
Of course this all depends on what system you have and how much you wanna spend but the 10% rule is always good; total cost of equipment then 10% spent on  top on cables/interconnects.

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