High Quality Speaker Wire Really Makes A Difference!
Remember 20 years ago when installing speakers at your home was as simple as throwing that thin, clear, banana peel style speaker wire on the ground and connecting it right to the back of your speakers? Remember how cheap that wire was and how no one even cared about the cables jacket or the thickness of the cable? In the past the quality, thickness, copper type, and specifications of speaker wire were not things that people thought would influence the quality of sound. Well times have changed and today every component of sound system is evaluated for quality and performance!
Click Here For 12, 14, and 16 Gauge Speaker Wire!
The speaker wire of today has heavily evolved in its construction and today it plays a crucial role in the quality of the sound and the overall performance of your entire sound system! The modern speaker wire is now thicker and coated with extra insulation to protect that cable from being damaged during an installation. Today people actually put thought into the speaker cable and its quality. Not to mention people now concern themselves with making sure they use the right gauge of cable that supports the length of cable runs they install to support their speakers. The modern speaker is much different than the speakers back in the day. The modern speaker has better components, better materials, and need more power to make it all come together for a high performance system with premium sound quality. As speakers have evolved so has the need for quality speaker wire. The first major improvement in speaker cable was reducing the resistance by using better quality metals in the speaker wire. Copper has evolved as the most commonly used metal to construct the conductors that are in a speaker wire. But the truth is there are a number of different price/performance levels of copper.
Many speaker wire manufacturers use less quality copper types to decrease manufacturing costs and increase profits. Today the most popular copper type is Oxygen Free Copper (OFC). Do not get this term confused because it is not really the freedom of oxygen in copper that makes the difference. It is really the process of removing oxygen and other impurities of this copper type that makes it better quality, longer lasting, less opt to corrode, and most importantly less resistance. The second major improvement of the modern speaker cable is the introduction of thicker gauge cable options that support longer cable runs. The reality is that as the signal travels along the copper conductor and each foot that signal travels there is a voltage drop. The end result is a poor signal and poor sound quality. Thicker gauges of speaker wire are needed to support longer distances between your amplifier and speakers. Common gauges of speaker cable include 10 AWG, 12 AWG, 14 AWG, and 18 AWG options. The larger the gauge equals a thinner cable. The longer the distance between your speaker and amplifier means a thicker gauge of speaker wire is needed.
When planning your home theater or audio system know the requirements of your speakers and understand the gauge of cable you need for them to perform. Doing your planning and research will allow you to have the best success and higher quality sound system.