Most speakers do not come with speaker wire. It is normally up to you to choose the right type and gauge of wire for your audio system. So, what’s the best wire should you buy for your speaker? Well, as a guide, here are the most important factors to keep watch for when buying audio wire connectors.
What gauge do you need?
The thickness of the wire is denoted by its AWG number. Generally, the lower AWG number points to a thicker wire. This is because thicker wires have less resistance to the flow of the current.
For long wire runs, low impedance speakers, and high-power applications, you would rather go by a thick wire (12 or 14 gauge). A thick wire is easy to work with and cost-effective.
How much wire do you need?
To determine the length of speaker wires you require, take a string and run it from your amplifier or receiver location to each place that the speaker is located. Measure the string, and after that, add some extra feet to allow for easier connection to your music system.
What type of wire do you need?
When buying wire speakers, you can buy them with or without wire connectors. If your wires didn’t come with connectors, it is advisable to buy banana connectors. It’s a real pain trying to attach wire ends to your home theater receiver.
Bi-wire vs. single wire
The last consideration you will have to make is whether to go for bi-wire or a single wire. Where your speakers only feature single connections, this decision becomes easy as you just need to buy single-connection wires. However, if you have two speaker set connections, then your best bet would be a bi-wire. One advantage of bi-wiring is that it can lead to a more open soundstage and at the same time increase the levels of detail. However, single wiring is said to have a more coherent sound.
As the debate about this rages on, one thing to remember is that quality bi-wiring tends to be more expensive compared to single-wire configurations of equivalent.
Conclusion
When it comes to buying the best audio wire connectors, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind. It’s critical to buy the right type of wire as well as of the perfect gauge. You will also need to know the length of wire to buy.
