speaker cable vs mains cable

[admin_exported]

System: pioneer plasma krp600a, pioneer blu-ray bdplx91, arcam avr600 av receiver, b&w 683s, 686s and HTM62 centre, MJ acoustics reference 1 Mk III subwoofer

I have purchased the above system but need to run the speaker cable for the surrounds (686s) on the outside of the house. One installer has recommended mains cable as it is weatherproof whereas the retailer has advised Linn k20 covered by external trunking. Or should i be using a different cable altogether?

Whose advice should i take?!?!

many thanks

 

[Stack]

Why do you have to run the cables outside the house. Is there anyway you can run them inside along the skirting board etc?

 

[8009514]

Seems like you may be putting pretty long runs in if you're having to route via the ouside of the house. I suppose it may depend on how 'audiophilic' you are. If you have a Maplins near you suggest you pop in and take a look. There's some nice chunky speaker cable there for £2.99 a metre. I wouldn't envisage any kind of problem with whatever you choose being outside. As long as there aren't any joins in the cable where moisture may get in.

 

[TitusG]

If you have to run the cables outside then protecting them in a conduit or trunking would be advisable. Also it will probably look better and be easier to rewire if you decide to change cables. Speaker cable should be fine outside and I would imagine better than electrical cable sound wise.

 

[Anonymous]

A large gauge (3-4mm) solid core mains cable will work fine and give a great sound. I used this years ago with no trouble at all. It sounds great, and the added benefit is that it's cheap and you don't have to worry about the weather! One tip would be to removed the ground/earth core from between the two main wires. Unless you want to ground it and provide an earth to reduce RFI effects. Not too up on whether that would help.

Solid core mains is quite stiff, but once you've got it all installed I'm sure you'll find it works brilliantly. Don't be put off!

 

[8009514]

Have to agree with both TitusG and Will Harris. A decent mains cable would do the the job just fine, although you may find the stiffness of solid core a little difficult to manage inside the house where you probably would like a little flexibility in the cable to get it where you want it to go.

Whatever cable you choose I would certainly put in some kind of conduit / trunking. Looks better (IMO), gives protection against dogs, kids etc, and also gives protection against the elements. Not particularly rain as all the cables have waterproof insulation around them, but the insulation can become quite brittle when exposed to sunlight over a time.

As I said earlier a look at Maplins will give you a good choice of speaker cable, and mains if you go that route.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, mains cable like pvc/pvc 2.5 mm or 1.5mm (house socket cable) will be great that's all we ever used years ago and I can remember this was a recommendation by Hi-Fi mags and people like Quad. To be honest I temporally used some of this to drive my Quad speakers last year and could not tell the difference between this and expensive speaker cable.

Go to an electrical wholesalers and get 50/100 meters - Newey and Eyre are very good and at a fraction of the cost of your local DIY shop. £15 for 50mtrs £22 for 100mtrs. If it is up high no need to protect it outside. Good luck

 

[PIPPI]

I always thought that cables performed poorly when cold, which will happen if run outside the house. Andrew help please!