Flat Wire

[bikezappa]

Can anyone help me with information regarding flat speaker wire?

Have you used it?

Can you paint it?

Can you see it after painting?

Where to get it?

Is it worth it?

Thanks much.

Peter

[jdhdiggs]

Yes
yes
yes
Rat Shack
yes

It hides MUCH better than the round stuff under carpets and such and I find it easier to work with. Even with paint, it will still stick up so running it across and open wall will still look a bit poor.

[bikezappa]

I saw the wire at the Rat Shack and it looked thick. Do they make thinner wire?

Hell I need a beer

[ken brydson]

I've seen really flat stuff but I'd be concerned with how small the guage of wire is. I've thought of using it for my surrounds but they require pretty long lengths and I think I've heard that longer lengths need thicker wires. I could be wrong though.

[jdhdiggs]

Like Ken said, it is a tradeoff. The Rat Shack stuff is 14Ga which will do you well for almost all lengths of runs for all but the most demanding systems.

And yes, longer runs need thicker wire otherwise the resistance of the wire can affect the sound of the speaker.

[nemos2]

You can buy a roll of monster XP 100 i think, and that is a flat speaker wire. I am not sure what the AWG is, but you can paint it, and flex it around corners on trim molding ect.... It comes in 2 colors, one is navajo white.

[gshisme]

bikezappa, I used the Monster Cable "superflat mini" speaker cable for my surrounds. LSfx's with Rotel. Seemed to work just fine. I had the cables running straight down from the ceiling to the speakers that were mounted on the wall and painted over them (the cables that is). Walking through the room you could barely notice them. Run them under a carpet and you can't even tell they are there. Pretty nice stuff although I wouldn't reccomend it for your mains or center speakers.

[dorokusai]

Nordost is famous for flat wire design and application. The Valhalla, is fairly well represented in the AA community.

www.nordost.com

[KarlJShields]

I've seen some "super-flat" speaker wire that resembled a ribbon as much as anything--it was about three-quarters of an inch wide, with the conductors at each edge. I think it might have been a Nordost cable--very cool and very expensive.

BTW, the Monster Navaho white cable is specifically designed to be painted to blend in.

[gshisme]

monster "super flat" mini. cable is .625 wide and .1 thick

[dorokusai]

The Nordost brand is crazy thin...it feels unnatural when you hold them.