Car Speaker Wire
Often I am asked about car speaker wire differences and I always answer in line with my (formed) lifetime philosophy about speaker wires. My view on the issue goes like this—as long as you have fairly decent wires, you are good to go. Now, I realize that my statement is kind of vague, which led me to writing this article—which shall focus more on defining what I mean by “fairly decent.”
If you are familiar with the world of audio systems—mobile, home, and professional—you should at least know that there are speaker wires out there that cost more than speakers (or even amplifiers, players, etc.). To sum up, there are wires that cost an insane fortune. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Let me move on by saying I am not a fan of these products.
Yes, you will see in their built and craftsmanship—and in the materials used—that they are made with quality. But, do they merit their hundreds-of-dollars price tag? Not unless your wire is made from gold, which by the way some are, and can be substituted for real jewelry will I even think of buying one, let alone show interest in them.
In a majority of the installs I have gone through—both personal and maybe as a spectator or plain helping hand—I choose wires that offered by a respected brand in the field, and get their semi-budget offering. I just look for something that is fairly think and well-built, with thickness of course corresponding to the needs of my juice-requirements, and get it over and done with.
There was a time when I was a real wire snub. By that I mean as long as it can carry an electric signal, I’m fine with it. I have since then believe that there is a minimum quality required for wires. First of all, using thin, low-quality wires can be dangerous. They can overheat and spark, and eventually lead to unwanted fires. Next, wires do carry electric signals and the science of it all tells us that a better conductor offers less resistance. In this sense, sound in the form of electric signals travel more freely if you have good wires. This reduces loads on sources (in this case the amplifier), and gives a cleaner and “fresher” signal for the speakers. In the end, proper wire gauge and thickness is what matters.
An age old ongoing debate regarding speaker wires is the blind test. People who believe in insanely-expensive wires are subjected to blind listening tests, wherein they will literally try to hear the differences. Guess what normal outcome usually comes out of these? Needless to say, if your electrical signal is as clean and the same to begin with, how could a a hundred-dollar wire sound better than, say a twenty-dollar one?
Yes maybe there are people who can tell the difference, but do you think the price difference is worth it? In my opinion, find a wire that has been tried and tested, is of quality, is reasonably-priced, and enjoy the music. If you have money to spare (and want better sound), replace your speakers, amplifiers, source, or improve your install—deadening, aiming, etc. If you’re done with all of that (and still have money to spare), buy more music you can listen to.
Click here to start looking for decent-quality but affordable speaker wires.
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