Dmitry Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Electrician will put them through the walls as soon as I buy. It will feed music from a Scott 299 brought back to life by Senor 3dzapper. I'm not big on expensive cables. What's a good dyi cable for K-horns, and what's a good commercially-available cable? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 14 gage speaker wire from the local big box store. 12 gage if you have long runs. IMO there is no difference in this wire or high buck wire except for the lighter wallet you will have with big buck wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaspr Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Good advice from Cal. You might want to check with your electrician if your local electrical codes require specific wire types. Especially for wires inside the walls. Garth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klipschaholik Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 I found that you can actually buy the heavy duty extension cords say from Lowes cheaper than buying the speaker wire. Buy the lenght and gauge you want and just clip off the plugs, cut the length you need and there you have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 I got the cable - it's the Monster Cable XP-CI in-wall rated 100 ft. spool at Best Buy's for $80. My next question is at what hight should the cables exit the wall to attach to the K-Horns? At the height of the terminals on the speaker body? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DizRotus Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 500 ft 12 gauge copper $60 at Home Depot. I choose to spend money on things other than wire. The electrons don't know the difference. Why spoil them? The electrons have to to flow through steel chasssis and terminals, copper voice coils, etc., irrespective of what you use instead of zip cord as speaker cables. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 UP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Why would you buy cheap wire to run in-wall that will oxidize and be hard to replace? Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 The oxidation thing is way over worried about. I still have lots of zip cord gage and quality wire that is over 25 years old and still works as good as the day it was made. I know it is in good shape because it has clear insulation and you can clearly see that it is not oxidized. There is no reason to spend big bucks on wire. If you are really worried about it, leave an extra foot or so at each end and after 20 years or so, cut the end off and give yourself "fresh" wire. Designer wire is a HUGE waste of money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 I got the cable - it's the Monster Cable XP-CI in-wall rated 100 ft. spool at Best Buy's for $80. My next question is at what hight should the cables exit the wall to attach to the K-Horns? At the height of the terminals on the speaker body? $15 worth of 16 gage wire for $80. No excessive profit there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmitry Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 I got the cable - it's the Monster Cable XP-CI in-wall rated 100 ft. spool at Best Buy's for $80. My next question is at what hight should the cables exit the wall to attach to the K-Horns? At the height of the terminals on the speaker body? $15 worth of 16 gage wire for $80. No excessive profit there. This all very enlightening stuff. However, I needed an in-wall rated wire, so the electrician would do everything up to code, the way it should be. So that's the wire I got. My question still stands - at what hight should the cables exit the wall to attach to the K-Horns? At the height of the terminals on the speaker body or a bit lower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Blacksmith Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 If I was doing the job, I would have the wire come out of the wall in boxes, installed at the height of the rest of the outlets in the room. This way, if you ever move the Khorns, or sell the house, a blank cover will go over the outlet boxes and will blend into the room. EDIT: Also I would run the wire in flex conduit for ease of replacement or upgrades at a future date. Of course I would wire the whole house in flex conduit instead of that crappy romex. But that is just the old school electrician in me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Okay, I think I see the question. It is good anticipation of a potental problem. I might not be getting all the issues though. The spec on the website for the current K-Horn shows it is 50.75 inches tall. The top, home plate piece is most probably 0.75 inch MDF. The older ones used ply, but still the same thickness. The front baffle for the mid and tweeter is 10 inches tall the time I measured one at a friend's place. The terminals are on a crossover board which itself is 0.75 tall, sitting in the bottom of the 10 inch tall chamber. It is recessed I don't know the set up on the newest K-Horn. Part of the back may be closed off by a board. None the less, I'd think the window is the same as can be inferred from the above and the input terminal is at that height.. So you can see how this all measures up. A set of terminals on some sort of wall plate should be between 50 and 40 inches above the floor. 45 inches will put it in the middle and give you some room for variations. It may be safer to go an inch or two lower because of the following. Let me also state that there may well be some variation between the current K-Horn with what I think is a thinner "collar" between the bass bin and the upper cabinet (0.75 ?), the classis collar on the B style which is 1 inch (?) and the classic C style which does not have any collar. K-Horn owners can give more precise information from first hand experience. The problem is that people like to seal off the bass bin in the back with weather strip and thus running the feed wire up from floor could get in the way. Therefore getting the wall terminal square in the middle of the upper cabinet is a good idea. On the other hand, drooping feed wire could be a problem too. You'll have to get the K-Horn very close to the wall and make all the hookup with a short lengtht , then push the cabinet into place. If the wire sags, it could get in the way. Perhaps a long thick rubber band could be rigged to take up the slack. Or maybe a thread to hold up the loop of feed wire as you push the cabinet back. I may be wrong about what you're trying to accomplish. Take all my thoughts with a grain of salt. Best, Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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