Speaker Cable & Wires Question & my HDMI cable choice

**smiles1014** · 05-19-2010, 03:31 PM

So I have read on this forum and elsewhere regarding overpriced HDMI cables, and so I went to Monoprice and bought these at $10ea: High Speed HDMI CL2 Rated (In-Wall Installation) Cable (24AWG) w/ Net Jacket - 8ft (Gold Plated Connectors). Will they serve me well? Better than a super duper Monster M1000 series for $100ea? (TV: Samsung 55b8500 to A/V: Pioneer SC-27)

My question now is about speaker cables and wires. I have Klipsch Reference series speakers and need some cables or wires. What is better, cables or wires? Are not cables just wires with the banana heads or whatever connectors on them? Should the fronts (RF-5s) be cable connected and the rears (RF-3s) wires with connectors them? Should I spend a fortune on them or get whatever I can get at a reasonable cost? Should the subwoofer (RW-12) be a cable or wires? The sub has the four inputs (Left, Right, Red & Black) for wires and I was always confused which port to plug the one cable in, so I put it in until I heard sound....high tech decision I know...

What gauge wires, what kinds of connectors if any, rated 2, rated 4, oxygen free, etc.? Some things just I just don't know about which wires to get found on monoprice.

Confused...

Thanks in advance for the help.

Looking at speaker wire at Monoprice sent my head in a swirl...way to many, didn't know what to get...

**Club Chubbie** · 05-19-2010, 04:04 PM

The HDMI cables you purchased will be just fine. No need to waste you money on "Monster Ripoff" cable.

As far as the speaker wires go, what you should mainly look at is the max distance/placement of your speaker to"gauge" (pun intended) the awg requirement.. If the runs will be less than 40-45 ft., 16awg should suffice. Longer than 40-45 ft, I would use 12 awg. The basic 100ft of 16awg they sell at monoprice for around $12 will do the trick. Banana plugs are opional based on speaker connections like binding posts.

And as far as the Sub is concerned, you can just connect the digital coax cable to either the L or R input on the sub. They are both the same for a single connection. Some require a splitter like this 1 below, but not your R-12. At least I am pretty sure it does not...

http://www.amazon.com/Bass-550-Power...blurayforum-20

**smiles1014** · 05-19-2010, 07:50 PM

Thanks CC. The front speakers are only like 5 feet from A/V and the rears only need about 20 feet of wire. Is there any advantage of getting a 12 over a 16 at a closer distance? The speakers will accept a striped wire or a banana connection, is one better than the other? Same for the sub, it will accept both connections.

**Club Chubbie** · 05-19-2010, 09:18 PM

At 20 ft. max, I would go with the 16awg. Banana plugs are a cleaner install. Not mando by any means but worth the extra install time IMO in most cases. And they are only $1 a piece.

**ImRizzo** · 05-19-2010, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by Club Chubbie

At 20 ft. max, I would go with the 16awg. Banana plugs are a cleaner install. Not mando by any means but worth the extra install time IMO in most cases. And they are only $1 a piece.

Agreed the banana plugs are earier to confirm a "clean & neat" connection no stray wire strands.

**gadgtfreek** · 05-19-2010, 10:09 PM

I'll just second everything said so far. I usually buy 12-14guage "low oxygen" or whatever from Monoprice and go to it. I had never used banana plugs until recently, and have been kicking my self in the ass since

I've also been using those armored in-wall HDMI cables from monoprice for awhile too, and have not had any problems.

**smiles1014** · 05-20-2010, 07:00 AM

OK, thanks. I am looking at the back of the A/V and there are two plugs for each speaker (L & R) and then on the speakers themselves, there are four input plugs, it says HIGH (2 plugs) and LOW (2 plugs). I used to have a Monster cables (now tossed, they were all ripped or had holes in them) and they had two plugs at one end and four at the opposite end. If I get the four conductor wire, should I do just twist two together on one end for + and the other two for -, then put the banana plug on the twisted together wires, then into the A/V? At the speaker end I would just make sure the two I tied together in +, went into the + ports in the speakers, right? Is it that simple? Or am I not describing my, probably to you guys, inane problem?

**ImRizzo** · 05-20-2010, 07:57 AM

Originally Posted by elwaylite

I'll just second everything said so far. I usually buy 12-14guage "low oxygen" or whatever from Monoprice and go to it. I had never used banana plugs until recently, and have been kicking my self in the ass since

I've also been using those armored in-wall HDMI cables from monoprice for awhile too, and have not had any problems.

Are you indicating that your unhappy with the Banana plugs ? or kicking yourself for not using them sooner ?

**davidjschenk** · 05-20-2010, 08:46 AM

Watch out for those in-wall HDMI cables; their connectors are a good bit thicker than the regular cables', so they can make for a rather tight fit sometimes. On my 8500 the fit was so tight that I worried about the long-term health of my HDMI-1 port. Consequently, I had to replace the in-wall with a regular HDMI cable.

Yours,

David

Oh yeah.....and 12-gauge wire + banana plugs kicks ass.

**Club Chubbie** · 05-20-2010, 08:47 AM

If you have 4 Binding posts instead of 2, your speakers can do Bi-amp if you receiver is also rigged for such. Their is also something called Bi-wiring (which I think you are talking about). Bi-wiring is supposed to reduce the negative effects of the impedance differences between high and low frequencies going through a single type speaker wire. But bi-wiring has not yeilded much if any better results from what I could see in my applications. And depending on the receiver, could do more harm then good in certain conditions. But you could set it up and see (or hear) for yourself to determain if you like it better or not after messing with the crossover freqs/calibration setup.

Here is a quick link that may help as it is not too techy..

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messa...79/109419.html

**gadgtfreek** · 05-20-2010, 08:54 AM

Kicking myself for not using them sooner! David is right on the cables, those armored HDMI cables are not good in tight spots and bends.

**smiles1014** · 05-20-2010, 09:29 AM

These are the only ones I found that did not say In Wall Installation: High Speed HDMI Cable 28AWG - 6ft w/Ferrite Cores (Gold Plated Connectors) - BLACK

Are these a better fit, better for my purposes?

**davidjschenk** · 05-20-2010, 09:37 AM

Originally Posted by smiles1014

These are the only ones I found that did not say In Wall Installation: High Speed HDMI Cable 28AWG - 6ft w/Ferrite Cores (Gold Plated Connectors) - BLACK

Are these a better fit, better for my purposes?

Yep.

Yours,

David

**Club Chubbie** · 05-20-2010, 09:50 AM

If only 6 ft. runs, 28 awg will work great. You really only need thicker/shielded cable if using much longer runs or if running in the wall or under floorboards with the net jackets. As mentioned above, the thicker cables are a not as easy to work with and make it harder to bend it tight spots (especially when you go less than 6 ft)..

**ev666il** · 05-22-2010, 06:19 AM

If you had a chance to test speaker wires/cables on your setup before buying, that'd be best. I agree with Club Chubbie when he says the distance/awg ratio is to be kept in mind when selecting your speaker wires/cables but that's not the only factor: not all cables are made of the same materials, nor do they share the same shielding or geometry. As a consequence, not all cables sound alike: that's why it would be good to hear them before you bought them. And since they may yeild different performances when paired with different pieces of hardware, you should try them on your own setup and not just any setup. As for how much it would be reasonable to spend for wires/cables, that really comes down to you. If a certain wire/cable yeilds a sound you like at a price tag you deem reasonable, give it a go. Otherwise, leave it be. But always keep in mind wires/cables wil never completely twist your setup, nor will they ever turn a mediocre setup in an extremely good one: they can just adjust and refine the sound, making it cleaner, more transparent or otherwise closer (or farther) to your liking. The starting point must already be in place and properly tweaked and set up

**ImRizzo** · 05-22-2010, 09:01 AM

I've used Monoprice.com for several years now with no regrets or disappointments. checkout these http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

**ev666il** · 05-22-2010, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by ImRizzo

I've used Monoprice.com for several years now with no regrets or disappointments.

Have you ever had a chance to compare those to something else (of whatever kind or brand)?

**ImRizzo** · 05-22-2010, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by ev666il

Have you ever had a chance to compare those to something else (of whatever kind or brand)?

Yes I originally had Monster cables and found no difference what so ever based on Physically listening, however I'm sure that if they were compared using technical testing equipment there would be some differences BUT if I can't physically hear the differences then what's the reason for buying highly inflated cabling . I feel this way about it I listen with my ears and not gauges or metering systems, if you get my meaning.

**davidjschenk** · 05-22-2010, 09:33 AM

Originally Posted by ImRizzo

I've used Monoprice.com for several years now with no regrets or disappointments. checkout these http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

That's exactly the same speaker wire I use. I am more than pleased with it.

Yours,

David

**ImRizzo** · 05-22-2010, 12:59 PM

Ispent a ridiculous amount for these

and it was a waste of money I bought it for long run hookup my speakers were 35' & 45' from my AVR I cut both of them to equal length so I would not lose signal due to transfer wave. I was gullible to the Monster hype.