Before purchasing this speaker wire, I read all the reviews. At the time there were only 4 reviews and they were all over the place (1 Five Star Review, 1 Four Star Review, 1 Three Star Review, and 1 One Star Review). Based on the available reviews, I did not know what to expect.
I purchased this wire for an electrical project. I was converting a small battery powered electronic device to run from an AC to DC power adapter. I used this wire instead of automotive zip wire because I suspected that this speaker wire was better quality.
This wire worked out very well for my application. I was initially impressed by the flexibility and thickness of the insulation. When I pulled the wires apart by hand, both wires were still completely covered by insulation. I had no problems stripping the insulation off the wires using my wire stripper. I also had no trouble tinning and soldering the speaker wire. None of the insulation melted when I tinned and soldered the speaker wire. My spool was a continuous 50 feet (i.e. not spliced together). Other than being made in China, I have no complaints about this speaker wire. I would definitely purchase this speaker wire again.
This may not be exactly 18 gauge so if you are doing high watts and long distance then you shouldn't be buying budget wire anyway. For the price it works great. I tried running 12' wires to vintage 1970 Acoustic Research speakers coming from an Onkyo receiver and I have a discerning ear. It is also exactly what I wanted to pay for another channel B remote speaker pair I got for 15$.
The salesmen at a car audio place will tell you that you need a certain current capacity wire no matter what and you'll need to buy 120$ worth of monster cables. If you're running crazy system perhaps... but unlikely you'll need what people will try to sell you. At a chain store the salesman was telling me I need huge, huge wire for my subwoofers, going only 2-3' away. Then as he was showing me the connectors into the wall system and how huge they were the connector fell off and exposed they were fed by the skimpiest wire I've ever seen. The look on his face...
I've upgraded my passat GLX with the from the factory "monsoon" or whatever system and the wire for that is way smaller than this.
The way I look at is if it is much low in price and you are trying to get a german car for the price of a Korean car you are going to feel like you came up short. This is cheap but it works just fine if you aren't having a concert.
It works just like speaker wire should. Strips easily and the red line lets you easily identify which wire is positive. At 10KHz, the depth of penetration of electrons is about 1mm, or about 18 gauge, so thicker wire isn't really necessary for audio. If you want to run a thousand watts into your subwoofer, you can use the ohms per foot to determine your power loss. This wire (copper) has 0.064 ohms per foot, so for 10' subwoofer distance a 10 ohm subwoof, and pumping 1000 watts, you'll lose about 6% of your power or 0.18dB which of course you'll never hear (remember half-volume is -3dB which is 1/2 power.) Are you spending a lot of money on Monster cables for audio? Why?
*** Special not to the manufacturer *** This is not 12AWG wire. I don't know where you get your measuring tools from but where I come from 12 AWG wire should be about 2mm in diameter. This is definitely 14AWG wire which is about 1.5mm. 12 Gauge wire strippers won't even strip the stuff. This is the only reason this product gets 4 stars.
Thankfully I was aware of this before I purchased the wire and was really only looking for 14AWG wire to rewire the speakers in my truck. This happens to be the best deal I have found for 12 or 14 AWG wire so I still consider it a good buy. Since each strand I was running was less than 20 feet even 14 AWG wire is capable of handling 350 Watts which is far more than my speakers can handle or my amp can produce. I highly recommend this for wiring up speakers, either in your house or vehicle, however, don't recommend it for heavy power applications such as subwoofers.
The truth? With a quality set of strippers, I had to use the 14g hole to strip this. Who cares? Anybody who really needs 12g wire shouldn't be looking at the cheapest roll on amazon. 80% of those who do think they need it probably don't anyway. If you're competing in the state SPL car stereo championships, or are running 100 ft of wire to drive your custom built 18" subwoofer, maybe this isn't for you. For any other application, this is an unbelievable value and performs perfectly. I won't go into a lengthy life description proving I'm a stereo Jedi Master . I'll just say compared to the typical American, I have (probably too much) good, high end equipment, and this was the best deal I've got on any of it. Unless somebody bought this at a local stereo shop and paid $1+ per foot, there should be no 1 or 2 star ratings. At just over a dime per foot, this is unbelievable.
Feature Product
- 18 GAUGE THICKNESS: This 18-gauge copper speaker wire offers very easily connection for speakers to amplifiers or receivers. The thickness is just enough for resistance and electrical flow without the risk of overheating
- CUT AS DESIRED: The wire can be cut as desired for specific installation needs. If the plastic jacket is removed, the wire can be left bare or use wire crimp accessories to connect to stereo and speakers
- UNDISTORTED SIGNAL: Made with plastic jacket surrounding the speaker wire to help deliver high-quality undistorted signals to and from all of connected audio equipment. This also helps with insulation
- POLARITY MARK: There's a red mark outlined on one side of the cable wire. Its purpose is to easily distinguish the polarity and help properly set up any audio stereo, surround sound system, TV home theater and even a car
- 100FT CONVENIENT DISPENSE: This very long 100ft speaker wire is neatly wrapped around a hard plastic spool for easy and convenient dispensing. It can be used without hassle and instantly too
Description
Pyramid Model : RSW18100
18 Gauge 100 ft. Spool of High Quality Speaker Zip Wire
Pyramid offers a new line of speaker wires in its finest to accommodate DIY stereo to amplifier installation needs. It is 18-gauge to offer just enough resistance and electrical flow without the risk of overheating. The wire is surrounded by a plastic jacket for insulation and undistorted signal. There’s even a red mark to distinguish polarity easily. For convenience and dispensing, the 100 feet long wire is neatly wrapped around a plastic spool.
I needed some low voltage/low amp bonded copper wire, and for some reason, it is more expensive than speaker wire. So I went with speaker wire (as I've done in the past), and this stuff works quite well. I'm very pleased with it. For the heck of it, I cut a piece, and tried on a set of speakers and has great audio too. So it's great for all kinds of hobby use.
For the price of this wire I could have bought 3 feet of monster wire. This wire may not have all of the bells and whistles, But if you are doing an install on a budgit, you cannot beat the price for this product. I found similar wire in the box stores for 3 to 5 times as much for the same thing, As for monster or High end wire, the big difference that you will find is that the claim to manufacture there wire without it ever being exposed to oxygen while it is produced so it will not corrode. As for any other electrical wire made in the industry not pertaining to stereo, there is no problem with corroding as long as it is not exposed to water or chemicals. Oxygen will have an effect over time in moist conditions, but even the exposed monster wire will corrode in the wrong conditions.
I viciously search the internet for the best price on all the gear I buy. This by far was the best bang for the buck between several discount online retailers. I wouldn't recommend it if you have a truly high end setup or even for higher end car install applications. I have a mid-range setup with two Pioneer floor standers, a Polk Center, and two rear Pioneer bookshelfs mounted on the ceiling. This works great I am not certain that the gauge is right on the money. Unless you have a really obnoxious run or are using some serious money gear (I'm poor so I don't :P). Then this is an amazing product.
Took solder fine at 300c-572f with cheapo solder. Runs small would guess 20 gauge is really 22 gauge but fine what I needed it for.
Can't comment on if it's really 12AWG or not, but it sure looks solid to me. At this thickness, it's starting to be a challenge to conceal wire under rugs and in channels, so for me it worked.
I used all 100 feet of it (well, I did not measure, but rather used the entire spool) and, as you would expect, no kinks or obvious flaws in any part of the wire. Nice and consistent. Also important, the product arrived exactely as on the photo - same spool and same color wiring.
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