speaker cable

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i have run out of speaker cable (the white two core stuff that is marked black along one of the cores) to do the surround sound for my dvd player and wondered if i could use door bell cable instead...
 
It is probably best to continue using proper speaker wire. The doorbell stuff is a single solid conductor, and is of a smaller cross sectional area.
 
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It might 'work', but you'll suffer a SERIOUS loss of quality if you use bell wire, you owe it to your ears not to ! Especially if you've shelled out hard earned on a nice surround sound.

42 strand wire really is the minimum for any halfway decent system, 79 for preference. Also make 100% sure that the +/- (red/black) terminals are all consistently wired. Again, whilst it might work if they aren't it'll sound ropey to say the least.
 
The answer is "yes you can". It won't do any harm at all. For stereo, however, you must observe the polarity of the wires. I tie a knot in one of the pair and then trace that wire to the other end and tie another knot. I call that wire the "positive" wire and make sure that it connects to "+" or "red" at both ends.

I use bell wire for my speakers in the living room. Sounds perfectly OK to me. But I'm not one of those rich "golden eared" boys who can afford to waste £50 on a gold-plated oxygen-free bi-directional multistrand scart lead!

If you can afford that sort of stuff, try here:
http://www.glodark.co.uk/audio/unique.htm
 
Bell wire is a bit weedy.

I reckon 2-core 5A flex is OK and cheaper than crystalline oxygen free 200-strand magic speaker cables which I believe to be a trick to part the obsessive from his money.
 
Yep - bell wire is an absurd way of wiring any speakers!

If you don't want to fork out for mega money cable, use some 0.5 or 0.75mm flex.

Although TBH, the stuff you describe as "fig of 8 white stuff" is likely to be cheaper still than flex, and adequate for a small domestic install.

Bell wire - ITS FOR BELLS!

You have to remember that a speaker has a VERY LOW impedance, and adding un-nessecary resistance to the circuit will reduce the output hugely. Many amps also kick a fair amount of current at higher levels.....hello to bell wire overheating and failing.
 
Out of interest, how many Watts are the speakers rated at and how many Ohms? Answer in Watts RMS, please; not Watts "Peak Music Power" (which is meaningless). My speakers are rated at 10W RMS so bell wire is more than adequate. I calculated that the total resistance of 3m (doubled of course) is 0.25 Ohms. Not very significant for an 8 Ohm speaker.

In the end, the answer - if you've already got some bell wire - is to try it. As I mentioned previously, it won't do any harm. (It hasn't done my speakers or amp any harm. It hasn't melted the wire or insulation).
 
Sam Gangee said:
The answer is "yes you can". It won't do any harm at all. For stereo, however, you must observe the polarity of the wires. I tie a knot in one of the pair and then trace that wire to the other end and tie another knot. I call that wire the "positive" wire and make sure that it connects to "+" or "red" at both ends.

I use bell wire for my speakers in the living room. Sounds perfectly OK to me. But I'm not one of those rich "golden eared" boys who can afford to waste £50 on a gold-plated oxygen-free bi-directional multistrand scart lead!

If you can afford that sort of stuff, try here:
http://www.glodark.co.uk/audio/unique.htm[/QUOTE]

very good answer!!!
places like richer sounds make a good percentage of their profit selling ridiculously expensive 'wires'!!!!
 
Crafty said:
RF Lighting said:
I reckon my speakers might melt bell wire ;)
Do you have a photo of them??? :LOL:


Wow...... I know ampliers can melt wire but the energy from a speaker melting wire. No way.....

( if you speak into a speaker it may act like a moving coil microphone and produce a few milliwatts of electricity on its connections. )
 

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