• 01-16-2006, 07:54 AM
    zepman1
    Direct burial speaker wire
    I am going to be running some speaker wire for some outdoor speakers I am installing under the soffits of my house by the deck. I assume the best thing to use is the low voltage direct burial speaker wire. It won't actually be buried, since it will be run out from the basement, up the outside wall behind the siding and exposed and run in the corner of the soffit to the speaker locations. I assume the main concerns here are wire gauge and a UV & moisture resistant jacket. Hence the reason I for using direct burial speaker wire.

    The problem is my soffits/trim are white, and most direct burial cable is black and won't look very nice since at least some will be visible. I would prefer to use white direct burial cable, but have not been able to locate any. I assume the low voltage wire at Home depot is black also? Does anyone know where I can get some with a white jacket?

    Are there any other products that would come with suitable jacket insulation properties as the direct burial wire does? Its no problem finding in-wall wire in white, but I don't think that would be the right thing to use outside.

    Thanks in advance.
  • 01-16-2006, 07:19 PM
    pelly3s
    get some inwall rated cable with a white jacket. its perfectly fine to use it outside, like you said you arent going to bury it. one thing i would suggest is to use RTV silicone on the terminals after the speaker wire is attached just to seal it off from weather
  • 01-17-2006, 07:31 AM
    zepman1
    Had a feeling that was the cae, but wanted to hear it from someone else.

    I am not familiar with RTV silicone. Will I be able to remove if from the terminals easily adn completely when I want to do that? Don't want to make a mess all over the speaker wire terminals and not be able to get it off.
  • 01-18-2006, 07:35 PM
    pelly3s
    it will peel off and clean up completely it may take a couple minutes to do but it will happen. its not really a necessity but if you live in a humid area or an area with a high salt content in the air its a good idea
  • 01-19-2006, 06:25 AM
    zepman1
    Thanks again. Salt is not a concern but humidity can be in the summer. I'll put the sealant on when I install the speakers in spring. Probably not needed but it certainly can't hurt.

    Then they will be taken down for the winter and I will want to clean of the terminals. Using the sealant may keep me from having to cut of a couple inches of oxidized speaker wire every now and then.