I just bought some 14 gauge speaker wire from mono price. Is the one with the stripe on it the negative one? I have all my other speakers hooked up with different wire that was marked black and red but this one isnt

Is the one with the stripe on it the negative one?;)

There is no such thing as "positive wire" or "negative wire". There is only "this wire" and the "other wire" or "1" or "2" or "A" or "B".

You decide if you wish to consider the stripe to be red, black, positive, negative, etc.

FYI, sometimes wire isn't striped ... sometimes there is a physical ridge in the insulation ... sometimes there is a thread inside the insulation next to the wire ... sometimes one conductor is silver and the other gold. It is just a way to identify one conductor from the other.

FWIW, I use the stripe to indicate "positive/red/A/1/thread/gold/ridge" in my own hookup.

It doesn't matter!

Just be consistent!!

thanks for the info :D

I have a similar question. I bought a Monster cable (dont flame) and it has little red covers on them to identify for pairing. Well when i moved those covers fell off. The wire itself has no distinguishable features.

Am i able to listen to something to tell whether the positions are correct or do i have to take everything apart and track the wire. Please dont say the latter.

Edit: just noticed some small black writing on the wire and figured i 'd make it the black connection.

I have always used the writing to distinguish between wires. Also, some brands have more subtle differences, like darker insulation on one wire.

On this forum, it's negative if it's Monster, and positive if it's Monoprice.

On this forum, it's negative if it's Monster, and positive if it's Monoprice.

LOL!

Am i able to listen to something to tell whether the positions are correct or do i have to take everything apart and track the wire. Please dont say the latter.



Best way to do this is to get a calibration disc from producers such as Avia or Digital Video Essentials, etc etc. They have test tones that will help you easily identify if your speakers are in phase (correct wire positions) or not. There are other physical ways to determine this, such as facing two speakers towards each other by about a foot, and switching terminals on just one of the speakers. The position that gives you the most bass is the correct position.
Hope this helps.

As has been mentioned, there is no "negative" or "positive" wire; the markings, different colors, or other ways of distinguishing one conductor from another, exist so that you can have consistent correct polarity throughout your system. It matters not which conductor you choose to use for positive or negative; just do it the same way on all your loudspeaker connections.