This is exactly what it is supposed to be-- low cost, consumer grade speaker wire.
We use this to connect our 15-year-old consumer-grade amplifier to our old consumer-grade speakers, to play music and movie sound-tracks streamed over the internet at whatever bit-rate our connection happens to support at the moment. The speakers are placed on whatever flat surface we can find, in whatever arrangement gives us some semblance of stereo and "surround", in a living room where "acoustics" take a back seat to "not having things fall on our heads."
The impedance-matching to the speakers, the cable's power loss, the frequency response, are all 2nd-order optimizations where we are just looking for the first approximation. We just want durable cable that will not break easily if pulled or set-upon, that will not short the amplifier with ordinary use, and whose performance is no worse than the other aspects of our setup. We understand the difference between copper and copper-clad aluminum, and the impact of wire gague on signal fidelity. We have our own multi-meters, oscilliscopes and RMS power meters, and we just don't care.
If you're an audiophile, odds are you are not even sniffing the Amazon Basics, much less reading this review. You are not researching whether this cable will let you hear the timpanist's heartbeat during the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 9th, even though audiophiles claim it can be done. You are too busy putting anti-reflective coating the edges of your CDs and putting your amplifiers on tiny little conical feet. You buy artisan crafted, hand-pulled pure copper cable extracted from sustainable mines by free-range miners, encased in fair-trade gold-foil RF shielding and wrapped with organic cotton-fiber sheath dyed in native traditional patterns.
This cable is not excellent, but it is all the cable we need.
Good wire, good price, used for outdoor speakers which sound great. Empty spool made great dog toy!
Buy a wire stripper. It was too hard to peel the plastic outer sheath with scissors.
Wire splits in 2: + and - leads on speaker box and receiver.
Cut to length then strip the ends to expose the copper wire to attach to speaker screws.
I find myself a bit surprised that I gravitate towards a brand name with "basic" in it. But as with all the other AmazonBasics products I have purchased, I am continuing to find good quality products at good prices.
After picking up a new receiver I decided to stick with my original speakers and instead of trying to reuse the old wires from a different house I figured I would do a clean install with new wire. I was quite happy to see an AmazonBasics brand of wire.
I cannot claim to have a trained ear, nor do I have audiophile level equipment, but for my mid-range Yamaha receiver and speakers I can tell zero difference between this wire and Monster branded wire. My only caution, would encourage you to measure before you buy. I did not and figured 50 Feet would be enough and got the 100 foot roll just to have spare wire, and ended up using a majority of the 100 feet of wire.
As with other AmazonBasics products I am finding them to be solid, quality products priced less than the low quality products.
This is not real copper, but it does not claim to be. With that out of the way, this is actually pretty decent cable. It's very flexible and easy to work with. If you are fine with the limitations of copper-clad aluminum (because you're not running that long of a stretch, or you are over-sizing conductors to start with, or you just don't want to pay for 100% copper) then this is actually pretty nice to work with. The insulation is soft and flexible and the cord has a very easy to see black line for the negative conductor. If this were pure OFC copper, it would probably be one of my favorite brands.
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An Amazon Brand.
While I'm sure there are audiophiles who'll quibble, I think this stuff is awesome. It's got enough (but not too much) insulation to make me feel comfortable pulling it through walls. I got this to run through the wall and outside to connect some speakers to the Sony 100w amp we use with our AppleTV so we can play music out on the porch. The wire's nice and thick, easy to work with, and the spool's not ridiculously large. Other than that, the price is right.
I needed speaker wire after finding that the wire was missing from a Grace digital amp I had purchased. This wire was recommended, and I found it sounded better with the smaller amp than my thicker cables. I was pleasantly surprised. For some applications, basic is more than good enough.
The wire bends and strips easily, so you can thread it around furniture, through windows, under rugs, etc. when you are setting up a temporary listening station for a social event, workshop, or dinner. I think it is fine for setups where sound is wanted but perhaps not my first choice for a music room. It is inexpensive and one hopes durable enough to last a few years.
So far, I am happy with this bargain speaker wire.
I purchased this cable to be able to hook up my receiver to the in-wall speaker box.
I used banana clips and this cable fit perfect for my application.
The only thing to consider is if your receiver or speakers use spring clips then be cautious of the gauge wire you use. The gauge I purchased (16 gauge) was just slightly too big for the back of my receiver so I needed to crimp it a bit to compress the copper after trimming to length.
I've had this installed for approximately two years and There have not been any issues. No tarnishing of the copper and the speaker wire covering has not cracked or split.
Other then that I'm very happy with my purchase and feel this is a hard deal to pass up at this price range.
I do not think I need to explain but the reel of copper wire has a rubber/plastic feel with the protective shielding. It's very easy to cut with wire cutters, crimp with wire crimpers and to strip with wire strippers. The wire itself is standard copper wire. It feels and behaves just like it as well. I use them with banana plugs to power my speakers and I do not regret getting this product one bit!
(In my opinion, the wire is hard to split the leads. It may be due to the fact that I am a weakling, but when wiring up my speakers, majority of the time was spent on trying to split the leads from one another. If I were asked if this product has any room for improvement, I would say that the leads should be easier to separate.)
Overall, get the 100 foot reel, it's more for your money and if you mess up, no problem, you still have over 90 feet to go!
This is a fabulous product and such a bargain. I had to order several of these to rewire my theater room and it worked perfectly. The wire is a good quality copper that solders well and connects well for those wanting a more permanent connection vs wire nuts or other connectors. The sleeve is a good quality plastic that pulls fairly easy through your walls.
The best part about this wire is the cost! It was less than 1/2 the price of the cheapest wire I could find at Home Depot or Lowes. What a bargain!
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