CurtPalme.com Home Theater Forum

[stgdz]

I haven't bought into the monster cables or "high performance cables" much as I am going to run some copper 12 gauge wire or possible some orange 10gauge electrical wire from home depot/lowes.

Connectors though, that is what what has confused me. I DIY my all my speakers and amps and I am currently using these style of connectors from PE http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=091-334

Is there a difference between connectors out there or are they all filed under monster claims. I was thinking of running a 7.1 wall plate or 9.2(bi-amp with dual subs) so it would look like this


amp->banana plug->wire>bananaplug->wallplate->wall plate->banana plug->Wire->Speaker

So with this arrangement am I loosing any audio quality? Should I just do amp->wire->speaker, I would have to make long wires and it wouldn't look as nice.

oh the other thing, for power connectors. I see some people run a massive like this style http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=110-427 but I don't understand what the benefit of it is over a standard computer cable.

[ecrabb]

Take a look at Blue Jeans Twelve or Ten for your speaker cable. It's Belden 5000UE/5T00UP, industry standard commercial speaker wire, and rated for in-wall use. 12-gauge is 64 cents/foot and 10-gauge 92 cents - probably little, if any more expensive than anything comparable you can find at a big box store.

BJC:
http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

As for the connectors thing, as you might expect, from a signal integrity standpoint, the fewer the connectors, the better. That said, there are thousands of installs done exactly like you're talking about. It's the neat/clean, aesthetically pleasing way to do it. So, pick your poison. Your choice. Personally, I decided to go with the simpler/less attractive method, so my setup is: amp w/speakon connector -> cable -> speaker. The only way my connections to the amp and speakers could have any more integrity is if they were soldered at each end.

As for the power connectors... Most of the "benefit" of connectors like the Wattgate is that they're just simply better terminations than the standard molded plugs on most cords. They're just physically heavy duty, high quality connectors. Does it make the system sound any better? I'd say no. Highly unlikely. But, you can see how some guys hate the thought of their $2000 processor or amps or whatever getting power through a 79-cent made-in-China power cord. I haven't done anything with it because I'd rather spend the money on movies and other gear. I might make some custom-length power cords with nicer terminations at some point just for fun and because it would clean up my rack, but I have about 87 other things higher on my priority list. If you decide to do it, there are much cheaper alternatives than Wattgate, but still far superior to the average cheap molded cord.

SC

[draganm]