Monoprice 102793 Choice Series 16 Gauge AWG 2 Conductor Speaker Wire / Cable - 100ft High Purity 99.9% Oxygen Free Pure Bare Copper For Home Theater, Car Audio And More

I’m Happy with my purchase, and given the mixed reviews on packaging and quality I thought I’d provide an updated review on Monoprice Choice Series 16 AWG. I almost did not purchase because of all the bazaar reviews.Application: 5 satellite speakers for “surround sound” in my home office.Packaging:Product arrived in a plastic Amazon bag. inside the bag was a well packaged box with a Monoprice barcode and part number on four sides(see pics if you are interested). Inside the box was a generic looking spool with the same barcode and part number listed on the outside of the box. The cable was well wound around the spool and secured with adequate, though weak shrink wrap. The spool is generic looking and it isn’t falling apart any time in the next decade, not like other reviews have mentioned.On to the cable. The cable is plenty flexible for almost any reasonable needs. The plastic insulator on the outside of the cables is plenty thick to provide protection and the two wires separate easily from each other. The insulator is easily stripped without harming the copper strands inside and is labeled “Monoprice power limited…”, see picture for more words.The copper.I counted 26 individual strands in each conductor, or 52 total per wire. I picked a couple, strands and slowly went through the entire strand with a razor. Appears to be solid copper, no aluminum clad as others have stated.Performance:Resistance seem correct and my speakers sound fine…. And yes I use good quality 12 AWG for my higher performance systems. But 16 AWG is fine for this application. Most people can’t hear the difference between a $2000 12 AWG cable and a $20 AWG cable. If you think you can fine, buy the $2000 cable.Bottom line, I’m happy with the purchase and I would order again if I need more. Some reviewers have said this isn’t legit Monoprice cable. I don’t know what they received but I believe the cable I received is the genuine article. View the pictures and judge for yourself!Happy listening!

This wire is exactly what you expect. Many emerging speaker wire products in the past couple years have started to skimp by coloring aluminum or burying aluminum inside an outside ring of copper, or marketing a product with a larger gauge than it actually is. Lately, it has become hard to find a cost effective option for speaker wire that is actually what it says it is. I trust monoprice because they give quality products and they dont try to skimp or cheat you out of what you think you are buying. Monoprice also doesn't overcharge by elating their product to more than it is by advertising. So a comparison of wire that I have bought:I have bought 50ft of 12 gauge speaker wire from Monster, Pyle, and Monoprice.Pyle speaker wire is by far the worst. Pyle "12 gauge" wire had maybe 30% less metal than what 12 gauge should be. I also suspect colored aluminum, although I am not sure about that. I also only received about 40 ft. Its amazing how much smaller the Pyle spool is than other spools. $15. I guess you get what you pay for.Monster speaker wire has great conductivity, and my speakers sound clear with good response in the full range of tones. The gauge is what it says it is and the coating in nice. My two complaints are it is overpriced (I got mine for $40 at BestBuy, but buying at BestBuy might be the issue) and my other small complaint is that one of the two wires has really light white writing on one of the tubing. Sometime it would be useful if it was more noticeable. There is also a small plastic tube on the inside of the wire, which takes away from the gauge of the wire. But overall a good product. I would definitely buy monster wire if it were competitively priced with Monoprice wire.Finally, Monoprice speaker wire has extremely pure copper, and oxygen free copper, which will allow for long term use of this wire. It also is as long and as thick as it is advertised to be. The Monoprice wire is definitely the best. There is also a big red strip running along one of the tubings to indicate a positive wire which is a nice feature. The metal of the Monoprice wire seems to be the most malleable as well. Overall great wire, for only $22

I have used lamp core (zip cord) and $2.00/ft. Pure copper 8 gauge audiophile rated wire over the years. For the price, I have nothing but high marks for the Monoprice brand and products I have purchased. Many cry “snake oil” when discussing speaker cable, and I think many diy users are quite subjective on their rating. So be it. I use the best connectors I can afford, measure my cable length to the 1/8” sometimes and give new materials time to break in. I highly recommend the brand and will continue to enjoy the savings of all my diy cable making products. I will continue using Monoprice wiring until something changes.

I bought this to hook up my own DIY speakers to my amplifier. The cable is sturdy and required a bit of muscle to separate the wires, more than I expected anyway. It also isn't the most malleable, but I think that's expected for this gauge of wire. One thing I appreciated was how fine the copper strands are. Some wire that I've used previously had thick strands that are difficult to twist and bend the way you want them to, but this wire was easy to work with. The only downside was that it was easier to accidentally break a few of the strands when stripping the insulation off. Overall, a very good product. My speakers sound great, and the wires do their job. And I've got plenty more for future products! Nice product.

I find zero need to buy expensive speaker wire. This is well made and in my opinion, is best connected with bare ends. If you swap gear out all the time, banana plugs might be more useful to you. Save yourself some money and use quality wire like this.Update 2/2/25: I also ordered a 50' run of the 12g version of this wire for a longer run. Just outstanding speaker wire.