Connecting rear speakers...

[kortex]

I want to run cable through my attic and out through a wall to connect rear speakers. The speakers I plan to use are bose 301 series V. 50 ft of cable MAY cut it. Not really sure--I'll have to measure. I have 8 feet long 10AWG cable running to my fronts (I would not purchase these fancy cables but they came with the speakers). My question is...what ga should I run to the rears? If I had to estimate cable length, I would say anywhere between 40 and 100 ft. I don't know that much about wiring, so is there anything I should know or be careful of? Thanks!

 

[tcarcio]

For 8ohm 12 guage should do the trick. I would just go to lowes or Home Depot and buy 12g lamp chord and your good to go. http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

 

[kortex]

Oh wow that large? I'll see what I can find. Lamp cord? lol.

 

[tcarcio]

Yes lamp cord. I use 100% copper lamp cord and if you don't need something that looks fancy it can't be beat. That link has more info then just the chart, Check it out...

 

[Jacksmyname]

I agree that lamp cord would work fine, however..............
You really should consider wire that's rated for in-wall use.
I'm willing to bet building codes where you live require it.
If, God forbid, you should ever have a house fire, your insurance company could use the lamp cord as an excuse to not pay.
We all know that speaker wire wouldn't be the cause of a fire, but insurance companies will use any excuse they can to deny claims.
Don't want to be an alarmist, just passing on something to consider.

 

[kortex]

This is great advice from the both of you. I will try to see if they have power cord rated for in wall use.

 

[Jacksmyname]

kortex....
I bought mine at Lowes or Home Depot; don't remember now which one.
It may be difficult to find speaker wire for in-wall use in a heavy guage locally.
Try the usual on-line sites such as Monoprice.

Edit to add:
Monoprice has it:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10239

 

[Rickster71]

There are a few issues when choosing a wire's AWG. The load, the power and the length of wire.
The Bose manual says they are a 4-Ohm load, and your run is about 50ft and the 301's are compatible with amps up to 150 watts.

The other issue is using in-wall or CL-2 rated wire.(as was mentioned)
Since you didn't post the wattage of your rear surround amps, and rear surround speakers don't get as much of the program content routed to them, as the fronts and center speakers do; I calculated 14-AWG, that also is what the Bose manual recommends.
As an example; 14AWG house wire handles a 1800 watt load at runs over 50ft. You'll be a fraction of that.
Good luck!

 

[Jacksmyname]

There are a few issues when choosing a wire's AWG. The load, the power and the length of wire.
The Bose manual says they are a 4-Ohm load, and your run is about 50ft and the 301's are compatible with amps up to 150 watts.

The other issue is using in-wall or CL-2 rated wire.(as was mentioned)
Since you didn't post the wattage of your rear surround amps, and rear surround speakers don't get as much of the program content routed to them, as the fronts and center speakers do; I calculated 14-AWG, that also is what the Bose manual recommends.
As an example; 14AWG house wire handles a 1800 watt load at runs over 50ft. You'll be a fraction of that.
Good luck!

Agreed that 14 would be fine.
I should have added in my previous posts that when I installed my side and rear surrounds, the ONLY in-wall wire I could find anywhere, local or on-line, was 16ga. The run to the rears is a good 40 feet. I figured I'd use the 16ga until I could find heavier.
That was 3 years ago.
The 16 is still in place, and everything sounds great.

 

[kortex]

I didn't get the manual (I bought the speakers off of craigslist). I just looked it up though... They can be run using 4 or 8 ohm impedance. I'm going with 8 since my other components are 8. You have to set that on the receiver and I don't think there is a place to set multiple impedance values. Receiver is yamaha htr-6060 (105wpc). This is for home theater, not for music listening. I have other crap for that. So the consensus is 14 AWG .

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would use 14ga and roll with that. 12ga is nice, but generally more than needed for most people at most distances and most setups. But, it's almost a no-harm, no-foul deal when you go larger than necessary. Yet, 16ga and 14ga are often perfectly fine for most of the longer runs unless you are using good speakers in good rooms, which is often not the case.

Someday maybe I'll hear a difference between the speakers in my home running over 16ga vs. those using 14ga and 12ga, but I haven't heard it so far.