Need help in Buying Speaker wire for Surround

[swwdts]

I am going to add a pair of Keenwood 100 watt , 8ohm KS-206HT Surround Speakers to my HT & does anyone know a good 16ga. speaker wire for me to use? I have been thinking about using Accostic Research 16ga. flat sp.wire roughly 30' per speaker.Will I need a larger ga. speaker wire?

[SAEA501]

Most any high quality copper, multi strand wire will work fine. I would go with a 12 or 14 gauge depending on the length of the run. Do not be fooled by the claims of the high end wire and cable manufacturers. Spending $10 a foot for speaker wire will yield zero benefit over a good Belden or Carol standard copper wire.

I have been working with audio for near 40 years. I've experimented with wire and cable that goes for a dollar a foot and stuff that sells for $1500 for a 3 meter piece. Believe when I tell you, buy a standard wire.

[Woochifer]

Plenty of more important considerations with the surround speakers, like how well they timbre match with the mains and how you choose to align them. Going from 16 gauge to 12/14 gauge speaker will make minimal difference compared to optimizing the height and positioning of the surround speakers. (at least 1' above ear level, equidistant to the listening position as the mains, angled about 110 degrees off-center, and pointed directed at one another) With the money you save, you're better off investing in some good tall stands or wall-mount brackets for the surrounds. And if these Kenwood surrounds do not match with your main speakers, you should consider getting the matching speakers first.

[swwdts]

Thanks! I will look into both of these replies & tell you how it went! Thanks again!

[drseid]

I don't think a different guage is necessary... You probably do not need to buy AR brand either. A good generic brand (maybe Radio Shack) will do just fine, IMO.

---Dave

[hermanv]

Radio Shack does sell a speaker wire that I've listened to, its really quite special for the price. It's a flat wire designed to go under carpets.

It's only 14 gauge but also it runs only about $0.50 per foot.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

Personally I disagree with SEAE501, but the difference in a speaker wire can only be heard if the wire is pretty much the weakest link in a sound system. If other components limit the sound quality to be less than excellent, then obviously the speaker wire can't fix it.