Off topic: Shielded co-ax for speaker hookups?

[David Deratany]

I just read that this is a real no-no.... something about changing the impedance and frying the output transformers. I have gotten away with using a guitar cord now and then, but is this a practice I should give up?

What about shielded twin lead?

[Carl Bill]

West Penn 226 is what I generally use. You can spend so much more on cryo treated stuff, but the simple 12 gauge jacketed seems to work fine for me. It is also a standard for pro installations. Belden makes an equivalent.

I would not use coax as it is generally way too small and cannot deliver the power to the speaker. I could believe that amplifier damage could result if you are using older, unprotected equipment.

[grolmund]

Simple truth is: speaker runs are power, not signal. Power runs are inductors. Signal wire is shielded to prevent/minimize inducted crosstalk. Signal wires that cross power runs should cross at right angles to further minimize inducted crosstalk. Signal wires and power runs should never occupy same conduit/plenum/raceway.

Zip wire is just as efficient as long as the wire gage is properly sized for the current being passed. Otherwise, they become the fuse.

[David Deratany]

Carl, thank you for the West Penn 226 lead. I contacted them and let me say, without giving any specifics lest it be construed a shameless plug, that they showed themselves to be a very consumer oriented company.

[Todd W. White]

Your amplifier-to-speaker wiring has to be a twisted pair, due to the inductance of the waveforms that emanate from each wire - if they are twisted, the emanations cancel each other out.

Parallel pairs, like zip cord, have nothing to prevent the individual wires from inducing these waveforms, thus degrading the quality of the sound that emanates from the loudspeaker. Coupled with the increase in guage size, this is why so many people hear a difference when they purchase the "special sound wire" from the hi-end shops: many of them use twisted pairs of wires, rather than parallel ones.

I prefer stranded wire for flexibility and ease of installation, but you don't HAVE to use starnded wire - just make sure the overall gauge is right.