speaker wire

[deano41]

I just upgraded my system and have rti70 fronts, moved my rt600s to the rear, cs245 center,an h/k 225 receiver, im using 2 cheapo subs for now, right now i have 16 gauge wire for the center and fronts(acoustic research pro i think?) and im using really thin wire for the rears, 24 gauge i think, looking to get 16 gauge for the rears 22ft length each and hoping i can hide it under the carpet ( wife freaks out when she sees any cables, wires etc) what do you recommend for wiring and connectors for my system to get the best performance for the buck, i like good sound but im value minded as well, thanks

[gatemplin]

Banana plugs or spade connectors make things easy. As for wire, definitely ugrade the surrounds, at least 16 gauge but 14 and sometimes 12 isnt much more money. You might be able to get 50 ft spool of 14 gauge for the rears and 12 gauge for the fronts.

[Tour2ma]

Here's a nice read:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm
The "wire table" suggests the proper wire gauge vs. run length and speaker impedance.

The 24 is a bit light, replacing with 16 will do. The 16 up front is OK given the length of run, but you may wish to play with 12 here.

The front is also a good place to experiment with "better" wire. I put better in quotes because while I am not an advocate of high priced wire, I won't tell others they are wrong to spend there money there. I may question their sanity, but I still won't tell them they are wrong...

What I do urge is that you start cheap and move slowly....

[Pauly]

Check out this thread for some input on b. clips.

http://clubpolk.polkaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11835

[dholmes]

Go to ebay, I got 40 banana plugs for 36.00 $ They are the screw on for 8-10 ga wire. Also you can find monster wire flat for under carpet use.