I am a novice when it comes to speaker wire. I currently have a pioneer HTiB setup and am going to be moving towards 6T fronts and a 5C center. Honestly, is it worth it to me to invest in better speaker wire for these items? Or is the speakerwire that came with my HTiB sufficient?

It depends on a few things, first and foremost on the gauge of the wire and how long your runs are going to be.  Most likely it's pretty thin wire from a HTIB, probably 16 gauge.  That's actually OK if the runs are under 10 feet or so.  Any longer and I would go with 14 gauge.  Longer than 40 feet then that's when you want to think about 12 gauge.

I'd also take a look at the wire itself, if it looks like pure copper then it should be good to go.  If you notice any filler in there, usually it's aluminum, then it will probably be worth it to invest in some pure copper stranded wire that's oxygen free. 
 

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

Going from a HTIB to the 6Ts and 5C is a major upgrade.  Why take a chance on not doing those excellent speaks justice?  The speaker wire that came with my son-in-law's Pioneer HTIB is 28-gauge or something ridiculous like that and has tinned ends that fit in the spring-loaded push terminals on the satellites and "receiver" that came with his system.  I'm sure you could hook that wire up to a "real" receiver and speakers and get sound, but I find it hard to believe the sound quality would not be compromised.

Having said that, you do not need to spend a lot of money to get name brand fancy cables.  Go to Home Depot, get yourself some 12 or 14-gauge wire, and never worry about second-guessing your purchase.

Just my 2 cents.

-Nick

I would suggest Monoprice.com over HD..

nbuchen:

Going from a HTIB to the 6Ts and 5C is a major upgrade.  Why take a chance on not doing those excellent speaks justice?  The speaker wire that came with my son-in-law's Pioneer HTIB is 28-gauge or something ridiculous like that and has tinned ends that fit in the spring-loaded push terminals on the satellites and "receiver" that came with his system.  I'm sure you could hook that wire up to a "real" receiver and speakers and get sound, but I find it hard to believe the sound quality would not be compromised.

Having said that, you do not need to spend a lot of money to get name brand fancy cables.  Go to Home Depot, get yourself some 12 or 14-gauge wire, and never worry about second-guessing your purchase.

Just my 2 cents.

-Nick

 

Well yeah if your HTIB came with anything thinner than 16 gauge then go ahead and get some better wire.   

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

Thanks to everyone for their input. I am not even sure if I could tell what gauge my speaker wire is. But chances are it's pretty stock. It's pretty thin. But now I know what to look for in terms of speakerwire (12 or 14 gauge) so I probably will upgrade.

Again, thanks for the help!! :)

A little side note, most wire cutters have holes for wire gauges (to make stripping cables wires easier) that also work well for gauging wire gauge :)

-Oliver

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Oliver Amnuayphol
Home Theater/Audio Guru
Aperion Audio

I went home last night and checked the speaker wire for my HTiB and interestingly enough on the wire itself it lists it as 22 gauge.

 So, I take it, that won't get it done with the 6Ts, and I should probably get some 14 gauge eh?

deuce1973:

I went home last night and checked the speaker wire for my HTiB and interestingly enough on the wire itself it lists it as 22 gauge.

 So, I take it, that won't get it done with the 6Ts, and I should probably get some 14 gauge eh?

 

Yeah ditch that stuff.  I bet it would make for good shoelaces in a pinch though.   

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Jason Hicks
Aperion Audio Guru

When I upgraded from my Energy Tak 5 system to my Aperions I invested in high quality wire.  Back then Aperion was selling Monster Cable speaker wire and I love it.  You can go overboard with speaker wire when it isn't necessary, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't invest in a good solid product that you know will deliver a good signal to your sweet new speakers.