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Re: I have assembled...

For my main system I use Home Depot speaker wire sold under the RCA brand. 16 gage twin lead. Other systems I have use that or 16 gage zip cord identical to what's used for electrical extension cords. It should cost 10 cents a foot but for the Home Depot wire I've paid as much as 20 cents a foot.

Be very cautious with knitting Cat 5 wire into speaker cable. Be certain you have no short circuits. You can also create a fairly sizable capacitor out of it. Someone here some years back blew his amplifier up with just such a cable. Fortunately for you, McIntosh amplifiers are fairly stable with capacitive loads and well protected against shorts. Some marginally stable amplifiers can go into spontaneous ultrasonic oscillation with highly capacitive loads and self destruct. Don't be surprised if you get some high end rolloff from that capacitor, it's what you'd expect. BTW, I used some extra Cat 5 wire I had hanging around for a small porject I had. IMO, it sucks for general use. It was brittle, breaks easily on bending, and it's difficult to work with unless you are using a punchdown tool on a punchdown block. Bad bad choice, I'll never use it again for anything except wiring up phone jacks.

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