Is 6Awg speaker cable dangerous for speakers?

[jmourik]

Read something on the web about the "Bound for Sound" Lowe's 6awg self-made speaker cables. Figured I'd give it a try, why not, right? So I go to Lowe's and ask this guy about which one is the 6awg? He says "Dude, you're going to blow up your speakers if you use 6awg!". Huh? Why? Then he says something about how the US has 110v and bla bla bla, I lost him...

So what does the awg figure have to do with blowing up my speakers? Sounds weird to me, maybe it's overkill, but...

Anyone here who can enlighten me?

jan

[Harry G]

When Lowe's opened recently in my area, word got out that around 1000 job applicants failed their drug test. Sounds like they don't have that requirement in your area.

He got the misguided idea that since you were buying Romex, that you were going to plug your speakers into an AC outlet or maybe that somehow since you were going to use wire usually used for AC that the output of your amp would become AC. It won't.

More copper won't blow out your speakers. Be aware though, people debate endlessly here on whether we can hear speaker wire.

[jeffluckett]

Be aware though, people debate endlessly here on whether we can hear speaker wire.

Careful. If you don't pre-treat that romex properly before putting into use, you get a 60-cycle ghost hum for what that cabling thought its intended purpose would be.

You'll need to dip the cable in liquid-nitro to realign the electrons and reset them to a new purpose.

Some people suggest that you then allow the cabling to return to room temperature in the presence of a live performance of the type of music you most intend to listen to through the speakers they are connected to. They say this sets up the proper harmonic resonance in the metal's crystalline matrix, but I think this is overkill. Only a fruit fly could notice a difference that minute.

If you don't want to go through the trouble yourself, I can sell you a pre-treated set. It's a steal at $300.00/foot. I even include a sticker in the packaging so you can put it on your car and advertise for me. Audio pre-conditioning is extra, and priced by genre.

</satire>

[fuzzyT]

jmourik wrote:

> So what does the awg figure have to do with blowing up my speakers?
> Sounds weird to me, maybe it's overkill, but...

As long as you attach the far end of this wire to an audio amplifier and
not an AC wall socket, you should be fine. minding, of course, that you
don't crank that amp up beyond what your speakers can handle.

--rt

[peejay]

Maybe not for your speakers, but definitely for you if you trip over it........

[jmourik]

Thanks guys...

Let's hope the guy just misunderstood the intended purpose of those wires...

And I'd love to have Steely Dan do a concert in my living room...

jan :-)

[Havoc]

Yes, if your speakers are to light, the cable could pull them of the table.

But electricaly spoken, it doesn't matter.

[gharris999]

Hummm... Couldn't you accomplish both tasks (getting rid of the ghost hum and achieving proper harmonic resonance) by HEATING the copper to near-melting and then quenching the cable in the urine of musicians who perform in your preferred genre? For classical music, the urine is really easy to come by. Just go to a rehearsal of any non-union symphony. They never give those guys bathroom breaks, so you can always find coffee cans of urine left on stage.