speaker wire

[Hopper642]

I just got the Edifier S550s and they sound great. On par with the old Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultras. One question though as I am not sure about the issue of the wire gauge. The old Klipsch speaker cables appear to be a bigger gauge than the Edifiers. Thickness of the Klipsch is slighter better. The question is whether it will harm the new Edifier hardware if I use the old Klipsch speaker wire? I wouldn't think it would harm anything at all to do this, but I just wanted to know what the consensus is here. Thanks.

 

[Rio Rebel]

It most likely would not harm the speakers or receiver, unless you used an insanely small wire. But with quality speakers, it is best to use a good gauge of wire. I use 14 in my system, I'm sure I could get by with smaller but I like to slightly overkill.

 

[Hopper642]

Yea, I can't tell what gauge this Klipsch wire is, but it certainly appears to be a higher quality, thicker than the new Edifier cable. I can't make out the gauge size on the side of the cable, but with it being thicker and not smaller/thinner, I didn't think it would harm anything. Thanks.

 

[sdifox]

thicker conductor or thicker cable?

 

[Hopper642]

They describe the conductor as 1 mm here for the Edifier:

http://www.nitroware.net/editorials...550-51-multimedia-speaker-review.html?start=1

"The diameter of the speaker cable conductor is 1 mm."

Couldn't find a good description of Klipsch's speaker wire for their older promedia 5.1 ultra, but it appears to be a thicker conductor, if I have the terms correct. The metal in the wire itself is thicker, not just the diameter of the wire with the metal plus the coating. Thanks for the help.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

This is more or less the same question I had in an earlier thread [and I was surprised at how many people responded to it and got into nit-picky but useful dissertations.

Doesn't this Edifier S550 system have specs for the wire that was bundled with it?

My JBL 5.1 system came with 16-gauge wire -- which I used, but I didn't want to go through the difficulty of replacing an 18-gauge wire for one speaker used for my earlier stereo system. The 18-gauge wire works fine, and I can't detect any difference in the audio output or quality. [Anyway, the receiver adjusts everything with a special microphone for balancing to the room characteristics.]

Like another poster said, you don't want to use wire with too light of a gauge.

By the way . . . I looked up that Edifier S550 system -- apparently not sold at the Egg -- it looks impressive. How much did you pay for those bad-boys, buddy?

 

[Hopper642]

Right here:

http://www.amazon.com/Edifier-USA-S5...s=edifier+s550

Not cheap at all, and I have been very impressed with this system. Very much on par with my old Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 set. Good with games and music. Good bass. I am very pleased with these. Here's the best review I found:

http://www.nitroware.net/editorials/68-reviews/130-edifier-s550-51-multimedia-speaker-review.html

Everything with this is really big too. There are some comparisons online to the Logitech z5500 I believe and there's a big difference. There are a few pictures here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18234291

I must have missed the discussion on the caliber of the wire. I can't find those specs as you asked in what I have been able to find so far. I can tell the old Klipsch wire is thicker though. I don't think I am losing anything by using it.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Right here:

http://www.amazon.com/Edifier-USA-S5...s=edifier+s550

Not cheap at all, and I have been very impressed with this system. Very much on par with my old Klipsch Promedia Ultra 5.1 set. Good with games and music. Good bass. I am very pleased with these. Here's the best review I found:

http://www.nitroware.net/editorials/68-reviews/130-edifier-s550-51-multimedia-speaker-review.html

Everything with this is really big too. There are some comparisons online to the Logitech z5500 I believe and there's a big difference. There are a few pictures here:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18234291

I must have missed the discussion on the caliber of the wire. I can't find those specs as you asked in what I have been able to find so far. I can tell the old Klipsch wire is thicker though. I don't think I am losing anything by using it.

If the old wire was thicker and you have the Edifier bundled wire for comparison, you indeed won't lose anything -- but only gain -- even if you don't notice it one iota. . . .

 

[Modelworks]

1mm wire thickness, that is really small. I have noticed a trend lately as copper prices increase, large insulation on tiny wires giving the appearance of a better product than what the wire really is.

 

[Hopper642]

It's pretty easy to tell that the old stuff is a little higher in caliber than the new wire. I have tried it this morning, and I can't tell any difference as suggested. I just wanted to make sure it wouldn't screw up anything. I also already have the old wire installed in a particular way. No sense going to the trouble to change it if there's no difference.

 

[Rio Rebel]

Bonzai, I saw your other thread and personally, I wouldn't have pulled new wire before trying the old. 18 gauge is smaller than I would buy and install, but not so small that I would be willing to scrap not only the wire but the work of having it already in place. I wouldn't use 18 for my fronts, but for surround speakers I would have to at least consider leaving it in place.

But I knew as soon as I said that, someone would have given you conflicting opinion. Some people aren't happy with anything smaller than 10 gauge, which I find remarkable. To me, that's like running 3 inch water lines up to your kitchen, and then putting a standard faucet on it with 3/8 inch lines feeding into it. To me, there's understandable overkill, and then there's just pointless.