I am looking at rearranging my room in a way that would demand much longer runs than I had in the past. Specifically I would need to run two pairs at 27 feet each. Unfortunately, running XLR cables from the crossover to amps closer to the speakers is not an option. I am going to be running one pair from an amplifier to my tower speakers and another from a different amplifier to my subs. I'm going to probably look for used cables and could be open to DIY. My guess is getting any high end cable at this length new will be prohibitively expensive. All recommendations welcomed.
Long speaker cable runs
- Thread starter stephen_volker
- Start date
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Use a large gauge cable. I did this on a pair of Maggies once (9m) and it almost sounded like the amp was running out of power!
Did you find a way other than running long XLR interconnects and the amps closer to the speakers?
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
I broke down and bought large gauge speaker cable. I think at the time it was Harmonic Technology. Did this for a while and then just put the amp between the speakers. Couldn't really say the sound changed at all.
Couldn't say that the large gauge speaker cable helped? 
I might have to fight this room rearrangement. lol
I might have to fight this room rearrangement. lol
Bruce B
WBF Founding Member, Pro Audio Production Member
Yes, the large gauge speaker cable helped. It replaced the OCOS cable, if I remember correctly. I just couldn't tell the difference between the long speaker cable and the long XLR cable when I moved the amps!
How much it matters depends upon the impedance of your speakers (and amplifier's output impedance). I have found that searching for welding or booster cable wire on any of the usual hardware store sites, Amazon, etc. gets a lot of large-gauge (low numerically AWG) cables for not too much money. I would pay the extra money for pure copper instead of clad as it tends to connect better and last longer. You can get standard Romex or just spool wire from places like Home Depot and Amazon down to about 6 or 8 AWG. Look for stranded as it is (much) easier to manage.
You could also buy 2x~4x the length of normal wire in say 10 AWG and double it up to reduce the impedance of the run.
If it is going in-wall you'll need to get CL2 or CL3 rated wire -- different insulation that is more fire-resistant and less obnoxious when it does burn.
I also snagged a bunch of some huge cable way back when given by the local power company -- they had a back lot filled with scraps for recycling in lengths from 10' to 50' or so and gave it to me. I recently (within the past few years) suggested that to a friend and they did not give it to him but sold for the scrap value, don't recall exactly but it was pennies per foot.
FWIWFM - Don
You could also buy 2x~4x the length of normal wire in say 10 AWG and double it up to reduce the impedance of the run.
If it is going in-wall you'll need to get CL2 or CL3 rated wire -- different insulation that is more fire-resistant and less obnoxious when it does burn.
I also snagged a bunch of some huge cable way back when given by the local power company -- they had a back lot filled with scraps for recycling in lengths from 10' to 50' or so and gave it to me. I recently (within the past few years) suggested that to a friend and they did not give it to him but sold for the scrap value, don't recall exactly but it was pennies per foot.
FWIWFM - Don
Check out Signal Cable Silver Resolution speaker cable. I have a 30' and 40' run. Cost under $1,500. And Frank will allow auditions but you should verify. Great company, good wire.
silverresolutionspeaker.html
silverresolutionspeaker.html
I have used 12 ga speaker wire from KnuKonceptz for a 50 foot run with great results. I was running 750 watts per channel to some very power hungry speakers. I later switched to running a 50 foot XLR run with the amps near the speakers with 8 foot of the same wire. No sound or sound level difference. The large gauge is necessary for a long run, but it will work fine if you use 12 ga or 10 ga. wire.
http://www.knukonceptz.com/home-the...ire/sp/kord-ultra-flex-12-gauge-speaker-wire/
http://www.knukonceptz.com/home-the...ire/sp/kord-ultra-flex-12-gauge-speaker-wire/
For in-wall speaker cable runs, just use 14AWG 3conductor + ground Romex®. You will have an 11AWG StarQuad cable that's rated for in-wall use. While it's not pretty and it's very stiff, when it's in-wall neither matters.
Harmonic Tech is good for high quality UPOCC copper cable at reasonable prices. It's the same company as Neotech so they are the actual manufacturer of the cable. I sell HT cable at good prices btw. The Pro-11 reference cable is $35/ft in bulk. Notice it uses 8 runs of wire per leg with PE insulation... much better geometry and insulation vs most less expensive UPOCC SC.
https://zenwaveaudio.com/product/harmonic-tech-pro-1113-speaker-cable/
For less $ I'd suggest trying surplus mil-spec wire from Apex Jr. 12g stranded is about $.60/ft, a star quad (4 runs twisted) would be 9g equivalent. You can make the star quad with a drill, just be careful to keep the wires nice and straight before twisting.
If the mil-spec wire works for you it's excellent, far better vs most lower quality copper wire. The silver plating can be an issue in some circumstances in terms of sounding bright or splashy, so trying a shorter length 1st might be a good idea. Also, if it doesn't work for highs it'll probably work fine for woofers so you could use this for the woofer run and biwire with something like the Harmonic Tech Pro-13 for the highs, which is $28/ft in bulk.
http://www.apexjr.com/wire.html
The Pro-11 reference cable is $35/ft in bulk. Notice it uses 8 runs of wire per leg with PE insulation... much better geometry and insulation vs most less expensive UPOCC SC.https://zenwaveaudio.com/product/harmonic-tech-pro-1113-speaker-cable/
For less $ I'd suggest trying surplus mil-spec wire from Apex Jr. 12g stranded is about $.60/ft, a star quad (4 runs twisted) would be 9g equivalent. You can make the star quad with a drill, just be careful to keep the wires nice and straight before twisting.
If the mil-spec wire works for you it's excellent, far better vs most lower quality copper wire. The silver plating can be an issue in some circumstances in terms of sounding bright or splashy, so trying a shorter length 1st might be a good idea. Also, if it doesn't work for highs it'll probably work fine for woofers so you could use this for the woofer run and biwire with something like the Harmonic Tech Pro-13 for the highs, which is $28/ft in bulk.
http://www.apexjr.com/wire.html
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