speaker cable for my cinema system...which size do I want? 1.5/ 4.0/ 6.0 mm? and why?

Question

the amp is 850 watts on 5.1

Answer 1

Get the best you can afford.

I personally use 6mm OFC (Oxygen Free Copper) and find that the bass response is better and that the clarity is much improved over the glorified 'door-bell wire' that's sold with even quite high end kit.

Benefits are reduced losses.

If you buy solid gold cables (£lots), you can reduce the cross section by quite a lot, but not many people can afford £450 a metre!!

Anybody that waffles on about 0.5 or 0.75mm copper cables being good enough obviously doesn't have a good hi-fi system. It's NOT about the current carry capacity..it's all about reducing signal loss. Also DO NOT coil the cables - this causes induction interferance - and have them about the same length too!!

Answer 2

As with all things in life balance is the key. If you spend what amounts to an expensive cars worth of $$$ on electronic goodies you do not want to spend 50 cents on cable as an afterthought. Neither do you want to have a cable system that is worth more than what your plugging it into. The best way is to look at the value of what you have Vs similar items. You decide if what you have is…

1.Low End
2.Mid Range
3.High End
4.Drool Worthy
5.Bill Gates whimpers in fear at the price

You then get the cable (per length cost, not total all up cost) that most closely matches what you already have, and add a few dollars more if you have them to spare. I would price everything in the Monster cable range against the relative values of what you have as components and let balance dictate which one you buy.

Answer 3

14 or 16 guage oxygen free wire will be fine for your application. Do not waste your money on Monster cable; it's a rip off.

Monster cables are the main source of revenue for retailers of electronics such as DVD players and TVs. While the margins of DVD players and TVs are usually quite low, the high margins of the corresponding Monster cables provide important revenue for these retailers. The heavy marketing and corresponding bundling of Monster cables are de-facto procedures for employees at these resellers.

Whether their cables actually provide better quality sound or video than generic cables is a highly debated topic among the audio and videophile communities. But it is obvious that they would possibly offer a higher-quality signal path. Though it depends greatly on ones enviroment. The problem is is that salespeople tell customers they need them without first finding out their situation

Monster cable is aggresively protecting its name and trademark by filing numerous lawsuits and trademark infringement claims against dozens of companies for using the word "monster" in names, products or services. Some consider this simply a strong-arm tactic against small and large companies. Monster Cable CEO Noel Lee defended these actions by saying "We have an obligation to protect our trademark; otherwise we'd lose it". Some of the items they are sueing about are: Monster Garage, Monster House, Monster Energy Drink, MonsterHTPC, Snow Monsters (a kids skiing group), MonsterVintage (small used clothing store), Monsters Inc., Monster's of the Midway (Chicago Bears), Fenway Park's Monster seats, and the Monster Job site.

Here's an interesting read about Monster Cables-

http://www.monstergreed.com/Index%20with%20info%20about%20MC.htm

Answer 4

The larger the size the typical better quality of sound this of course has a limit depending on the power and quality of your system and how attune your hearing and enviroment are. Most monster cable is technically overkill BUT whats a few extra bucks for safety and bragging rights.

Answer 5

This can be a minefield, just select a budget , say 5% of your equipment cost that you are rigging up and fit the best you can afford. It gets too bloody complicated otherwise and you'll never do it and you'll be p**d off if something better comes out in 3 months

Save yourself the pain and enjoy

Answer 6

Well yeah, already been said, the best you can afford. I have monster wire and so does every other person I know who has a HiFi system.

Answer 7

YOU ONLY NEED 0.5 OR 0.75 USE A GOOD SPEAKER CABLE, NOT ELECTRICAL THE IMPEDANCE VALUE IS TO HIGH FOR A GOOD SYSTEM