The Best Wire For Speakers In 2024

Nicolas Ward By, Nicolas Ward
Updated
Best wire for speakers
Best wire for speakers

The Rundown

1. Best Of The Best: Amazon Basics 16-Gauge Speaker Wire Cable, 100 Feet

This 16-gauge speaker wire cable is made of high-quality copper and is designed for long-term use with detailed markings. This wire is marked to indicate the positive and negative poles, making it easy to use. This cable allows you to connect the amplifier, the speakers, or the subwoofer to your audio source. Read Review

2. Best For The Price: InstallGear 14 Gauge AWG 100ft Speaker Wire True Spec and Soft Touch

InstallGear 14 gauge AWG 100ft speaker wire with a Soft Touch jacket is the perfect solution for connecting your audio equipment to the latest in-home theater systems. This wire offers a THICKER wire with less resistance, which allows free, wide, and seamless adjustment of the required physical properties of this wire. Read Review

3. Best Easy To Use: 14AWG Speaker Wire, GearIT Pro Series 14 AWG Gauge Speaker Wire Cable

Gearit Pro Series 14 AWG Gauge Speaker Wire Cable is a professional-grade speaker wire that delivers superior quality that you can rely on to work in your custom installation. With Gearit Pro Series, you can build this speaker wire audio cable with the versatility and reliability of stranded conductors for a professional-grade audio cable. Read Review

4. Best Easy To Use: Amazon Basics 16-Gauge Speaker Wire Cable, 50 Feet

This is a 16 gauge audio cable that is good for connecting audio speakers to your A/V receiver or amplifier. The plastic jacket around the speaker wire helps to deliver high-quality undistorted signals to and from all of your audio equipment. One side of the wire is marked with a white line, making it quick and easy to distinguish the polarity and get your audio system set up properly. Read Review

In this guide, we’ll talk about the different types of wire, and how they affect your sound. Depending on your speakers and budget, you can choose between different kinds of wires. One of the most important things to consider when purchasing speaker wire is the length.

If you are planning to run a long cable from one component to another, it’s advisable that you choose an especially heavy-duty wire. Not only will it be resistant to damage and kinks but it will also allow for higher signal transmission over longer distances. Conversely, if you are planning on running a short cable (like from one end of your room to another), then something lighter-duty is probably your best bet. You wouldn’t want to deal with breakage or signal loss at such lengths!

We have chosen many of the good items currently available, including Amazon Basics 16-Gauge Speaker Wire Cable, 100 Feet - our favorite one. We also provide you with InstallGear 14 Gauge AWG 100ft Speaker Wire True Spec and Soft Touch model that you may consider.

You will be surprised at the information we are about to share below! Let's explore the special features of products from famous brands.

Our Top Picks

TOP Choice #1 Amazon Basics 16-Gauge Speaker Wire Cable, 100 Feet
Our Score:
9.8
Amazon Basics
  • CLEAR AUDIO: Plastic jacket helps ensure high-quality undistorted signals to and from audio equipment
  • USER FRIENDLY DESIGN: White line on one side of wire indicates the polarity for a proper audio system set up
  • CONVENIENT: Connects audio speakers to an A/V receiver or amplifier
  • IN THE BOX: 100-foot 16 gauge speaker wire cable
  • EASY DISPENSING: Comes wrapped around a hard plastic spool for simple dispensing
  • COPPER CLAD ALUMINUM (CCA) - CCA wiring provides a good conductor for transmitting audio. This is the most economical option when choosing speaker wire.
  • RUGGED PVC JACKET - Allows free, wide and seamless adjustment of the required physical properties of this wire such as flexibility, elasticity, and impact resistance.
  • EASY POLARITY IDENTIFICATION - This two color jacket allows for easy polarity identification. Making a polarity mistake could be damaging to your audio equipment.
  • SOFT TOUCH JACKET - The jacket on our cable is designed with the installer in mind. The flexibility of this jacket allows for easy routing and has a low memory.
  • 100-FEET (30.5m) [FROSTED BLUE/BLACK 14 GAUGE SPEAKER WIRE ] - The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire. Thicker wire presents less resistance to current flow.
  • Custom Installations – You Can Use This Speaker Wire To Pair With Banana Plugs, Spade Tips, Or Bent Pin Connectors To Connect Your Speakers To Your A/V Receiver Or Amplifier With This Gearit Pro Series Speaker Wire
  • Highest Quality Material And Tier 1 Manufacture Process - The Cable Is Made Of Cca Copper Clad Aluminum, Ensuring High Fidelity Sound Quality And Providing Maximum'S Conductivity And Durability Without Paying The Additional Cost. The Product Go Through Many States Of Testing To Ensure The Highest Performance And Reliability Of The Products
  • Preminum Speaker Wire – Use This Gearit Pro Series Speaker Wire Cable That’S Build Quality Stranded Conductors To Build This Professional Grade Speaker Wire Audio Cable
  • Advantage Of Cca (Copper Clad Aluminum) – Here Are The Facts About Cca Vs Oxygen Free Copper. Cca Wire Offers The Same Signal Frequency And Reliability In Terms Of Corrosion Resistance To Copper Wire. The Advantage Of The Cca Speaker Wire Is Lighter And More Flexible Than Copper Wire. The Cost Of Cca Vs Oxygen Free Copper Is Much Lower And You Can Enjoy The Same Functions And Reliability As Copper Wire Without Paying The Extra Cost For The Installation
  • CONVENIENT DISPENSING: Comes wrapped around a hard plastic spool that makes dispensing convenient and easy
  • CONNECT AUDIO SPEAKERS: Connects audio speakers to your A/V receiver or amplifier
  • EASY INSTALLATION: One side of the wire is marked with a white line, making it quick and easy to distinguish the polarity and get your audio system set up properly
  • IN THE BOX: 50 feet of 16 gauge audio stereo speaker wire cable on a spool
  • CRYSTAL CLEAR TRANSMISSION: The plastic jacket around the speaker wire helps to deliver high-quality undistorted signals to and from all of your audio equipment
  • Rugged Red/Black PVC Jacket
  • 100 feet (30.5m)
  • Copper Clad Aluminum Conductor (CCA)
  • Two Color Jacket for Easy Polarity Identification
  • True Spec Stranded Wire
  • Easy to install: With no stiff shielding material inside and a polarity marking on the outside, your KabelDirekt cable is both, thin and flexible as well as easy to install
  • 36 months warranty: We know you’ll love your KabelDirekt product, which is why we’ve included a 36 month warranty.
  • Made in Germany: State-of-the-art manufacturing practices and rigorous standards ensure a flexible speaker cable of the highest quality
  • Made using the highest quality materials: We use 0.2mm strands of pure copper and a durable yet flexible PVC sheath to achieve exceptional signal quality and longevity
  • Perfect sound quality: Connect your HiFi, home cinema or speaker system with high-end cables from KabelDirekt for an unforgettable sound experience
  • COPPER CLAD ALUMINUM (CCA) - CCA wiring provides a good conductor for transmitting audio. This is the most economical option when choosing speaker wire.
  • EASY POLARITY IDENTIFICATION - This two color jacket allows for easy polarity identification. Making a polarity mistake could be damaging to your audio equipment.
  • RUGGED PVC JACKET - Allows free, wide and seamless adjustment of the required physical properties of this wire such as flexibility, elasticity, and impact resistance.
  • 100-FEET (30.5m) [ RED/BLACK 16 GAUGE SPEAKER WIRE ] - The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire. Thicker wire presents less resistance to current flow.
  • SOFT TOUCH JACKET - The jacket on our cable is designed with the installer in mind. The flexibility of this jacket allows for easy routing and has a low memory.
  • FOR OUTDOOR, WATERPROOF, DIRECT BURIAL SPEAKERS - Our GearIT CL3 speaker wire cable comes in 75ft, 100ft, 125ft, 150ft, 200ft lengths and black colored trailer wire. Search on Amazon for GearIT 14 AWG Speaker Cables to find all our 14 ga speaker wires. All GearIT outdoor direct burial speaker copper wires come with a limited lifetime warranty.
  • 14 GAUGE OUTDOOR BURIAL SPEAKER WIRE - GearIT Speaker Cable copper wires come in 2 conductor stranded copper wire designs. Suitable for outdoor direct burial, in wall, underground, solar, attic, basement and other rough weatherproof environments. Suitable for 12V wire gauge (12 volt wire gauge), but max voltage of 30V.
  • SURROUND SOUND SPEAKER WIRE SETUP - Our thick copper wire and speaker wires are perfect for most outdoor direct burial sound system setup, outdoor patio speakers, rock speakers, pool speakers, subwoofer, tower speakers, radios, loudspeakers, and more. Made compatible with Klipsch, Sony, Onkyo, JBL, Yamaha and other speaker systems.
  • WEATHER PROOF SOUND WIRE WITH POLARITY - GearIT 14 Ga Speaker Wire copper wire cables come with colored pvc jacket for easy polarity identification. Typically, red speaker wire (light color) is positive and black speaker wire (dark color) is negative.
  • COPPER CLAD ALUMINUM WIRE (CCA) - Solid bulk speaker wires made of CCA are copper clad wire construction for high quality sound. GearIT CCA Speaker Cables provide true surround sound and high end audio sound wire experience without breaking your budget.
  • 30 feet (9.1m)
  • Oxygen-free copper (OFC)
  • Rugged PVC jacket
  • True spec stranded wire
  • Two color jacket for easy polarity identification
  • OXYGEN-FREE COPPER (OFC). Oxygen-free copper conductors result in less signal loss and are more durable than conductors made of copper-clad aluminum (CCA).
  • CL3 + DIRECT BURIAL. Fire safety rated for installation in walls and between floors in Class 2 (CL2) & Class 3 (CL3) circuits in residential low-voltage applications. Direct burial rated for in-ground installation without conduit. UL Listed.
  • TIME SAVING FEATURES. Quick-strip sleeve & ripcord reduce time spent terminating wire. Jacket printing includes UL information and foot markers which tell you precisely how much wire is left on the spool.
  • 14AWG, 2 CONDUCTORS, WHITE JACKET, 100FT SPOOL. Premium 14 gauge speaker cable, featuring 105 strand OFC conductors and a super-luxe outer jacket. Built to exacting standards with zero compromises.
Product Images, Product Titles, Product Highlights from Amazon Product Advertising API

What to Look For in a best wire for speakers?

Upon looking for the perfect best wire for speakers, a lot of things should be taken into account. Each item has its own challenge of purchasing.  As a result of the formation, we're here to help, advise, and provide answers to these problems.

Please keep in mind the following points to select best wire for speakers that fit you most:

Gauge

It is also known as the cross sectional area of the wire. The wire gauge is often also known as its thickness. You should be aware that speaker wire is generally thicker if it has a lower gauge than the other. Two acceptable gauge standards exist: the American Wire Gauge and the Standard Wire Guage. You should purchase a lower gauge speaker wire if you plan to place your speakers more than 50 feet from the amplifier. This will allow you to keep your resistance low.

Wire Material

Any speaker wire's wire material is made up of the conductor metal contained within its wire cover. Copper is a common choice for speaker wires due to its low cost and high conductivity. Copper can oxidize if it is exposed to oxygen, which can cause higher resistance. Copper is still the most efficient conductor of speaker wires. Although gold can conduct well, it's quite expensive so most people don't consider buying speaker wires with this metal.

Length

The measurement of the system is an important part in selecting speaker wire. However, this step has far greater impact than just visual appearances. The length of the wire will affect how resistant it is. Even though the effect isn't usually noticeable at long distances, it can significantly reduce sound quality. The longer wires can pick up interference from radios and static, which could affect a listener's enjoyment.

Connectors And Wire Type

You can get speaker wires with or without connectors. It's your choice whether to buy a bundle or a raw wire package and choose your termination. If you do that, make sure to purchase a wire stripper/cutter. If your speaker uses circular sockets, a banana plug will work best. However, a pin connector is required for spring clip terminals (square-shaped clips that clamp onto the wire and slide up). Although you can use either bare or plated wires, they are difficult to manage.
You don't have to be concerned about the wire type if you run speaker wire between desk speakers or monitors on bookshelves. You should look for units rated CL2 and CL3 if you plan to run wire within your walls. You should only use wire that is rated for direct burial if you plan to run wire outdoors and/or underground.

Inductance

Inductance is the resistance that results from a change of electrical current. Inductance is a property of all conductors, including speaker wires. You might encounter resistance more frequently if your speaker wire is used in an area where electricity voltage fluctuates. To minimize resistance, it is best to use speaker wires of a lower gauge.

Price

It is a matter of debate whether higher-priced speaker wires are better than those at lower prices. There is general agreement that speaker wires of higher quality will perform better than lower-priced models. This conclusion comes from extensive listening tests, as well as research by audio professionals. The best speaker cables are those that fall in the middle price range. While the least expensive may be more durable, they will not have a greater impact on the audio quality. You should save some money on more important gear, like amps and receivers or interfaces.

Capacitance

Capacitance is the capacity of conductors for retaining very little electricity. When electricity travels through conductors, small amounts of electricity are retained along the length of each wire. It can cause adverse reactions if there is an excessive buildup of electricity in these conductors. This can lead to an increase in resistance and damage to your speaker. You can reduce the likelihood of excess capacitance by using shorter speaker wires.

Resistance

Before you purchase any speaker wire, you must first look at its resistance. A speaker wire with a lower resistance means that the amplifier is able to send more power through the coil. Because speaker wires of this type have low resistance, they are shorter in length and thicker. It can cause a dangerous audible effect if the resistance exceeds 5% of the loud speaker's impedance.

FAQs

What Happens If You Wire A Speaker Backward?

Don't worry. You won't damage your speakers. You can only reverse the speaker's polarity if you connect your speakers backward. The speaker will pull when it is supposed to push, and vice versa. You may not notice any difference in the sound quality if you flip the polarity of both speakers. You will hear a difference in sound quality if you only reverse the polarity of one speaker.

How Do I Know Which Speaker Wire Length To Buy?

There are many benefits to using shorter speaker wires. To use smaller wires, you need to minimize space between the amplifier and speakers. You should also ensure that your speaker wires are the same length.

Are High-end Speaker Cables Worth It?

A moderately priced speaker cable of 12 to 10 gauge with a copper conductor is not much different from a high-end, expensive speaker cable. You don't need to purchase high-end speakers cables unless your goal is to be an audiophile.

What Type Of Wire Do You Need?

A copper, silver or copper-clad aluminium wire must conduct and carry electric current. You will need a wire that has a CL2 or CL3 rating if you plan to use your wire underground or inside walls. You can make installation super simple by purchasing wire with pre-installed connectors. However, bare wire will still work just as well.

Is Thicker Speaker Wire Better?

For long distances, we recommend thicker wire. Use the thickest possible wire for your application. A 12 AWG instead of 16 AWG is not going to make a significant difference in sound quality over short distances. If you have an existing 16 AWG wire you do not need to purchase a thicker one. Although the improvements in short distances can be measured, they cannot be heard.

Are High-end Speaker Cables Worth It?

It is not worth spending a lot on high-end speakers cables, particularly if there are areas in your system that would benefit from an upgrade. It's not likely that your music will be affected by expensive cables as long as it is low-resistance. This is an important topic that's being heatedly debated and some audiophiles have different opinions. It doesn't matter what your cable sounds like to you. If that happens, then go for it.

Which Wire Is Best For Speakers?

High-end cables made with silver conductors have lower resistance, and therefore will result in lower power losses. What is the real issue? Can you tell the difference between an inexpensive pure copper speaker cable or a more expensive audiophile speaker speaker cable? The difference will be hard to hear for most people. You can make a difference by buying a speaker wire with a smaller gauge (10 or 12 AWG), and a copper conductor.

How Much Wire Do You Need?

As far as distance between speakers and amplifiers, you need the same amount of speaker wire. To get the best accuracy, run a string along the intended route of each wire and measure it. For those occasions when you might need some slack, we recommend that you add a few inches to either side. You can trim speaker wires with a wire cutter but cannot add any wire to an unbalanced unit. If your cable runs over 50 feet you will need to buy a 12 or 14 AWG thicker wire.

The list of best wire for speakers will be regularly updated to be included in additional data by our editor's team. Please keep an eye around for any amendments made to our website.

Our consultants could support you with problems related to best wire for speakers and other things as well. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need advice.


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About Nicolas Ward

Nicolas Ward

Nicolas Ward is an elite author with many years of experience in the music field and the owner of many engaging articles at TheAudioInsights. He studies music production and has many years of passionate research into sound systems. Appearing in many popular newspapers, Nicolas Ward provides useful knowledge and the latest information on music and sound.