So, I'm planning on running some wire in my basement to two new rear center speakers, and was checking out what speaker wire I had left on a roll when I notice a snipping of the 12 guage wire I used when I first ran the rear left/right about 8 years ago.

Not only has the clear vinyl jacket gone all sticky, but the wire inside is no longer shiny - it's dark green over about 95% of the surface and looks (and feels!) quite bad.

Some wire I purchased a year or two after that is still bright, shiny and doesn't leave an unpleasant residue.

So what's the deal here? I'm thinking of going to the trouble of replacing both old runs (about 80 feet of wire). Anything to look for to ensure that whatever new wire I buy *doesn't* do this?