Speaker Wire

So you bought in-wall speakers to compliment your awesome home theatre set-up, and want to squeeze all the performance out of the components? Having high quality wire for your speakers can make all the difference in the sound quality being emitted from them. Here at FireFold we only stock quality speakers and wire to ensure the best listening experience for you.

Speaker wire consists of two specific electrical conductors which are both insulated and covered by plastic. The electric signals running through each wire have the same electric patterns, but have different polarity (positive or negative current). The insulation of wires is usually colored (black or red) to symbolize which one you’re dealing with. Red is ALWAYS power, and black is ALWAYS ground when you are dealing with just these two colors. Here at FireFold we carry speaker wire in bulk, and to make it easier for you to install it, our bulk wire has a colored stripe (either red or white, depending on the length) to help you identify which wires you’re feeding through the wall. Getting your power and ground mixed up can cause a short-circuit to your equipment, so we help to prevent that with our color coding.

Speaker wire performance is defined by three distinct characteristics: Resistance; this is the measure of opposition to the passage of a steady electrical current. Capacitance; The amount of electrical charge a body can handle. Inductance; the property of a circuit which has electrical current traveling through it, and it induces an electromotive force that opposes a charge in current. In a perfect world, the ideal wire would have none of the above three things. Wires work much more efficiently when they are shorter. Resistance is lessened when the wire is shorter, which allows for a better signal. Copper wire, like most metals, has a tendency to oxidize at some point, but a major benefit of copper is that oxidized copper can still conduct. Our FireFold speaker wire is oxygen free, so there is never a need to worry about your wire oxidizing. Copper also maintains consistency with conducting signal. One of the important things to consider when buying speaker wire is the gauge of the wire. A wire will reduce resistance the thicker the gauge gets. Our 16 gauge or our 18 gauge speaker wire have been shown to have no more resistance in lengths OVER 50 feet, unlike smaller gauges, which are better suited for shorter lengths. When running wire less than 80 feet, we recommend using 16 gauge wire. When running at lengths 80-200 feet you should use 14 gauge wire. When using wire for a distance of 200+ feet we recommend 12 gauge. Our speaker wire also comes wrapped in a high quality polypropylene insulation which helps to reduce noise and distortion.

When trying to figure out how much wire is needed there are a few things you can do to get the proper length. The easiest way to find the needed amount of wire would be to get a piece of string and run it the length you need it. When running wires through a wall into another room, run the string against the wall, door frames, etc that the wire will be going through. Give yourself a few extra feet of string in case your measurements are just a little off. You then have a close ball-park figure of how much wire you’ll need.

We sell all the different accessories you need to get your home theatre set-up running properly. We have banana plugs, in either REGUALR or SOLDERLESS. The regular banana plugs can come in either metal or plastic. To hook the solderless plugs up to a speaker you need to have a Phillips head screwdriver handy. Simply un-screw the screw on the body of the plug and slide your wire inside, and then clamp it down with the screw you removed before. Regular plugs require a soldering iron. One isn’t really better than the other, but regular plugs have less of a chance of the wire slipping out of the plug when soldered in. Our plugs go great with our wall plates. We have 5.2, 6.2, and 7.2 home theater wall plates. The banana plugs snap right into the slots on the plate, making for a clean connection, with minimal wire mess.

Wiring up a home theatre system can be a very rewarding experience when your friends/family walk in and give the “ooh’s and ahh’s”. FireFold can help you custom tailor a system to fit your needs, and budget. All of our equipment is priced MUCH lower than our nearest competitor; we at FireFold are very conscientious when it comes to saving you money. We want to offer the highest quality product while still being able to pass on incredible savings on to you.