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Getting ready to install those outdoor speakers you bought in your
landscape, huh? You got everything you need, right? I am guessing that
you purchased the following: Outdoor speakers, check! Amplifier, check!
Burial grade speaker wire...what? You mean you bought just standard
speaker wire from the store? This will never do! Sure it might work for
a while, but soon the elements will deteriorate it and it will crack.
Soon as it does you got a short issue that can result in a blown
speaker. Or worse, a blown amplifier!
So what makes burial grade
speaker wire better? Lets first look at the make up, shall we? Standard
speaker cable you use in your home has either two sets of wire made of
either copper or aluminum or a combination of both. Obviously 100%
copper is the best conductor to use for your speakers because it
transfers the signal with the least amount of resistance. And of course
you need to use the recommended wire gage for your speakers, so look at
the specifications of yours to determine this.
Speaker wires for
home or car use have a plastic coating around the inner conductor to
protect them from coming into contact with each other and any other
exterior metal that might cause a short. This is the most common type
of speaker wire. Burial grade cable has some of the same elements as
standard wire, but with added weather protection. This type of cable
comes in both 2 conductor and 4 conductor versions. Conductors? Okay,
speaker wire has a positive (+) wire and a negative (-) wire. This is a
2 conductor cable.
A 4 conductor has two sets of positive and two
sets of negative wires which allows stereo hook up of both the right
and left channels. Make sense? Now back to the "exciting" stuff! Burial
cable usually consists of 2 or 4 conductors of copper wire, in
individual plastic coating. For example, it can be one red, one black,
one green and one blue.
Color doesn't really matter, it just
helps you to keep them distinguished when hooking them up. These 4
color coded conductors are also encapsulated in a weather resistant
outer coating, usually black, that helps protect it from moisture,
heat, cold and breakage. Utilizing this type of wire for your outdoor
speakers not only will get the sound were you want it but it will last
for many, many years to come.
Okay, so what have we learned? We
have learned that standard speaker wire and burial grade speaker wire
are different when it comes to use outside your home. If you choose to
use standard wire for your outdoor speakers, you run the risk of wire
breakage and deterioration due to the elements. The chance that the
wire will short and cause damage to your speakers and amplifier is
possible. So why would you take the chance? Why would you want to have
to pull them out of the ground and re-install them again?
If this
is what you really want to do and you like the thought of having to
repeat your burial work a second time, then by all means, use standard
wire! But, if you are like me, and don't like doing things twice, then
do them right the first time. Don't you agree?
http://www.outdoorspeakerguy.com |
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