Speaker Cables

I bought myself the Logitech z5500 for Christmas, but was disappointed when I couldn't get the rear speakers on each of the corners behind me in my room.

So, I was browsing the speaker cables at monoprice and there's all these different type of gauges. Which one is the best for my speakers?

http//www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239

Congrats, those are nice speakers. Does the set use regular speaker wire? I thought it used RCA cables.

If you want to try a cheap solution, buy 6ft or 12ft 3 connector RCA cables at a dollar store, along with some extension adapters that are female on each end. Just split up the 3 lines so have a way of extending the factory cables by 12 ft or more by using the adpater. You should be set for $3 or so.

Hehe, thanks. I got them for $180 with free shipping.

But I don't think they're RCA wires. I don't even know what that is. Do you mean like those AV cables with the colored input ends? If so, then no. They're skinny black cables with two copper wire ends. One is color coded red and the other black.

Those speakers are boss! Not too sure about what wire you need, but yes RCA are the colored ones.

Ah ok, I read in many places it was composite cable like many of the logitechs but they actually changed it to regular speaker wire.

I would think you'd be set with the 16 gauge wire, especially for rear surround.

Ok, cool. Now I just have to wait for monoprice to restock. Thanks for the help.

Edit I just realized they won't restock until almost the end of February.
Anyone know another site with cheap cables like them and takes paypal?

If it has bare copper ends, you just need speaker wire, not cables.

I'd recommend no less than 16 gauge. If you have an especially long run and intend to pump higher output, go with a lower gauge (larger diameter) like 14ga or 12ga. There are various calculators on the net where you can input your amp power output and the distance of each run, and it will recommend a minimum gauge. But unless you have audiophile requirements or a huge room, 16ga is almost certainly more than enough. By comparison, the thin speaker wire included with many HTIB or speaker systems usually runs around 20-22ga. I'd avoid that stuff for all but the shortest, low-power runs, and then only if I didn't have a better alternative.

BTW my favorite speaker wire for general purpose use is 16ga lamp cord. Just plain old AC lamp cord, like you'd rewire a lamp with. It's flexible, cheap, available in a variety of colors if you shop around, and works exactly the same as more expensive speaker wire. I prefer white because it blends with the baseboards in my house.

16ga of copper wire is 16ga of copper wire -- don't fall for the Monster myth that their copper sounds better than regular copper. Not true. Clean, non-corroded unshielded copper wire of the same gauge performs exactly the same, no matter the brand or price. And as much as I love and recommend Monoprice for assembled cables, I wouldn't even go to them for speaker wire. Try your local Lowes, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc. and just check out their lamp cord. BTW Lowes and Home Depot also sell regular bulk speaker wire by the foot too, but it's usually the lower gauge stuff and is probably more expensive than lamp cord. I bought a 50' spool of white lamp cord on clearance at Radio Shack for like $4 a year or so ago, and used it to wire my family room surround speakers. It's great stuff.

Hmm, I didn't know that. Thanks for the advice. I remember seeing a spool of brown lamp cord at Home Depot, so I'll definitely try looking for white.

Thanks. D