I have been using Belden 5T00UP 10 AWG speaker wire for some time and am very happy with it. Remember that the lower the ga the less resistance, this is especially important for long runs. If you can successfully run the 10 ga, then I wouldn't hesitate to use it. I use it for all my surrounds. It wasn't any harder to run through the walls then other wire in fact the stiffness seemed to help me. This wire is the same that Blue Jeans sells and calls there favorite. There are many electrical supplie companys that will order this for you in bulk 1000' or 500' rolls. I get it for .15 cents a foot, 500' for $75.00 from a local company, Graybar. I use WBT crimp sleeves www.ramelectronics.net/html/speaker-con.html#slv , and thats it. The crimp sleeves work great with no connectors for most any application, and save you of having to re - cut and strip the wire so often. Remember that connectors can be an area of signal loss as well. Bare wire works the best, it's Just not always practical, bare wire needs to be maintained and redone at regular intervals but it does provide the least resistance @ the connection point.