What can i use for speaker wire?

Question

I have a 100w stereo and 150w speakers

I dont have any wire but i heard that you can split a power cord (like an extention cord) or av jacks and run them as speaker wire

is this true and what else can i use??

I already have the speakers that came with the stereo hooked up but want too make it like surround sound

Answer 1

you can do that with a power cord  but why  what you want is called 16-2   that is 2 wires that are 16 gauge   that is a good gauge wire  it will handle the power when you turn it up and you can buy a roll at radio shack or best buy  realy cheap  sides....you may need that power cord some day  and good one arn't cheap    .........good luck

Answer 2

Yes zip cord or lamp cord will work fine, so if you have an extension cord or two you don't mind sacrificing for audio, by all means chop off the plugs and use it.  AV cord I really don't recommend since the wire diameter is much smaller and not designed for the higher amperage that goes to speakers.

Answer 3

Just so you know.

The following is important for long cable lengths.

The sound signal that the amplifier sends to the speaker, has frequencies between 20 and 20,000 Hertz (or cycles per second). Low frequencies flow through the entire cross section of the wire, but the flow of the higher frequencies is concentrated in the periphery of the wire (Skin Effect). Because of this wire resistance is higher at high frequencies, so there will be a higher signal drop. If you use wire with many strands, the effect will be reduced. You may heard of Monster cable, it has many many strands and is generally sold with thicker gauges. Expensive but better. Will you or others "hear" the difference?, probably not.

Answer 4

the reason why many people don't use line cords is the lack of thickness of the wire(and the lack of length).  in your case, all you need is 18 gauge wire that should be enough. the problem is I don't know the thickness that wire is that is in the line cord.

Answer 5

Yes you can, in college one of my friends did this there and at home because he didn't have money to buy speaker wire.  I don't know about the sound quality, it's been too long.