Philips Spooled Speaker Wire - 100ft - 16 gauge
by Philips Peripherals and Accessories
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Philips Spooled Speaker Wire - 100ft - 16 gauge
Customer Review: Philips Makes It Difficult
Summary: 2 Stars
Who would've thought speaker wire could be difficult to use? But that's exactly what Philps (practically the inventor of "all things stereo for the home") has done with this product.
I've used all types of speaker wire for many years (for many different applications). All wire I have seen is in someway marked - so that the user can determine which of the two wires will be used for negative and positive on the speaker end and the receiver/power amp end. Usually the wires are recognizable as being two different colors - one is silver and one is red for example. Or sometimes the plastic casing around the wires help the user determine which wire is which - sometimes one has text printed on it.
In the case with the Philips Spooled Wire - they have done neither. You may think this is not a big deal - and it isn't if you are running a foot or two of wire - but if you are running 50 plus feet of wire - this becomes an annoyance. Both wires (and the casing they are in) look exactly alike. There is no way to visually tell them apart.
I dealt with it by choosing one wire, peeling back the casing to expose the bare wire, and then meticulously tracing that particular wire to its end - and then marking it. It would have been easier to just choose silver or red, make the connection - find the other end and do the same.
Had I known this is what the product was like - I would have never purchased it. It's the same as if Philips came out with a DVD player ... and none of the buttons were marked for their functions!
Customer Review: Buy at your Local Lowes store
Summary: 2 Stars
After checking the price and shipping cost of this product on amazon, I decided to pay a visit to my local Lowes store. Here is what I found out:
Amazon: $16.77+$11 for standard shipping (just one above the super slow shipping)
Lowes: $20 + 1.50 tax.
Customer Review: No excuse for indistinguishable strands.
Summary: 1 Stars
Speaker wires come with two strands. The strand going to the + or - pole on the receiver MUST go to the same pole (+ or -) on the speaker, which means that you MUST be able to identify each strand at each end. This is the way speaker wiring has worked for well over 50 years (since the inception of stereo).
So how on earth can a company be lazy/stupid/careless/sloppy enough to market a 100' long spool of "speaker wire" with no way of distinguishing the two strands at each end? That's what I got when I ordered this product. The picture on the spool I received actually shows the two strands as being different colors - one dark and one light - but they were not.
If you do not happen to own an Ohm meter, you must first cut the wire to length, split the strands into two at each end, wrap one wire/strand with tape, then manually track that strand all the way (as much as 100') to the other end and mark it with tape so that you can be sure of connecting your speakers in phase (assuming you didn't miss a twist in the wire somewhere along the line).
Since the quality of wire has to be pretty much the same in different brands' plain rolls of basic 16-guage speaker wire, I have to downgrade this to 1 star for this inexcusable omission. I agree with the person who said to buy from Home Depot or Lowes so that you can see what you are getting.
Customer Review: Don't buy this speakerwire
Summary: 1 Stars
This speaker wire does not have a marked wire.....so you can't tell which is the side you want to make positive or negative when hooking up speakers.....sad Will probably throw the wire away can't use itCustomer Review: Not 16 Gauge - More Like 18
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought much better quality Phillips brand 16 Ga. wire at Wal-Mart for about the same price. This is cheap 18 Ga. wire.