Flat speaker cable, any good?

buckrogers

Been looking at his cable for surround speakers. Has to be flat as i want to run it along skirting under flooring.
Is it any good or someone point me to a better one but not too pricey. Thankyou
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ixos-XHS133-Super-Flat-Speaker-Cable-/380169922290?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item5883e4a6f2

iMayne

So far I have not seen anyone selling those cables for any lower than £1. But to me that's a good price. Others can comment.

almillar

Especially for rear speakers, unless you're running £1,000+ ones at the back, this cable will be great! My cable is quite thin, but not flat, and I chipped away a little channel behind the skirting boards when I moved in.

rrf494g

I've had my 5.1 AV sound system cabled with the stuff for years and am very happy with it. I fitted the flat cable between the AV amp and (5) wall boxes. The speakers plug into the wall boxes using conventional, short & fat speaker leads. I used the boxes so that the speakers can be unplugged and removed easily for parties without leaving trailing leads about. The flat cables can be hidden as you suggest, to make a realy neat job that the lady of the house does not find a problem.

The sound quality has been great to my ears.

buckrogers

can you tell me if you can use them for the front and centre speakers?

Arfa__

Ixos is a decent enough brand. Note its sold unterminated, i.e without them banana plugs on the ends, as pictured. No big deal, just strip an inch of bare wire at the ends and shove it into the speaker screw terminals. Sonically just as good, just a little more fiddly. Probably fine for the front and centre speakers too, unless you've got some seriously beefy speakers that draw a lot of current (let us know your amp/speakers brand/models). I'd possibly consider some fatter cables if you've got some very long runs (10m odd from amp to speaker), where you may notice the signal being attenuated ever so slightly. Oh and ignore the arrows printed on the cable, that's audiophool bullshyte... ;-) More important is noting which wire is the red, and which is black, and keeping it consistant when plugged into amp/speakers all round.

Robert2009

I'd possibly consider some fatter cables

I agree.
I had flat speaker cables and the sound I was getting from my speakers was just flat.
I replaced them with thicker rounder cables and now my sound is so much thicker and rounder so I wouldn't buy flat cable.

buckrogers

Arfa__ wrote: »

Ixos is a decent enough brand. Note its sold unterminated, i.e without them banana plugs on the ends, as pictured. No big deal, just strip an inch of bare wire at the ends and shove it into the speaker screw terminals. Sonically just as good, just a little more fiddly. Probably fine for the front and centre speakers too, unless you've got some seriously beefy speakers that draw a lot of current (let us know your amp/speakers brand/models). I'd possibly consider some fatter cables if you've got some very long runs (10m odd from amp to speaker), where you may notice the signal being attenuated ever so slightly. Oh and ignore the arrows printed on the cable, that's audiophool bullshyte... ;-) More important is noting which wire is the red, and which is black, and keeping it consistant when plugged into amp/speakers all round.

This is the one i have
2 front
centre
2 surround and subwoofer speakers
total 510 85wx5x85w

at the moment i am using a thick cable and the sound is great, but as we are getting new wooden flooring i thought a flat cable would be better as i could put it under flooring, but if you say thicker cable is better, maybe i will have to just run it along top of skirting.
the surround speakers will be 20 feet away from amp and subwoofer, if you think flat cable is not suitable can you recommend a good cable to use.
thanks for advice from everyone
http://www.sony.co.uk/product/hcs-cinema-surround-kit/ht-ddw670/tab/manual

Arfa__

Robert2009 wrote: »

I agree.
I had flat speaker cables and the sound I was getting from my speakers was just flat.
I replaced them with thicker rounder cables and now my sound is so much thicker and rounder so I wouldn't buy flat cable.

Ho ho ho.
What I was trying to suggest was not fatter as in not flat. But as in larger gauge cable, that is still flat. Using cable that's too low a gauge for the current you intend for it, will cause it to act like a resister, attenuating the signal - i.e. making it quieter, causing you to turn up the amp, so it puts out more power. Maybe an issue if you have an amp that strains to provide this extra power. Not saying the cable won't work, probably will sound fine. Its just in some circumstances, bigger (but still flat cable) may sound better to a point.

Buckrogers: with you're kit, the cable you link to will be fine for all speakers.