We’ve all done it or at least thought about it. It’s so easy. It’s really no big deal. It feels good. No one will ever know. Well, I’m here to tell you that eventually, you’ll regret it.

I hope I got your attention. I’m sorry to disappoint anyone looking for a more salacious topic, but what I’m talking about today is wire. Specifically, hookup wire.

Today, I’m waiting on parts for the Source Selector Unit and I’m kind of at a standstill. But while I was testing the unit a couple days ago, I really wished I had a little test aid jig to help out. So today I was putting that jig together. While working on it, I needed some 22 AWG wire in red and black. But when I looked at my normal 22 AWG wire kits, I saw that I was all out of black in that wire size. It was unexpected, but it happens.

So while looking for alternatives, I noticed a wire kit siting on the back of the top shelf in my parts closet. And it had a black wire sticking out. So I grabbed it, made sure the box said 22 AWG, and used that black wire on my jig. By the time I was done I regretted my decision.

The wire kit I used for my black wire was one I purchased probably over 10 years ago. It’s one of those no name kits you can buy off Amazon or other internet resellers. They are stamped “Made in China” and carry few if any other markings. At first glance it looks fine and it’s about half the price of the branded kits sold by the larger outfits. But today I was using this wire side by side with real UL 1007 hookup wire purchased from a reputable supplier. The difference was like night and day.

The first thing I noticed was that the no name wire conductor was smaller. At first I didn’t notice but when examining them side by side under a magnifying glass the difference was noticeable. This isn’t a major problem but it’s a little annoying. So the wire is not really 22 AWG after all. It’s something “close”. It’s also comprised of much finer strands. This tends to make the wire more supple. However after tinning ends for installation, I found the no name wire to be brittle on the tinned ends. This meant that bending them for installation sometimes resulted in breakage. So the manufacturer was using the finer wires to mask the substandard quality of the conductors themselves.

I also noticed that the no name wire insulation was much softer. It also deformed at the ends where the wire got hot from soldering. From the behavior of the insulation I’m guessing that this wire is not plenum rated to 300V and is unlikely to be 105°C rated either. And not to put too fine a point on it, the no name wire had no marking on the wire what so ever. Any wire that’s advertised as UL rated should be marked.

No one of these things is a major problem, but in total, all these little deficiencies mean it’s a much lower quality wire than expected. Even if not comparing it side by side with real UL1007 wire I would have definitely noticed the lower quality.

The take away here is that even though these wire kits look like a bargain, they’re not. And although most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about wire, maybe we should. Since I started buying only UL rated hookup wire (e.g. UL1007 and UL1015) from reputable manufacturers, my wiring efforts have gone much more smoothly. It’s a little thing but it makes a real difference.

Just for reference, for the last eight years or so I have purchased all my hookup wire from Remington Industries directly off their website. The wire is more expensive than the no name stuff, but not that much more. In addition, they stand by everything they sell and publish full specifications. The standard 22 AWG kit I use is this one: Hook Up Wire, 22 AWG, Stranded/Solid Kit. It comes in six or ten colors and 25 foot or 100 foot spools. I have similar kits in 20 AWG and 18AWG. Given the amount of money we spend on parts for an amplifier it just makes sense to get good wire as well.

As always, questions and comments are welcome.