How Do I Hook Up... my speaker wire?

How to Run Speaker Wire

Plugging in speaker wire is easy enough. But what do you know about gauge? Cable length? Positive and negative leads?

All of these aspects of speaker wire are equally important. You want to hook up your home theater (and your speakers) optimally, so don't skip over the simple things.

Your home theater in fact relies on the passageways created by speaker wire. If your receiver can't get to a speaker or there isn't enough power getting to your subwoofer, you're missing out on the home theater experience.

Speaker Wire Gauge

The gauge of a cable means how thick the electrical wire actually is. Speaker wire is simple electrical wire insulated by a protective sheathing. The thicker the wire, the more electrical current can pass through. The higher the gauge, the thinner the cable. This means 18 gauge is much thinner than 12 gauge. A 10 gauge cable is about as thick as a pen, far too thick for most receiver and speaker input jacks.

Gauge also depends on how long the wire is. If you need to run a 100ft speaker wire, you'll need 12 gauge. For anything less, 14 gauge is optimal. Most rooms won't require a single run of speaker wire longer than 50 feet, so you don't have to worry about distance unless your room is very large.

Some receivers, and even some speakers, can't handle thick speaker wire. This is especially true for HTIB (home theater in a box) systems or extremely inexpensive equipment (like a pair of $10 speakers or a $30 receiver). Try to connect 14 gauge cable, but if it doesn't fit, you'll have to use 16 or even 18 gauge.

Speaker Wire Length

As mentioned, very long runs of speaker wire require lower gauge cable. But you also need to keep your speaker wire matched.

Its simple: If you run 15ft of speaker wire for your front left speaker, than your front right speaker needs to be 15ft as well. Your rear speakers should match each other, but they don't have to match the front speakers.

You want to do this to avoid sound delays or varying volumes. Different lengths of cable can provide different levels of wattage. Though its mostly too small a different to notice, some situations will be more obvious and interrupt your audio experience.

Positive and Negative Leads

You've probably noticed that speaker wire splits off at either end into two separate eletrical wires. These are called leads.

One of them is positive and the other negative. They can be used interchangebly, however, as neither is definitely positve or negative. What matters is which one you choose to use for positve and which for negative.

Most speaker wire is colored differently or labeled on one side or the other. This helps you match the leads up. For instance, if one of the lead's sheathing (the coating around the electrical wire) is red, use that for negative on your speaker and your receiver. This way, you're not crossing the leads by using the wrong one for negative on the speaker or receiver.

Crossing leads can result in damage to your speakers and your receiver. It can also lead to fire under some circumstances.

Plugging Speakers In

Now that you understand the basics to wiring your speakers, you can go ahead and connect them.

Most receivers have speaker jacks in the form of bind posts. Bind posts work by tightening a plastic cap down on your speaker wire. You would loosen the cap by turning it counter-clockwise until you can slip a lead into it. Then you would turn it the other way to tighten it down on the lead.

However your receiver or speaker jacks are designed, make sure you get a good amount of the lead into the jack. You might have to strip your wires yourself (or extra on pre-stripped wires). Stripping means cutting away the protective sheathing on the end of the wires to reveal more of the leads.

A good rule of thumb is to leave a quarter inch of electrical wire exposed. You want to get as much of it as possible into the speaker wire jacks to ensure a good connection. If your speakers aren't working or are giving off static/low volume, check to make sure you have good contact with the leads in the wire jacks. You might have to strip the wires a bit more to get enough electrical wire into the jack.

Didn't understand some of the terms used above?
Check our our Home Theater Glossary to lookup some of the words you haven't seen before or don't fully understand. Its a great way to familiarize yourself with home theater connections and will help you make better buying and configuring decisions.
>>Glossary

Forums.
Crystal clear like this little LCD's image, our Forums can help answer your questions. Users and administrators alike will be quick to respond.
>>Visit the Forums