Audio Cable

Audio Cable

The type of audio cable you choose will depend on what kind of signal you will carry, what type of hardware you have, where you are wiring, and how far you will be wiring. Whatever type of cable that you choose or must have, getting it from a reputable supplier such as Primus Cable is very important. We can assure you that all of our audio cable is made with your home theater installation in mind, maintaining and upgrading the audio quality in your installation.

Overview of Audio Cable

Audio cables are run from you main control station (TV, amplifier, DVD player, etc) to your speakers through the room or house. Audio cable is wired directly into the speaker or amp, or the cable is terminated using various connectors that are plugged directly into audio/video keystone jacks. The jacks mount onto home theater wall plates, wall plates and surface mount boxes, which provide a high level of flexibility when building your home theater setup.

Audio Cable and Safety

While you may opt for generic speaker cable, it may not be such a good idea. Cable marked CL2 or CL3 is specifically designed for in wall installations and adheres to rigorous standards for testing by the National Electrical Code (NEC). Additionally, many state laws require that any in-wall audio cable must be CL2 or CL3 cable. Our audio speaker wire is either CL2 or CL3 cable and is made with oxygen free copper. This lends to the purest of audio signal as there are no impurities in the conductors.

We supply the CMR rated 14/16/18 AWG CMR Speaker Wire. We also offer a direct burial alternative, the 14/16 AWG Outdoor Speaker Wire.

If you are installing your audio cables in riser closets or plenum spaces, be sure to look for CMR and CMP cables. These speaker wires are rated to measure the heat generated from the wire and how quickly the cable will catch fire and spread when exposed to a flame. Cable marked with these ratings, CMR and CMP, are intended to self extinguish and emit a low amount of hazardous smoke and toxic emissions.

Performance of Audio Cable

In general, wiring your speaker in a home theater is simple—there is a positive wire and a negative wire that run from an amplifier to a speaker. You speakers will be placed in different points and the cable runs behind the drywall from amp to speaker. For cables entering and exiting from walls, we carry a special line of cable wall plates that are mounted using drywall brackets.

As we mentioned above, depending on what the cable will be used for and how far it will be run will determine what type of wire you will need. All of our audio cable meets and exceed industry performance standards—pure copper conductors, adequate or higher stand count, and proper safety ratings. You may also choose your audio cables based on their gauge size, and you may have noticed that our audio cable is listed as 14/2, 14/4, 16/2, etc. The first digit specifies the wire gauge (AWG) while the second number specifies the number of conductors. Most speakers only require 2 conductors, a positive and negative, but there are cases where 4 conductor is needed such as setups that require volume and tone controls. For that you will want 4 conductor cables.

The lower the AWG, the thicker the cable. While in single room setups an 18 AWG wire will be sufficient, in multiple room setups with longer runs, you will opt for a larger gauge size such as our 16/2 or 14/2 audio cable.

Other Types of Audio Cable

Not all home theater audio cable is wired using speaker wire. We also carry Toslink audio cables. Toslink cables are a fiber optic connections that carry audio signal with crystal clear digital sound. Another option is our RCA audio cables. RCA cables are the most common type of audio cable. They are used to connect DVD players, TVs, amplifiers, and more.

A great audio system started with great cable. If you are looking for high-quality audio cable, look no further. We also carry many of your end-to-end solutions for home theater (view our Home Theater section).

For any additional information click on the links or feel free to give us a call. 951-824-1571.