Speaker Wires

Posted by: Tom E. on 17 December 2015

I haven't posted for a while, and realize this may be the wrong place to share this, but here goes. 

I was sorting through some old files, and found a receipt for a pair of "raw" speakers I bought in 1971. These were speakers for my first "real" hi-fi. They were JBL le 12c, and I paid $240.00 for the pair of them, and another $100 for the custom cabinetry. I found the "installation and wiring manual" for them and was amused at the spec for wire size. Here's what the manual said. "18 gage (sic) stranded wire is used for connection of components in JBL systems. This can be the minimum size for speaker-amplifier connections up to 50 feet. Ordinary commercial lampcord is adequate".

My how times have changed. I still have the speakers and they still sound pretty good...

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on: 17 December 2015 by blythe

"Ordinary commercial lampcord is adequate".

Hmmm, define adequate!

Posted on: 17 December 2015 by joerand

I used 14 awg lampcord on my 35 watt Philips 785 receiver starting in 1978. I think it cost about a nickel a foot then. Used the very same cord with my 35 watt HK3350 receiver from 1990 through late 2011. May seem strange but both receivers and my speakers had pinch connectors that couldn't accommodate a larger cable. I feel I definitely got my money's worth out of that lampcord. You can imagine the shock I faced when I bought a Nait XS in 2012 and priced 27-foot runs of NACA5.

Posted on: 17 December 2015 by Steve J

I remember those days. Bare wire termination as well. I was shocked when I started using NACA4 with my first Naim system.

Posted on: 17 December 2015 by GraemeH
Steve J posted:

I remember those days. Bare wire termination as well. I was shocked when I started using NACA4 with my first Naim system.

Electrical safety standards have indeed come a long way...I hope you sued! 

G

Posted on: 18 December 2015 by Briz Vegas

There is no incongruity here. Nothing has changed.  Lamp cord will do, just don' t kid yourself that it is optimal.

A nissan mica is more than adequate to get you and your 3 kids to church. If you want a Landcruiser then that is your choice also. Often a bicycle each will do the same job.  

Posted on: 18 December 2015 by hungryhalibut

Back in 1973 or so I used lamp cord too. If someone had said to me that in 42 years time I'd buy cable at £300 a metre I simply wouldn't have thought it possible. How times change.