Anyone using Romex for speaker wire? I have a 100' roll of 12 awg wire and would rather not spend the money on speaker wire. It's a 30' run with a 325w amp.
Thanks
Jordon
Thanks
Jordon
Sure! it's the best budget speaker cable you can get.
But it's ugly and it's stiff. Did I mention that it's ugly?
John F. Allen has a paper:
http://www.hps4000.com/pages/spksamps/speaker_wire.pdf
The best set-up is a 3 by 14AWG + ground.
You connect the Red & Black together for one lead.
The White & bare together for the other.
So now you have a 11AWG pair and the 3 conductor is twisted which is good.
But it's ugly and it's stiff. Did I mention that it's ugly?
John F. Allen has a paper:
http://www.hps4000.com/pages/spksamps/speaker_wire.pdf
The best set-up is a 3 by 14AWG + ground.
You connect the Red & Black together for one lead.
The White & bare together for the other.
So now you have a 11AWG pair and the 3 conductor is twisted which is good.
Only if it's been cryo treated and coated with silver complete with gold connectors!!! (That's a joke son....)
It works but it is stiff and not WAF... There are several tips for using CAT 5 network cable as speaker wire around too....
It works but it is stiff and not WAF... There are several tips for using CAT 5 network cable as speaker wire around too....
behind the wall s/b fine , otherwise multistrand will be better for running inside the room. Solid wire does not do flex very well, and may harden and fail if abused. BTW extension power cord wire can be had cheaply at most builders stores.
I installed Romex in my house 30 years ago. I have three runs about 50’ each leading to the garage, deck and bedrooms. I used 14 AWG with one wire for both speaker commons.
When I upgraded my sound system with a Yamaha receiver, the bridged outputs prevented the use of a three wire speaker network. After adding a single ended power amp a ground loop introduced noise, which was audible on all the remote speakers. The solution was a BGW 250E Power Amplifier with transformer inputs to drive the network.
When I upgraded my sound system with a Yamaha receiver, the bridged outputs prevented the use of a three wire speaker network. After adding a single ended power amp a ground loop introduced noise, which was audible on all the remote speakers. The solution was a BGW 250E Power Amplifier with transformer inputs to drive the network.
Since you've already got it, you might as well use it. But if you think there's a good chance you will use that Romex for something else, you might consider this:
I use "low voltage/landscape" 12 gauge zip wire. It's about the same price as equivalent Romex, but the wire is stranded and thus flexible, and not a problem lying on the living room floor (okay, I'm a bachelor). I solder about a 1 inch piece of 14 gauge-or-so solid copper wire on the ends for connections, and put heatshrink tubing over the solder joint.
I use "low voltage/landscape" 12 gauge zip wire. It's about the same price as equivalent Romex, but the wire is stranded and thus flexible, and not a problem lying on the living room floor (okay, I'm a bachelor). I solder about a 1 inch piece of 14 gauge-or-so solid copper wire on the ends for connections, and put heatshrink tubing over the solder joint.
It's going in the garage and is being stapled to the walls and rafters. I will solder some stranded wire to the ends of it to make it easier to work with.
I figured I would only use new wire since old house wire has already been burnt in at 60hz, and you never get rid of that hum! 😉
I figured I would only use new wire since old house wire has already been burnt in at 60hz, and you never get rid of that hum! 😉
- Status
- Not open for further replies.