after reading the review circulating online on the HD-14, i noticed they were referring to HD outdoor extension wires. I looked at these, and they do look like they offer good shielding (300v). however, they are 3 pronged and i have no idea what to do with the 3rd set of wires, so i will skip on this option (for those of you who have read this article you know what im talking about). The transparent 12 ga designated "speaker" cable by Carol offers no shielding (any wires with the clear coting for that matter). this might have a negative impact on my hifi system...so i started looking around and found spools of telecommunications wires that run 12awg and have a nylon covering that gives them 600v protection as well as being gasoline and oil proof (you know, in case this were to get on the speaker cables i would be protected). anyways, upon examing these cables i noticed the copper strands were not as numerous as those found on the "spearer" cables and the outdoor extension cables. actually, there were maybe 12 strands. very thick ones at that (thus making the 12awg density). usually speaker cables have buzillion cooper strands interlaced. does anyone know about this? can these be used? does the "shielding" aspect matter that much?