# Speaker Wire, Good vs Bad??



## MiniVanMan (Jun 28, 2005)

Okay, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a big advocate, or an advocate at all, of high priced cabling and wire. So, let me start by saying that this is by no means a review based on sound quality, or the inherent differences in sound quality.

So, on to my review, as well as, somewhat of a tutorial.

Cheap speaker wire. Okay this stuff I've pretty much picked up wherever I could find it on sale. Radio Shack in a pinch, Parts Express when they have stuff on sale, etc, etc, etc. It works, it's cheap. Drawbacks, ????

Stuff I recently bought. A bit more expensive. Stinger HPM 16 gauge.

http://www.darvex.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=SHW516G-250&Product_Count=1

For the price this stuff is pretty hard to beat, and I'll tell you why, and it's not because it sounds better.

This stuff is flexible for one. Very easy to work with, and on a cold day, which today was, it's nothing short of a godsend. So, in comparison, the cheap stuff gets very stiff when it gets cold. Maybe not the wire itself, but the jacket definitely does. So, when you're outside in 25 degree weather (actually my garage, but it's still pretty cold), the last thing you want to do when troubleshooting problems is have to run new speaker wire (which I did tonight). This could also explain my problem of a short somewhere in one of my speaker runs where I've found several cracks in the jacket of my previously run cheap speaker wire. Of course, I don't know how the HPM wire will hold up over time, but after sitting in my garage for several weeks through temperatures below freezing, it's remained very flexible.

The next benefit, and one I REALLY appreciate is the fact that the positive wire has a square jacket as opposed to the negative that has a round jacket. So, in tight spaces, or dark spaces, you're not fumbling with the wire trying to visually locate the positive wire. It's very obvious when handling the two strands which is positive and which is negative. 

Finally, is "tinning". Face it, tinning is one of those things that can make a decent install into a good one. It's one of the little things, and for some reason the HPM wire tinned very nicely. For one, the strand count is much higher, so heat transfer is better. The jacket also handled the heat of a soldering iron much better, and didn't burn or discolor like the cheap wiring I've used before. 

So, for 250' of Stinger HPM wire at $59.95 ($12.00 per 50') I'd say you're stupid for trying to find anything cheaper. This stuff is great. It's very easy to work with, and best of all, it plays the highs, and the lows as well.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Sometimes it's worth it to spend a bit more money to avoid hassle.


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## its_bacon12 (Aug 16, 2007)

what exactly is tinned ?


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Nice review ! The true attributes which are worth more money !


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## khail19 (Oct 27, 2006)

its_bacon12 said:


> what exactly is tinned ?


Where the wire strands are covered, or "tinned", with solder.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

in a high humidity environment i've found that the wire from the car audio section of wallyworld corrodes easily. and even sealed inside a box with a 10" i had some look burned on the ends after an 18" section of 14awg was used for a few months on about 250rmsi'm currently using some monster wire with the voodoo flux core in the middle and when exposed to the elements it absolutely refuses to corrode. i had a gift card to jerkit silly last year and they didn't have any of the cd's i was looking for:blush:the jacket on the monster is also VERY durable.

as for the hpm wire, it looks identical to the wire that comes in the kicker wiring kits. NICE looking wire.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

If you ever find Kicker power wire on a deal, you should get some...talk about super flexible, the 1/0 is more flexible that some companies cheap "12ga" speaker wire.


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## Thumper26 (Sep 23, 2005)

the RF power wire is flexible like that. i have some of that stinger wire and it and the RF wire seem to have the same kind of jacket on them.


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## billo405 (Apr 8, 2007)

I have a stupid question I think might help others as well. The link is to 16g wire. Do you use this for everything? Mids, lows and tweets? I am about to install my system in my car and I need to buy all of the stuff, so any help would be appriciated! Many people say to run 12g for mids and subs, is this overkill?
thanks
bill


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## Thumper26 (Sep 23, 2005)

16 is usually fine for most things.

www.bcae1.com has a wire gauge calculator. go play around with different numbers to see the effect.


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## ErinH (Feb 14, 2007)

When you go to that link this is what I notice:









Dude's hand look like it took a beating with that wire.


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## thehatedguy (May 4, 2007)

Really? Hmm...need to find some of that stuff then.

Sorry for the off trackness...



Thumper26 said:


> the RF power wire is flexible like that. i have some of that stinger wire and it and the RF wire seem to have the same kind of jacket on them.


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## haibane (Sep 29, 2005)

personally I have yet to see speaker wire that really soothes me and pulls me in. I guess features can be neat, but I don't do any soldering. I install it listen to it and tune.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

billo405 said:


> I have a stupid question I think might help others as well. The link is to 16g wire. Do you use this for everything? Mids, lows and tweets? I am about to install my system in my car and I need to buy all of the stuff, so any help would be appriciated! Many people say to run 12g for mids and subs, is this overkill?
> thanks
> bill


MOST of the systems here on diyma could get by with as small as 18awg. i use 16awg for everything and couldn't imagine needing to go any bigger and i'm about to send 250rms to each one of my mids. no worries here!


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## tyroneshoes (Mar 21, 2006)

I just picked up the same stinger hpm series speaker and 20' power cable (4ga). It was very simple to work with due to the flexibility. Love the matte gray. Worth it IMO.


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## MiniVanMan (Jun 28, 2005)

thehatedguy said:


> Sorry for the off trackness...


No problem. This wasn't about HPM wire specifically, but rather the "actual" tangible benefits you can get with a bit higher priced wire. If the RF stuff fits the bill as well, then by all means, bring it up.


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## Thumper26 (Sep 23, 2005)

here is a pic of the 4 gauge tied into a knot, and the 16 gauge knotted. the finger pic of the 16 gauge doesn't do it justice. i could tightly wrap this around my 9 month old son's finger just as tight:


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## Infinity (Jun 28, 2005)

I used to get Nakamichi power wire in the early 90's (true 7awg) that had this kind of jacket, and it was super flexible- almost limp. It's a shame it took 15 years for companies to finally start using that type of insulator again. Now, I wish all of them would add that braided outer layer like the P3 wire has.


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## Tommy (Oct 21, 2005)

I found this stuff at home depot for 34cent/ft. 16/4 wire, shielded with grounding strand.

I used it for some RCA's i made and to the speakers up front. really nice having just one cable running to each door, and having all the in/outs on the amps matching.


Its not super flexible or anything, but its a nice compact jacket, didnt have any problems with it.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

its_bacon12 said:


> what exactly is tinned ?


A thin layer of solder on the surface of the copper that gives it a silver look.

Very visible in an HPM speaker wire from Stinger.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

It looks like Stinger changed the HPM wire but heres th Knu version Karma. Same stuff.
http://cgi.ebay.com/KnuKonceptz-Kar...ryZ14966QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


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