[Harlan]

I've got $50 credit for some Onix speaker wire... just wondering if anyone has experience with their SP-100 wire. (available at our ********** sponsor)

Mostly I want to mimize RF interferance.


Is this SP-100 any good?


or is it not much better than 16guage unshielded Wire I have?

I'm also considering 12-guage in-wall wire from Home Depot, which is supposed to be pretty good (and is only 98cents per 3 feet).


Thanks,

Harlan

 

[Harlan]

I plan to use the SP-100 to wire all 7 of my speakers (Diva 6.1/r3/c3/2.1)


that's 181feet of cable (my room is big).


But if it's overkill or a waste... then i'll just use the home depot 12guage wire and save myself some serious cash....


I'm not sure 181 feet of sp-100 is any better than 181 feet of nice home depot wire.


Bottom line, i'm not doing any in-wall stuff. I'm wiring under carpet.


Thanks in advance for any more input.


Harlan

 

[farscape66]

I have the Sp 100 for my 4.1's anc C3, it is excellent. Very well made, I showed it to a tech friend of mine and he was very impressed, I just ordered more with my credit for the side channels. One day soon I will do the rears also. Its great cable, go for it!

 

[mercury]

 www.partsexpress.com


part number 100-740



21.00 100 ft......all you need,


ts

 

[MaxC]

Harlan,


Don't know if you already decided on a wire, but if not....you have $50 credit, you should al least try some Onix wires. Maybe you should buy enough to wire the front two or 3 speakers. AV123 seems to find/make some good products, so if you liked the Divas, chances are you will like the Onix wires.


I am not sure about the SP-100, but I just purchased the SP-200 and decided to terminate the ends myself to save some money. Here is a picture of the wire and my thoughts:

http://www.geocities.com/dmaaaaax/HT2.html


Hopes this helps.

 

[bareyb]

I'm using Onix SP200 for my Center and Mains and I'm very happy with the results. I put some black braid around it and added some "Monster Tips" Wire Pants and Banana's to the ends. They look and sound great and I haven't felt the need to upgrade since.


Here's a picture of the finished Cable: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attac...508&fullpage=1

 

[Harlan]

Just fyi,


i went ahead and ordered sp-200 for my front 3, and sp-100 for the other 4 speakers...


and I'm happy as a bird...


I and all my family and extended family all immediately heard a VERY significant difference. If there was ever a case for speaker wire mattering... I'd say this is it!


Previously I had some el-cheapo 16 guage wire from Wal-Mart. (the 50' for 10$ kind)...


after installing the SP-200 to the fronts, the soundstage litterally doubled in width, and the instruments in classical music and all kinds of music came to life. Finally, I can actually hear all the different instruments...


I'm hearing things now, I didn't even know were there!!!!


Truly Awesome.


Harlan

 

[mercury]



Originally posted by Harlan

Just fyi,


i went ahead and ordered sp-200 for my front 3, and sp-100 for the other 4 speakers...


and I'm happy as a bird...


I and all my family and extended family all immediately heard a VERY significant difference. If there was ever a case for speaker wire mattering... I'd say this is it!


Previously I had some el-cheapo 16 guage wire from Wal-Mart. (the 50' for 10$ kind)...


after installing the SP-200 to the fronts, the soundstage litterally doubled in width, and the instruments in classical music and all kinds of music came to life. Finally, I can actually hear all the different instruments...


I'm hearing things now, I didn't even know were there!!!!


Truly Awesome.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



i would venture and guess any wire would be an improvement over Walmart 16 Ga....


tommy

 

[MaxC]

Harlan,


Did you get terminated wire or did you terminate it yourself? Do you have a picture of the finished wire?



Bareyb,

Nice picture. Did you have to solder the Monster banana plugs on?

 

[Harlan]

I terminated it myself... it was really easy because I have some all-in-1 wire strippers...


the 12guage stripper did all the work.


I'll post a pic soon. I need to do fresh pics of all my ht gear soon... and then I'll post the finished wire pics.


Harlan

 

[John Sturge]

Onix speaker cables are absolutely wonderful, but I would just never buy them again. No offense , but the termination fee charged by AV123 is absurd, it's too much. Besides, even when broken in they had the same sonic attributes my last speaker wire had.


Sheesh...


Oh, It was the SP-200 speaker cable that I have.

 

[bareyb]

Quote:

Originally posted by MaxC Bareyb, Nice picture. Did you have to solder the Monster banana plugs on?

I used "Monster Crimps" bananas (crimp-ons). In defense of AV123's termination fee, it did take me quite awhile to do. It's fairly time consuming as there are 6 solid core conductors within' each SP200 cable. That means you have to strip 12 wires, then braid them, then crimp on the connectors and then apply the heat shrink. In my case there was the added step of putting the braiding on the entire length of the cable as well. I'd venture to say ALOT of the cost of the more esoteric cables is the labor involved in putting them all together. It is tedious and time consuming work. But it sure looks nice when they are done.

 

[Mark L. Schifter]

Quote:

Originally posted by John Sturge Onix speaker cables are absolutely wonderful, but I would just never buy them again. No offense , but the termination fee charged by AV123 is absurd, it's too much. Besides, even when broken in they had the same sonic attributes my last speaker wire had. Sheesh... Oh, It was the SP-200 speaker cable that I have.

Good Evening John...


You know... I went through our database a moment ago, and for the life of me I cannot find a purchase from your estimable self anywhere. Perhaps you use another name here on the boards... and if so... cool, but maybe you can PM me about your post, or if I'm wrong... then I apologize in advance...


I must come to our defense on the termination fees we charge... I KNOW what goes into this... and our charge is so "right on" I can have little quibble with it myself (I say this while removing my official "Robin Hood Hat")... When you factor the actual cable cost + the termination fees... I really have to think that ONIX is the Price to Performance King...


The numbers charged for termination from other companies are so far and away above ours... I'm just wondering what YOUR point of reference is.


Well... in any event...Call me anything... but not late for dinner...


Got to jet...


All the best to you sir...


mls

 

[farscape66]

Well I too thought the termination feee for the SP 100 was a too high. So I cheated. I have a friend here at work who is an electronic technician. He charged me one lunch (about $7.00) to do it for me plus the cost of the Bannana plugs. He did a fantastic job.

___

What really distrubed me is that the next SP-100 I bought I did have terminated and paid the $40.00 fee, I did not want to impose on my friend again. The disturbing fact was the job I paid $40.00 for looked more poorly done than the job done by my friend virtually for free. It worked fine, but it did not look nice.

___

Also the paid for termination left little"play" in the cables to account for difference in closeness of Bannanna plug terminals. They barely fit on my receiver. My friend took this into account during his termination and I had no problems plugging in the ones he did for me.

____

So, the lession I learned is buy your electronic technician friend lunch and have him do it, or do it yourself.

___

 

[Harlan]

if your into audio, spend your $40 on a good wire stripper, wire cutter, and heat shrink gun. it'll pay off in all future purchases.


I happen to have it because I'm an electronics hobbyist.


anyways, I'd terminate your wires for a lunch!


It took me only about 1 hour to do 7 wires!! 3 sp-200 and 4 sp-100


Course I just did bare wire termination.. but it's only 1 more step to do the banana plugs...


p.s. you want the bare wire exposure to be minimized, so short as possible leads is actually a GOOD thing (********** probably measured it exactly for your Divas). Remember, that's the unshielded part, so RF can creep in there...


Harlan

 

[farscape66]

I was talking about the end that plugs into the receiver. And my technician shielded the exposed inner wires to account for any interference.

___

If I had the energy to pull the receiver out and discinnect the speakers I could photograph the differences between the two. My technician was an artist. It's that good!!!

 

[lwang]

So does AV123 cold weld their speaker cables? Or is it plain ol' lead enriched solder?

 

[farscape66]

Don't know would have to pull back black covering to find out. Can't do that.

 

[Harlan]

Ahh, farscape, I see now.


I guess it would be tough for them to guess the distance from of your plugs... without knowing your reciever!


Maybe, they should have asked, rather than assume it's some standard width...


good point.


Harlan

 

[farscape66]

You would think the industry could develope a standard for distance between bannanna terminals. But I learned the hard way that this is not the case. Never buy the ones connected together by plastic that Radio Shack sales. They just dont fit all occasions. You need to buy the separate ones.