I have a Yamaha YHTS400 and am looking for longer speaker wire. The length they gave me is only 3m and is too short. I want to buy longer wire but I cannot seem to find 6 conductor speaker wire anywhere online. The reason its 6 conductor is because it is connecting 3 speakers in the sound bar. I want to sit the sound bar on my mantle and run the wire through the wall. Does anyone know where I can find 6 conductor or can I use something else i.e. 6 conductor regular stranded wire?
Speaker wire (6 conductor)
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Yes. Doesn't have to be stranded. 16ga wire will be fine for your needs.
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Since it is just in wall, why not just three in-wall rated speaker cables.
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^^^^
Or better yet, ordinary house wire. That stuff is 14 ga. which may provide better results than 16. As that "education" link shows, the primary consideration is sufficient wire size. There is nothing special about special speaker wire, other than the price. For most purposes, ordinary lamp cord is all you need. However, if the OP wants all 3 pairs in one cable, he can find such at various industrial suppliers. When I installed my speakers, I used 14 ga. lamp cord, except for the center speaker which has 16 ga. (I ran out of 14 ga.)
Or better yet, ordinary house wire. That stuff is 14 ga. which may provide better results than 16. As that "education" link shows, the primary consideration is sufficient wire size. There is nothing special about special speaker wire, other than the price. For most purposes, ordinary lamp cord is all you need. However, if the OP wants all 3 pairs in one cable, he can find such at various industrial suppliers. When I installed my speakers, I used 14 ga. lamp cord, except for the center speaker which has 16 ga. (I ran out of 14 ga.)
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Just a warning, since you mentioned installing it in-wall. It MUST be CL3/FT4 rated for in-wall use under all National and Provincial building and electrical codes in Canada. If you use non-rated wire (lamp/zip cord, etc), it will probably work fine, but if you ever have a fire (even if not caused by the speaker wiring), the insurance company's investigators will look for any way they can to deny the claim, and if they find any evidence of non-rated wiring in the walls, they might (and probably will) stick it to you.
Do NOT use trailer cable (as suggested above) or anything else not specifically rated for what you intend to do with it!!!
Go to Home Depot, get the 14 or 16 ga 2-conductor in-wall rated speaker wire off the bulk rack (yellow or green jacket) and tape 3 lengths together and use that. It is very fairly priced and will meet all required codes. And no matter what anyone else tells you, it is equal in quality to any exotic name brand wiring for a fraction of the price.
You are unlikely to find properly rated multi-conductor wire that has sufficient gauge to carry speaker loads from a home theater amplifier. Using CAT5 network wiring will give you the rating for in wall use and the multi-conductors you need, but it doesn't have enough wire gauge to handle the current and will likely heat up and eventually short out.
Cheers
The REAL Joe
Do NOT use trailer cable (as suggested above) or anything else not specifically rated for what you intend to do with it!!!
Go to Home Depot, get the 14 or 16 ga 2-conductor in-wall rated speaker wire off the bulk rack (yellow or green jacket) and tape 3 lengths together and use that. It is very fairly priced and will meet all required codes. And no matter what anyone else tells you, it is equal in quality to any exotic name brand wiring for a fraction of the price.
You are unlikely to find properly rated multi-conductor wire that has sufficient gauge to carry speaker loads from a home theater amplifier. Using CAT5 network wiring will give you the rating for in wall use and the multi-conductors you need, but it doesn't have enough wire gauge to handle the current and will likely heat up and eventually short out.
Cheers
The REAL Joe
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