"Ben Hanson" wrote in message ...
Sorry if this double-posts, I couldn't tell if it went through on my news
server or not.

Hi all, I heard someone mention the other day that if you wanted to get some
good speaker cable, that you could save money and still get good quality by
just going to the local hardware store and buying some 12/2 electrical cable
(or better), cutting the ends off, and putting on the connector of your
choice.

I am setting up some Community speakers that require amplification and I
wanted to make up my own cables with Speakon connectors. Could I really just
go up to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy 100' of 12/2 or 10/2 cabling and make
my own, or should I buy cables specifically made for audio? Is there really
a difference?

Also, I am assuming the conductors need to be twisted strand, not solid
core, if you were going to use this approach? And lastly, if you can only
find 12/3 cabling, is that a problem? Can you just not use the ground wire
and leave it alone on both ends of the cable?

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I really am not sure if he was just
pulling my leg or if this works OK.

-Ben

Save the solid wire for actual electrical work, i.e., stuff that's
wired to the circuit breaker box. For speaker wire use stranded,
even in permanent installations. If you ever need to move the
speakers or the amplifiers for any reason, you'll be glad that the
wire is flexible.

On 12 Apr 2004 19:46:24 -0700, (unitron) wrote:

Save the solid wire for actual electrical work, i.e., stuff that's
wired to the circuit breaker box. For speaker wire use stranded,
even in permanent installations. If you ever need to move the
speakers or the amplifiers for any reason, you'll be glad that the
wire is flexible.

Depends how permanent "permanent" is :-)

On 12 Apr 2004 19:46:24 -0700, (unitron) wrote:

Save the solid wire for actual electrical work, i.e., stuff that's
wired to the circuit breaker box. For speaker wire use stranded,
even in permanent installations. If you ever need to move the
speakers or the amplifiers for any reason, you'll be glad that the
wire is flexible.

Depends how permanent "permanent" is :-)

On 12 Apr 2004 19:46:24 -0700, (unitron) wrote:

Save the solid wire for actual electrical work, i.e., stuff that's
wired to the circuit breaker box. For speaker wire use stranded,
even in permanent installations. If you ever need to move the
speakers or the amplifiers for any reason, you'll be glad that the
wire is flexible.

Depends how permanent "permanent" is :-)

On 12 Apr 2004 19:46:24 -0700, (unitron) wrote:

Save the solid wire for actual electrical work, i.e., stuff that's
wired to the circuit breaker box. For speaker wire use stranded,
even in permanent installations. If you ever need to move the
speakers or the amplifiers for any reason, you'll be glad that the
wire is flexible.

Depends how permanent "permanent" is :-)