Monoprice Enhanced Oxygen-Free Copper Loud Speaker Wire - CL2 In-Wall Rated, Pure Bare Copper, 12Awg, 50 Feet

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’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!

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.

I’m not so concerned with the impedance or conductance properties associated with ultra high strand counts. I was needing an extremely flexible cable that’s easy to work with and drapes nicely off the back of the amplifier. The wire is absolutely 14 gauge and it’s definitely copper to the core not plated steel or aluminum.I made the mistake of judging the texture of the strands by the photograph in the listing and it’s really quite low, I counted less than 40 & it’s too stiff for my requirements.That’s on me for assuming, I don’t believe the listing claimed a high strand count.I’m in a rural area and it’s a hassle arranging for a pickup to return so I’ll probably keep it to use on another project.I only subtracted one star because it appears to be 50 feet of pure copper speaker wire which is all the listing claimed it was but for the premium price it should have had(angel hair) like strands.