Hello,
I have a Kenwood system that I bought 3 years ago. It includes a subwoofer, surround speakers, etc. I have never bought new speaker cable for it or a good subwoofer cable. Can you all justify spending alot of money for some Monster speaker cable and another $40 for a Monster subwoofer cable? Will these really make my Home Theatre sound that much better? Thanks for your help.
Paul

Paul;
I was researching this very topic a while ago.
It can get SO ridiculous that there are companies making kits containing 2 8 foot copper cables selling for $1800.00 US. & I just found out you can spend $24,000.00 Canadian for a kit with 2 10 foot cables - gold - no, platinum - no. They are COPPER! mind you that's 99.999999999% pure of course. Then if that's not enough they recommend wrapping the cables with leather strips soaked in a dampening fluid (snake oil?)& finally if you are not satisfied you can purchase lttle X shaped holders to keep them off the floor!!!

Honestly speaking a good 14 or 12 guage wire is all you need-14 guage for up to 20-25ft & 12 guage for longer runs. About 30 cents a foot
If you sub has its own amp you need a pre-out from your amp to it (probably an RCA), then 12 guage to the sub speaker itself.

You didn't say what your run lengths were nor what the system model is - But you probably won't go wrong with the above. I also believe putting the wire straight into the speaker terminals without banana or other type plugs will serve you well. Howver again if you want to spend money on gold plated ends or gold connectors that's your business.

I would like to see a realistic (that is a human ear range) study done complete with converted to human ear capablilties on the difference between $35,000.00 dollars to hook up 2 decent affordable speakers to the average decent affordable amp/recvr, versus $20.00. Maybe Mr. Lucas et al could lend us the Skywalker Ranch & labs for a week & we might be able to measure a realistic difference with a computer that can measure in parts per trillions.
Sorry if I went off a bit but I don't like snake oil salesmen! Some of my good friends have been ripped off in this way.


This message was edited by Dougofthenorth on 12/09/01 14:41.10.

I agree with Dougofthenorth; you can spend what you want and only you can be the judge of whether or not it is worth the cost;good quality 12-14 gauge wire is all you should need; as for the subwoofer---I have been using a plain rca cable with a simple "y" connector for years and am happy with the output.

Agreed, the bigger the wire, the better your bass response will be...to a certain point. The more current you can supply to your speaker the better the damping of your speaker will be, up to the capability of your amplifier. (damping factor is the rating of the amplifier to control the speakers cone movement, a low damping factor will allow your cone to move after the signal is played by your speaker, causing muddy, distorted bass)

Paul,

Think of your AV setup as you would an automobile. If you are driving a Ferarri and you need new tires, you aren't going to buy generic brand, $99 for all 4 wheels, tires. If you are driving a Pinto and you need new tires you aren't going into the store and ask for the best they have, because lets face it, no matter how good the tires are, you're still driving a pinto. (not that I am comparing your set-up to a pinto (not that there is anything wrong with driving a pinto)).

If I were you I'd go to radioshack and buy some descent cables and you probably will get a noticeable performance boost over the dental floss that comes with most components.

Don