when looking for speaker wire what is the main thing to look for in quality to achive the best sound?

Answer 1

The main thing I look for is a good quality, flexible, OXYGEN FREE copper wire around 12 to 14 gage. It should have a soft outer sheathing and fine stranded wires which will provide the nice flexibility so it lays down the way you want it to.
12 to 14 gage will provide plenty of power carrying ability.
If the wire is not oxygen free it may oxidize and turn green inside. I HAD THIS HAPPEN with both the cheap Radio Shack wire and Acoustic Research wire. The whole wire from one end to the other turned green. I even looked at the roll of wire which I had about 25 feet left over and it was all green. It only took about a year for this to happen. Oxidized coating makes it very difficult almost impossible to get a good connection and ends up being an awful waste of money when you have to replace it all every year. And don't let some wise*&^ tell you, you have to replace your wire every year anyway. YOU DON'T. Wires don't "ware out" from normal use.
Audioholics. com has a write up about speaker wire. Go read it if you have a chance.
I have used a lot of different wires and have found the Monster Cable XP 12 gage to be perfect for my needs. I run lengths up to about 25 feet with this wire I have Definitive Technology speakers driven with a Sunfire Theater Grand 2 and Cinema Grand 2 preamp/amp combo rated at 225wpc. I consistently run the volume up to levels which make most people shiver and still maintain very, very, good sound quality.
Anyway,
I use the Monster Cable XP. I have not ever seen this wire oxidize. It is an affordable good quality speaker wire.

Answer 2

Speaker wire is all pretty much the same. Look for one with a copper positive and negative. some have a steel ground it work,s but i like copper better. The ground is important. You will need to think about how far you will run the wire also.The longer the wire the heaver it need,s to be.Having said that if you don't have good quality speaker,s then it wont matter what wire you use.

Answer 3

Hi.A lot of wrong information is given out about speaker cables, such as they all "sound" the same, one is not better than another,the thicker the cable ,the better,expensive ones are a sham,and many other fallacies.Lets set the record straight .First, cables can, and do, sound different to one another,particularly with high end equipment.Too thick a cable drowns out bass and induces heaviness obscuring detail.Too thin a cable emphasis mid-high frequencies but is lean on bass and gives a shallow depth of field.No cable can improve on the signal going through it. They only degrade the signal in varying degrees.The best cables degrade the signal only a little bit.

If you buy your cable in bulk,make sure you purchase good quality connectors for the ends and secure them in such a way as to prevent oxidisation where the wire is joined to the connectors. I have been listening to Hi. Fi. gear for over 40 years and have used many different speaker cables to get the best out of my speakers.I was introduced to Van Den Hul speaker cables back in1984. They were the best i had ever heard back then. I had to attach my own connectors as the cable came in bulk only They were silver coated copper strands.Recently i decided to upgrade to one of their new configurations (The Magnum Hybrid - Halogen Free). The cable is already supplied with connectors,and comes in lengths of 3,5,and 10 meter sections. Where the wire is joined to the connectors, a special plastic tape is wrapped around the cable to make it airtight therefore delaying oxidisation. These cables are not very expensive compared to other brands but the result is definitely worth it. I also use one of their Interconnect Cables which i am very happy with.