Buy Flat Speaker Cable

Review by Jason Heiss:

Exactly what I expected, a roll of fairly flat speaker cable for running under carpet, etc. I ran it under an area rug across our living room for rear speakers and it does not create a noticable bump. The cable is probably about 1mm thick.

Review by James Lin:

I uploaded a photo to the gallery above comparing the Acoustic Research PR361 to regular 16AWG cable and in-wall 16AWG cable. As you can see, the Acoustic Research cable isn’t really much thinner than regular 16AWG cabling. However, the benefit comes from the flat, rectangular shape of the cable that makes it much easier to lay across a living room floor and under a rug without curling or twisting up. It also feels a bit heavier than regular cable so once you lay it out, it’ll stay put better than lighter cables.

Pros:

- Flat, rectangular shape is much, much easier to work with because it doesn’t twist up as easily.

- Feels a bit heavier than regular cable so it’ll stay put once you lay it out.

- Despite being a “special” thin cable, it’s actually cheaper than the regular cables that you’ll find at brick & mortar stores.

Cons:

- Not wafer thin like I had hoped, but still good enough.

Review by Florida Bum:

[I posted two pictures for this product: One shows the relative sizes of tape and connector; the other shows part of the installation]

I purchased two rolls of this product to allow me to hang my speakers in the corners of my great room. On one side, this tape/wire was run along the baseboard, around a doorway, and up the corner of a wall. On the other speaker the wire was run along the baseboard, under the carpet, and up the wall.

The product is about 0.5mm thick and consists of four layers. In normal usage, the pink/orange layer is a plastic cover for the adhesive – this is what you strip off so the tape can stick to the wall. Then comes a thin clear adhesive film behind which lie the two strips of copper wire. The copper wires make up the third layer. They are very thin but about 5mm wide (guesstimate) each. Finally, the fourth layer is a white plastic backing, which protects the wires and helps blend the tape with the wall.

General consensus:

A good system – not invisible, but unobtrusive on a white wall. My wall is a semi-gloss white and the tape is somewhat glossy, so it looked pretty good. Probably appears more visible on a flat-gloss wall. Adhesion was fine – when I goofed and had to start over, pieces of paint came off with the tape. Definitely want to make sure you are doing it right the first time, although it wasn’t “rip the entire paint off the wall”. It looks really good along the baseboard, and I would recommend you do it there if possible. Can’t feel it under the carpet at all. Running along the corner of the wall did not seem to look bad, but it’s not quite as nice along the top of the doorway – not horrible, but of course it’s more visible. I think a nice flat paint will solve that problem.

Finally, I used the supplied connectors to interface with normal speaker wire. They do the job, but they’re not as small as they could be and they are not optimized for the flat wire – you have to cut the wires down the center to create two 2.5mm strips that are then put on top of each other to fit in the connector. Also, I did not care for stripping the adhesive layer from the wires to ensure good contact in the connector. This last part may be something we have to live with because of the need for the adhesive, but the connector could be constructed with a 5mm wide flat opening instead of a circular opening.

Pros:

Thin – even when folding over to turn corners, it’s not that thick

Easy to work with

Sticks well to interior paint

Blends well with white walls

Works great as speaker wire

Cons:

Expensive – don’t screw up at a dollar a foot

Connectors are too big (appearance-wise)

Connectors are not optimal for flat wire

Recommendation:

If you are using this inside a house and especially if you can run this along the baseboard, the product does its job. It’s expensive for wire, but much cheaper and easier than fishing wires through walls. Be sure to take your time when applying the tape, and don’t goof like I did: think carefully where you want it to start and end BEFORE applying it.

UPDATE 2008-03-06:

The wires have been up for some time now, and there *has* been a minor loss of adhesion at certain places along the wire – about three or four places (approximately 1/2 inch each) along the 20-25 feet installed. I placed some double-stick tape in these places and it seems to be holding. The adhesive doesn’t seem to work quite as well as it should when the wires are applied to semi-gloss paint.

Review by F.O.:

I purchased this item because I didn’t want to run a wire behind the wall. It worked like a charm and it is virtually invisible. If people here have given bad reviews is because they didn’t install it properly.

I stuck it to a painted (eggshell finish) drywall down to the baseboard. It looks great adhered to the baseboard as it followed its contours. Once finished, I painted over it with the same paint (2 coats), and it can barely be seen.

I did not use the provided connectors which is probably why my connection was such a success. The connectors that come with it are bulky and way too big. I soldered the ends to the speaker wire provided with my system and it worked flawlessly. I only used this expensive wire from the floor to the speakers, and used the regular wire underneath the baseboards leading to the receiver.

I would certainly recommend this product to someone who knows how to solder the ends. I would also recommend using a vertical level to draw a straight line up the wall as a guide so you don’t get any “bumps” on the wire. It looks great once it has been painted.

Review by Lisa M. Fischer:

I think this speaker wire is great, I have nothing bad to say! I was so happy that the company sent me 2 50ft spools for free… I picked the incorrect freight and they ended up shipping a very slow way and I was scared this was not going to get to me on time, so I called the company and they just said we will take care of this for you and sent me some wire at no charge, hey.. I will order from these guys again.. that meant a LOT! Ended up working out fine. Happy with everything!

Review by James A. Harger:

A quality 16 gauge, clear, flat wire that is easily hidden under base boards, mouldings or carpet.