How to Wire Speakers
How to Wire Speakers
If you have ever wondered why speakers don’t come with wire then read on……
The type of speaker wire you will need to use will vary depending on distance between the source and the speaker. Once you know the distance you will then be in a better position to know what gauge, length and type (round or flat speaker wire) you will need.
Pay close attention to the connectors too. You wire your speakers with the highest quality wire available and if you have a poor connection between the speaker and the speaker wire, your sound quality will suffer.
Some high end manufacturers have opted to use non standard connections with their system and you will not be able to extend the length of the prepackaged wire with their systems. Bose has started doing this with their surround sound systems.
Now let’s talk about the thickness of the wire, or the gauge of the wire. Without at doubt there is less loss in a thicker gauge speaker wire. Do not be fooled by the visual look of the wire though. Some manufacturers have begun adding extra insulation around their wire so it looks like a thicker, heavier gauge wire but it isn’t. You need to look at the gauge shown on the package or wire spool to tell what the wire gauge actually is. Speaker wire gets thicker as the number goes down, so a 12 gauge wire is much heavier and more efficient than a 16 gauge speaker wire. And the gauge will remain consistent regardless of whether you opt to use round or flat speaker wire.
You do NOT have to always buy thicker more expensive speaker wire. In general if the distance (speaker wire length) is less than around 75′ then you can get buy with smaller 16 gauge speaker wire.
If your distance is more than about 75′ but still less than about 200′ then you may need to move up to a 14 gauge speaker wire.
Distances of over 200′ are very rare but if that’s the case, then you will have to opt for a 12 gauge speaker wire.
The thicker the gauge, the more surface area in the conductors so you lose less power from the audio source to the speaker. Think of it like a water pipe. A wider pipe will let more water through with a lot less effort. The same holds true for speaker wire. And the loss increases with the distance.
A problem you may encounter with speaker wire thicker than 16 gauge is that it becomes a lot more difficult to work with as the gauge decreases. So going around corners or under carpet may not work for you if you need to use a thicker gauge speaker wire.
Also know that speaker wire manufacturers are great marketers. They may make different ‘grades’ of speaker wire with claims of lower resistance, greater conductivity, special shielding, etc. For short runs you do not need anything special. I have heard people say that they can tell the difference between top of the line speaker wire and low end speaker wire but I seriously doubt if that is the case. Since ‘listening quality’ is so subjective it’s impossible to argue with them but knowing that the resistance level of the wire is so low (conductivity) and looking at laboratory tests showing audio response at the speakers I know that in reality it’s impossible for the human ear to discern the difference. But if they want to spend more of their hard earned cash than is necessary, who am I to argue.
To figure out how much wire you need you can use a tape measure to measure each ‘leg’ of the wire run. Or alternatively you can use a piece of string to do the same thing. Keep in mind that wire may not conform to the bends and corners as easily as a piece of string.
Once you know the length needed you can then buy the wire. Some smaller gauge speaker wire is sold in set lengths (25, 50, 75, 100′, etc.) so there’s a good possibility that you will have to buy more than you actually need.
If wiring a surround system, try to keep the lengths of wire for the front speakers the same. That way the level of audio reaching all three speakers is exactly the same. You can do this by coiling the extra speaker wire for shorter runs either at the source or at the speaker. It doesn’t matter which.
As a last note, if you have to, or need to run your speaker wires inside the walls or in the ceiling (attic) you will need to make sure the wire is rated by Underwriter Labs as either a category CL2 or a category CL3 wire. Basically those categories means with wire is less susceptible to catching on fire and has more resistance to rubbing and chafing.
Making the actual connections to the amplifier and speakers is pretty simple. Most amplifiers and speakers have a noted positive (+) and a negative (-) on the connectors. Just be sure to put the wire to the positive of each component and the same for the negative. This is easy to do since speaker wire will have some sort of marking on them to differentiate one wire from the other. Sometimes is a subtle color difference, other times one wire will have a bunch of + marks on it. Sometimes one wire will have a solid strip on it and the other will not. Just be sure to put the correct wire to the same, positive or negative, connection.
And last, make sure the connection itself is a good a possible. From my experience, a poor connection is the source of more problems than the quality of the speaker wire. Take your time and make sure each connection is solid.
You can buy speaker wire from a lot of different sources. A great source is Amazon
I would suggest that you buy from a ‘store’ and not an individual.
