I am trying to wire thru the wall 3 rooms: Family Room, Kitchen and Enclosed Patio. The latter 2 rooms may either be sub-zones (with individual VC) or separate ones (with their own source selection).

I'm looking to use 4 conductor everywhere/most every run. I've read both 12 and 14 gauge recommended for run lengths of 50 feet (or even 100 feet). Most of my run lengths within the family room are in the 20s-30's. Those to the kitchen and patio will be approximately 50 feet (+ or - 5-10 feet).

My questions...
Can I save some on in-wall cabling by
a) using 14 gauge everywhere? or...
b) using 14 gauge in the family room only?

Also, how would the use of niles intellipad/speaker selector impact the wiring gauge decision?

And finally, I'm finding 4 kinds of in-wall cabling:
- sheilded
- twisted-pair
- concentric
- zip/other.
Is zip/other "no go"?
Is there much difference between the other 3 over these run distances? (besides price)

go with 12 ga everywhere, its the one factor in the "should i buy high priced cables war" that is scientific fact (and you shouldnt buy high priced cables).

you dont want twisted pair, and you dont need shielding (although it wont harm anything).

the easiest thing to do is get 4 wire 12 gauge speaker cable from one of the discount places online....one pull to each room (assuming 2 speakers).

you can also buy 14/4 and double up conductors.. that way you also have a spare pair if a issue or nail is driven into one cable. I ran 12 to all 7.1 room

With the run lengths your speaking about I see no need to go larger than 14 gage. I would put money down that you would not hear any difference if you ran 16 vs 12 gage with those short runs. Granted, there is always a slight bit of voltage drop over any length of cable, more when those lengths increase. Until that voltage drop becomes an issue that you can hear, why worry about it. Will you be judging how the music sounds with your ears, or with a test meter.
The terminals on most conventional volume controls are a tight fit with even 14 gage wire. The money savings between 14 vs 12 gage could be spent on better source equipment or speakers, which your ears will hear a difference.

As far as your speaker wire type. No real need to go with shielded as long as you make some effort to not run wires along with electrical wires. Keep a foot or so distance away. I don't know of any zip type speaker wire that is rated to inwall use "CL Rating" but that is more of an issue if electrical inspectors are involved.
CI Pro cable from Monster Cable inc. can be found online at decent prices.
http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/speaker-wires/m/3699988/

14 is probably fine. Most of us are pretty neurotic and go a little bigger than we actually need...just in case:) Look at monoprice.com or bluejeanscables.com (both sponsors of the website). Good cables and you are not paying for the name.

14 gage is all you need. I have never used anything larger for any install I have done.

I'm looking to upgrade my current 16AWG speaker wire from Acoustics Research with 12AWG from Monoprice. I checked out all the customer reviews for 12AWG based on different spool sizes. The overall comment was that the jacket was thinner than brand name but that also made it easier to bend and manage. One reviewer claimed to be an audiophile and claimed the following:

"its thinner than the 14awg marshall I was using! plus the marshall has a 114 strand count, and this 12 awg has 87 AND it''s thinner //
(more strands is better for sound quality)
about sound quality, being a bit of an audiophile... I really do not like this wire and I''m getting it replaced with a much higher quality brand after using it for 2 days. the bass response with this cable is OK so i guess it could do fine for a subwoofer, but for a full-range speaker it just doesn''t cut it. I advise to avoid.

my first disappointment ever from a product i ordered from monoprice //
don''t advertise those cables as if they''re suitable for high-end speakers (which I am using). the high quality speakers and amp show the low quality of this wire bigtime."

Since I'm considering the largest spool (300 ft), there is a significant price difference b/w the 12AWG and 14AWG. Anyone else think the Monoprice 12AWG is not "true 12AWG"?

Edit: speaker wires described are not in-wall

national and local electric codes require the use of CL3 rated wiring for in-wall installations. The CL3 rating has nothing to do with the copper conductors, it applies to the outer insulation sheath of the wiring cables and related to how the material reacts to heat and fire and the amount of toxic smoke it will outgas when heated.

I read the same comments about monoprice wiring and responded in that thread. The strand count is bogus, the only thing that makes a wire 12 gauge is the outside diameter of the copper conductor. Monoprice wire is fine, but if you ordered the plain two conductor wire with clear plastic insulation and intend to install it in-wall, you purchased the wrong wire. In-wall wiring should be sheathed in the CL rated outer covering like this wire
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=100-742

I read the same comments about monoprice wiring and responded in that thread. The strand count is bogus, the only thing that makes a wire 12 gauge is the outside diameter of the copper conductor. Monoprice wire is fine, but if you ordered the plain two conductor wire with clear plastic insulation and intend to install it in-wall, you purchased the wrong wire. In-wall wiring should be sheathed in the CL rated outer covering like this wire
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=100-742

Thanks for the repy, m_vanmeter! I also thought the # of strands did not guarantee a certain gauge but wanted to make sure the wire in question was at least 12AWG equivalent. Rather than installing in-wall, my speaker wire snakes around at the feet of the walls, which is why I need the highest gauge I can afford due to the distance. I'm ordering the 300ft 12AWG spool from Monoprice today.

national and local electric codes require the use of CL3 rated wiring for in-wall installations. The CL3 rating has nothing to do with the copper conductors, it applies to the outer insulation sheath of the wiring cables and related to how the material reacts to heat and fire and the amount of toxic smoke it will outgas when heated.



Not all local codes enforce NEC article 725 in residential installations. For instance Los Angeles county could care less what type of wire you use for class 2 - in a single family residence that is. You can't go wrong by using rated wire but if you already have nonm rated wire, you may be Ok using it. Just ask the inspection office.

I'm looking to upgrade my current 16AWG speaker wire from Acoustics Research with 12AWG from Monoprice. I checked out all the customer reviews for 12AWG based on different spool sizes. The overall comment was that the jacket was thinner than brand name but that also made it easier to bend and manage. One reviewer claimed to be an audiophile and claimed the following:

"its thinner than the 14awg marshall I was using! plus the marshall has a 114 strand count, and this 12 awg has 87 AND it''s thinner //
(more strands is better for sound quality)
about sound quality, being a bit of an audiophile... I really do not like this wire and I''m getting it replaced with a much higher quality brand after using it for 2 days. the bass response with this cable is OK so i guess it could do fine for a subwoofer, but for a full-range speaker it just doesn''t cut it. I advise to avoid.

my first disappointment ever from a product i ordered from monoprice //
don''t advertise those cables as if they''re suitable for high-end speakers (which I am using). the high quality speakers and amp show the low quality of this wire bigtime."

Since I'm considering the largest spool (300 ft), there is a significant price difference b/w the 12AWG and 14AWG. Anyone else think the Monoprice 12AWG is not "true 12AWG"?

Edit: speaker wires described are not in-wall

Don't get caught up in the speaker wire hype. Read this:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

Note that the insulation has no bearing on the wire gauge and as the link shows, some wire looks thicker than it really is. As stated above strand count has no bearing on sound quality. This idea comes from Litz wire theory but that only applies to radio frequencies. The effect is nil at 20khz.

Don't get caught up in the speaker wire hype. Read this:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

Exactly what I was going to say. I'd use that table and make sure you can tell the two leads apart to get the phase right. Those are the important things.

I'm running 14 AWG in my (35' long) room anticipating I might use 6 ohm speakers in the future, though my current ones are 8.

ab

Don't get caught up in the speaker wire hype. Read this:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

Note that the insulation has no bearing on the wire gauge and as the link shows, some wire looks thicker than it really is. As stated above strand count has no bearing on sound quality. This idea comes from Litz wire theory but that only applies to radio frequencies. The effect is nil at 20khz.

Nice link. It still does recommend to get the thickest wire you can get (the Monster Cable demo was the best example of that...for the wrong reason!) I have 4 ohm M&K in the front and my runs to the rears can go up to 50 ft so 12AWG here I come!