Inwall Speaker wire Cost: MonoPrice vs Electrician
- Thread starter ahreno
- Start date
I have mixed thoughts about this. I am all for saving money, but in my home automation projects, the wire and supplies are the least expensive parts of the job. It is the labor that is the most "expensive" part. With this in mind, extra money on quality materials that are easier to install is money well spent. There is a difference in wire. I always use Belden wire. The jacket is sequentially numbered at 2 foot markers. The copper seems to be of good quality. The pull boxes work well, and there is a pull string along with the wire making it easier to terminate. If Monoprice cable has these features, then go for it. Here is a link to the cable that I like:
Check out this link to Belden speaker cable at Tristate Electronics
Disclaimer: I've never used Monoprice speaker wire. Perhaps someone who has used Monoprice's wire can chime in. Just food for thought, as I know many people use Monoprice wire with good results. Good luck.
Sacedog
Active Member
I second Belden cable, and Tristate Electronics. I recently wired my new home, and purchased all 45,000 feet of cable from Tristate. I used a few boxes of their Sheer Sound 14 GA 4-pair and 2-pair, and it is very nice stuff. I have some runs as long as 125', and the sound reproduction is great. It has an extremely high strand count, and is very easy to work with. All of my other cable was Belden, which I have used and trusted for a long time. Their rep talked me into the Sheer Sound wire for the speakers, and I am glad he did. It was also a lot less expensive than the Belden.
I can all but guarantee that your electrician will use whatever his supplier gives to him, which will NOT be as good of quality wire as you can purchase on your own.
https://www.tselectronic.com/genesis/htwire.html
I can all but guarantee that your electrician will use whatever his supplier gives to him, which will NOT be as good of quality wire as you can purchase on your own.
https://www.tselectronic.com/genesis/htwire.html
felixrosbergen
Senior Member
Don't forget the shipping cost when ordering from Monoprice...also for 250-500ft it's hardly worth thinking about...not sure if you can even get less than 1000ft increments in bulk from monoprice...
I of course factor shipping costs in but thanks for the reminder. Unfortunately I'm on a shoestring budget for my project. I've read so many good things about monoprice (their following is almost as strong as apples!) and the wires are already tipping my budget. As much as I would like to run a higher quality / more expensive wire I am going to go with monoprice due to the strong recommendations I've had for them.
AnthonyZ
Active Member
Sheer wire is actually made by Isotec and it is very good cable for the price. Very good.
Please explain the last sentence. Why would the sparky be unable to one, purchase the same or better wire on their own and two, get it for a hell of a lot better price than the average DIY'er via direct vendor relationship or distribution? I can absolutely guarantee that my price for cable beats the pants off of Monoprice and isn't of the cheap Chinese variety, at that.
You might be a bit more resourceful than the average electrician. I'm familiar with most of the electrical supply houses in my area that local electricians buy from, and I have dealer accounts with a few. Monoprice is far cheaper than most of them for cabling. Now, the supply houses may give better discounts to higher volume buyers than me, but the difference I see is significant.
Say what you want about cheap chinese cabling, but I haven't had a problem with any cable that I've purchased from Monoprice yet - even HDMI cables of significant length.
AceCannon
Active Member
I just finished my structured wiring, got a bunch of 16/4 and 14/2 from Monoprice. The wire came of reels which are easy to pull as long as you put them on a spindle of some kind. There were "length remaining" markings each foot. My LV guys who ran the wire had no complaints about it and were impressed with the prices, even with shipping. They did not have reels longer than 500 feet.
I also got 100ft boxes of cat5e for significantly less than anywhere in town. The LV guys were adequately impressed by this, as well. Also had length markings every foot. These boxes pulled very easily.
I also got 100ft boxes of cat5e for significantly less than anywhere in town. The LV guys were adequately impressed by this, as well. Also had length markings every foot. These boxes pulled very easily.
Sacedog
Active Member
Most sparkys do not take the time to be resourceful. They take what their supplier gives them, and call it good. If they took the time to find quality wire, I am sure that they could get a better price.
I wired my new home about 5 months ago and a significant amount of the wire was Monoprice wire. I had absolutely zero problems with any of it. I bought about 18,000 feet of cat6, 1500 feet of 14/4 speaker, 250 ft of 14/2 speaker, 250 ft of 12/4 speaker, and 50 ft of 12/2 speaker. I was most impressed with the speaker wire. Even with the large size it was very flexible and easy to pull. The jacket was strong and well marked. I was able to get them to ship it freight all the way across the country. Took a few days longer, but saved a TON on shipping costs. For your amount, I think you're stuck paying standard shipping rates which might offset your savings that you could buy locally without shipping. However, I highly recommend Monoprice for cable, patch panels, keystone jacks, wall plates, tv wall mounts - the list goes on. I've used all the products mentioned with great results on all of it.
rusgrafx
Member
I see this is a rather old thread, but for all those looking to buy wire from Monoprice I second all the praise given to them above. Most of the wiring (both AV and Cat6) in my home is from Monoprice, including the speakers (6-1/2 Inches Glass Composite 3-Way, Dual Voice Coil - those are awsome), volume controls, wall plates, etc and it all works and sounds great.
So far the only thing that failed WAF was the Slide Type volume controllers - they are a bit wobly and difficult to adjust, but the rotary ones are pretty good and cost around $20 vs. around $80 if you buy anywhere else.
So far the only thing that failed WAF was the Slide Type volume controllers - they are a bit wobly and difficult to adjust, but the rotary ones are pretty good and cost around $20 vs. around $80 if you buy anywhere else.
