Adding length to speaker wires

[Mr. Chernoff]

The speaker wire that came with my rear surround sound speakers is not
long enough for the room in which I am installing. The wire is hard-
wired to the speaker and it has a special connector at the end that
goes into the receiver. I want to try to splice in more length in the
middle but have a few concerns before I start
The factory wire is 22 guage. Do I need the same exact guage when
splicing? It seems like this is a really uncommon thickness. Also,
some of the wire is going to be running either under carpet or in
wall. All of the in-wall speaker wire I have found is around 14
guage. How can I most effectively accomplish what I'm trying to do?

TIA

[Joesepi]

22 gauge wire is a very poor speaker conductor, at bes. For any length you
should replace the whole length with a decent gauge of conductor. If you
must splice the cable use a heavier gauge if adding much length.

22 gauge speaker cable is quite common, for some reason that audiophiles
will never understand. I am not a supporter of the ridiculous vehicle
booster cables promoted by the salespeople but 10-14 gauge makes a much
better speaker hookup, if quality of sound is any concern. I used to buy
extension cords cheaply and cut the ends off, for the most economical
source.



"Mr. Chernoff" <matt.chernoff@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:beaa6a05-7537-4ea6-bfd8-e8e6160a2c27@q37g2000vbn.googlegroups.com...
> The speaker wire that came with my rear surround sound speakers is not
> long enough for the room in which I am installing. The wire is hard-
> wired to the speaker and it has a special connector at the end that
> goes into the receiver. I want to try to splice in more length in the
> middle but have a few concerns before I start
> The factory wire is 22 guage. Do I need the same exact guage when
> splicing? It seems like this is a really uncommon thickness. Also,
> some of the wire is going to be running either under carpet or in
> wall. All of the in-wall speaker wire I have found is around 14
> guage. How can I most effectively accomplish what I'm trying to do?
>
> TIA


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

[Bill Kearney]

Install the wire in-wall and use wallplates with spring clips in them. Cut
the wire are the speaker and run that to the wall plate. At the receiver,
use the other end of the clipped wire to run from that wall plate back to
the receiver.

If it's using such a paltry wire gauge and proprietary connectors then it's
likely a crappy system anyway. What is it, a Bose?

Use 14 gauge, that way you'll have decent wire in there when you get around
to buying a better solution. But even if you don't go in-wall, use the
higher gauge. Electric extension cord wire is an acceptable cheap solution
for a cheap system. With the higher gauge you won't, at least, lose volume
and clarity due to the loss caused by the added distance.

-Bill Kearney

> The speaker wire that came with my rear surround sound speakers is not
> long enough for the room in which I am installing. The wire is hard-
> wired to the speaker and it has a special connector at the end that
> goes into the receiver. I want to try to splice in more length in the
> middle but have a few concerns before I start
> The factory wire is 22 guage. Do I need the same exact guage when
> splicing? It seems like this is a really uncommon thickness. Also,
> some of the wire is going to be running either under carpet or in
> wall. All of the in-wall speaker wire I have found is around 14
> guage. How can I most effectively accomplish what I'm trying to do?

[isw]

In article <r9OdnfPPIPCD4svUnZ2dnUVZ_tPinZ2d@speakeasy.net>,
"Bill Kearney" <wkearney99@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Install the wire in-wall and use wallplates with spring clips in them. Cut
> the wire are the speaker and run that to the wall plate. At the receiver,
> use the other end of the clipped wire to run from that wall plate back to
> the receiver.
>
> If it's using such a paltry wire gauge and proprietary connectors then it's
> likely a crappy system anyway. What is it, a Bose?
>
> Use 14 gauge, that way you'll have decent wire in there when you get around
> to buying a better solution. But even if you don't go in-wall, use the
> higher gauge. Electric extension cord wire is an acceptable cheap solution
> for a cheap system. With the higher gauge you won't, at least, lose volume
> and clarity due to the loss caused by the added distance.
>
> -Bill Kearney
>
> > The speaker wire that came with my rear surround sound speakers is not
> > long enough for the room in which I am installing. The wire is hard-
> > wired to the speaker and it has a special connector at the end that
> > goes into the receiver. I want to try to splice in more length in the
> > middle but have a few concerns before I start
> > The factory wire is 22 guage. Do I need the same exact guage when
> > splicing? It seems like this is a really uncommon thickness. Also,
> > some of the wire is going to be running either under carpet or in
> > wall. All of the in-wall speaker wire I have found is around 14
> > guage. How can I most effectively accomplish what I'm trying to do?

There's not a lot of evidence that larger wires for speakers makes much
of a difference unless they're going to be hundreds of feet long. You do
not need to match the wire size, either; for audio frequencies, it just
doesn't matter.

Go to the hardware store and get a roll of "speaker wire" which will
probably be #22, but it really does not matter. Cut the existing wire
about a foot from the connector, and splice in whatever lengths of the
new wire it takes to get from "A" to "B". Stripping the conductors back
about an inch, twisting tightly, and taping will work just fine, or use
wirenuts of the proper size (hardware store again).

The most important part (actually, the *only* important part) is to make
sure the conductors don't get swapped. In both the existing wire and the
new stuff, there will be *some* way to differentiate the conductors --
maybe different wire colors (silver, copper), maybe a ridge lengthwise
along one (but not both) conductors, maybe different colors of threads
running along side the conductors, maybe something else. Make sure that
you don't cross over the wires when you add the length. No damage will
occur if you do, but the stereo image may suffer, and the low-frequency
stuff may, too.

Running the wires under a rug is fine; if you do, make an effort to keep
the wire "flat" (no twists), so that even if you walk on it, the
conductors can't cut through the plastic insulation and short. You can
cut the wires in two places if necessary, and splice the new stuff in
the middle, to keep the joints from winding up underneath that rug.

Isaac

[Mr. Chernoff]

Just to make sure I understand correctly: it is okay for the wire to
come out of the speakers at 22 gauge, then switch to 14 and then back
to 22 for the receiver connection?

It is a Panasonic PT-SC660 btw, a cheap system, but aside from this
wiring glitch, I have no complaints.

[B Fuhrmann]

"Mr. Chernoff" wrote ...

> Just to make sure I understand correctly: it is okay for the wire to
> come out of the speakers at 22 gauge, then switch to 14 and then back
> to 22 for the receiver connection?

Absolutely!

> It is a Panasonic PT-SC660 btw, a cheap system, but aside from this
> wiring glitch, I have no complaints.

There is no need for larger wires other than impedance (audio amplifiers are
not very sensitive to this) or current handling (not necessary with a small
amp or small surround speakers).

I happen to dislike 22 gage for anything where there might be stress but you
might be able to run it under an edge of the carpet so that it doesn't get
beat up too much.

[Frank Olson]

B Fuhrmann wrote:
> "Mr. Chernoff" wrote ...
>
>> Just to make sure I understand correctly: it is okay for the wire to
>> come out of the speakers at 22 gauge, then switch to 14 and then back
>> to 22 for the receiver connection?
>
> Absolutely!
>
>> It is a Panasonic PT-SC660 btw, a cheap system, but aside from this
>> wiring glitch, I have no complaints.
>
> There is no need for larger wires other than impedance (audio amplifiers are
> not very sensitive to this) or current handling (not necessary with a small
> amp or small surround speakers).
>
> I happen to dislike 22 gage for anything where there might be stress but you
> might be able to run it under an edge of the carpet so that it doesn't get
> beat up too much.
>
>


Now... a real DIYer would take the speakers apart, unsolder the
connection to the 22 gauge wire, solder new 14AWG wire to the speakers,
obtain the correct connector from his local electronics supply store and
"voila". But then... a real DIYer wouldn't buy the cheap Panasonic
crap for his home theatre now would he?? :-)

[Jeff Volp]

"Frank Olson" <use_the_email_links@yoursecuritysource.com> wrote in message
news:QD66l.13467$an4.3734@newsfe08.iad...
>
> Now... a real DIYer would take the speakers apart, unsolder the
> connection to the 22 gauge wire, solder new 14AWG wire to the speakers,
> obtain the correct connector from his local electronics supply store and
> "voila". But then... a real DIYer wouldn't buy the cheap Panasonic crap
> for his home theatre now would he?? :-)

Yes, he would. I certainly consider myself a DIYer, but I'm happy with the
Panasonic SA-HT820V that we bought several years ago for about $250. The
only issue was the DVD player is tethered to the amplifier/sub-woofer
enclosure with a multi-conductor cable. So, that limited the placement of
the components.

I used 14 gauge for all the "in-wall" cabling, but that was probably
overkill. Very heavy wire is only needed for the bass. It seems that all
systems today have a single bass driver, and all the "directive" speakers
are strictly mid and high range.

Jeff

[Frank Olson]

Jeff Volp wrote:

> Yes, he would.

No. He wouldn't. He would buy the speakers, build the enclosures and
tune the system himself using a sillyscope and multimeter. He would
spend hundreds of hours doing this and in the end would wind up with a
set of speakers that he could have purchased "off the shelf" from Polk
Audio, but he would have the satisfaction of having "done it himself". :-)


> I certainly consider myself a DIYer, but I'm happy with the
> Panasonic SA-HT820V that we bought several years ago for about $250.

Blech!!


> The
> only issue was the DVD player is tethered to the amplifier/sub-woofer
> enclosure with a multi-conductor cable. So, that limited the placement of
> the components.
>
> I used 14 gauge for all the "in-wall" cabling, but that was probably
> overkill.

Oh, I dunno. I used 14 gauge wire for all my in-wall and in-ceiling
speakers too. The only real issue that cropped up was when one of the
drywallers broke a speaker mounting ring and didn't tell us. :-(


> Very heavy wire is only needed for the bass. It seems that all
> systems today have a single bass driver, and all the "directive" speakers
> are strictly mid and high range.

I don't know about that. Every time I set foot in either Future Shop or
Best Buy the sales guy is trying to "upsell" me to the 8 gauge "oxygen
free" Monster Cable. I mean just whom would you have me believe? A
pimple-faced professional sales associate from Best Buy or some guy in a
Newsgroup that says he's a DIY'er?? :-)

Happy New Year to one and all, by the way. I'm particularly looking
forward to February. That's when we can start cracking the "special
reserve" wines we bottled back in 2006.

[Jeff Volp]

"Frank Olson" <use_the_email_links@yoursecuritysource.com> wrote in message
news:vJc7l.88381$496.65132@newsfe13.iad...
> Jeff Volp wrote:
>
>> I certainly consider myself a DIYer, but I'm happy with the Panasonic
>> SA-HT820V that we bought several years ago for about $250.
>
> Blech!!

It is all about value for the dollar...

>> Very heavy wire is only needed for the bass. It seems that all systems
>> today have a single bass driver, and all the "directive" speakers are
>> strictly mid and high range.
>
> I don't know about that. Every time I set foot in either Future Shop or
> Best Buy the sales guy is trying to "upsell" me to the 8 gauge "oxygen
> free" Monster Cable. I mean just whom would you have me believe? A
> pimple-faced professional sales associate from Best Buy or some guy in a
> Newsgroup that says he's a DIY'er?? :-)

FYI, this is the "some guy in a Newsgroup": http://jvde.us

Jeff

[Frank Olson]

Jeff Volp wrote:
> "Frank Olson" <use_the_email_links@yoursecuritysource.com> wrote in message
> news:vJc7l.88381$496.65132@newsfe13.iad...
>> Jeff Volp wrote:
>>
>>> I certainly consider myself a DIYer, but I'm happy with the Panasonic
>>> SA-HT820V that we bought several years ago for about $250.
>> Blech!!
>
> It is all about value for the dollar...
>
>>> Very heavy wire is only needed for the bass. It seems that all systems
>>> today have a single bass driver, and all the "directive" speakers are
>>> strictly mid and high range.
>> I don't know about that. Every time I set foot in either Future Shop or
>> Best Buy the sales guy is trying to "upsell" me to the 8 gauge "oxygen
>> free" Monster Cable. I mean just whom would you have me believe? A
>> pimple-faced professional sales associate from Best Buy or some guy in a
>> Newsgroup that says he's a DIY'er?? :-)
>
> FYI, this is the "some guy in a Newsgroup": http://jvde.us
>
> Jeff
>
>


I'm aware of your pedigree, Jeff... I was just teasin'... :-)