Speaker Cable Gauge (AWG) Guidelines

[admin]

Lately we’ve been getting hit with the common question “what speaker wire gauge should I use”? More often than not, we’ve seen Audiophiles choose a higher gauge esoteric wire over a lower gauge generic zip cord cable simply because they were sold some marketing nonsense that their magic cables would improve your systems mojo. This guide cuts through the nonsense and gives some solid recommendations on selecting speaker wire gauge based on the length and impedance of your loudspeakers.


Discuss "Speaker Cable Gauge (AWG) Guidelines" here. Read the article.

[gliz]

excelant information, gonna print out that chart and keep it handy

[Haoleb]

Looks like im good to go with my "DIY" speaker cables consisting of four 8 gauge conductors. Two for positive two for negative. I even terminated them in high amerage lugs Next to them is my Audioquest Type 4 that i have on my computer system. I used to use the AQ on my main rig but I like the bigger look of black hoses along the floor, Plus looking at those graphs Im sure it makes a difference with my damping factor

[AUtiger]

Per Lonnie's suggestion (@ Emotiva) I'm going to bi-amp my Energy speakers (running 5.1 & have IPS-1 amp, so 2 unused channels), My question is: I currently am running 12g wire from IPS-1 to fronts ,approx 8ft. I don't have anymore 12g but do have some old Monster that was given to me or I have some 18g zip wire. I thought I would leave the 12g to the tweeters and run the heavier monster to the woofers. Would it matter not matching the guage? Thx

[gene]

Per Lonnie's suggestion (@ Emotiva) I'm going to bi-amp my Energy speakers (running 5.1 & have IPS-1 amp, so 2 unused channels), My question is: I currently am running 12g wire from IPS-1 to fronts ,approx 8ft. I don't have anymore 12g but do have some old Monster that was given to me or I have some 18g zip wire. I thought I would leave the 12g to the tweeters and run the heavier monster to the woofers. Would it matter not matching the guage? Thx

Don't use 18AWG speaker cable. You have all of this nice equipment, why skimp on a few bucks? Get some decent 10 or 12AWG cables and you will be good to go.

[AUtiger]

sorry din't clarify, the monster is 8g or10g, (the 18g zip was some other wire an installer used THAT I REMOVED), so I'm good with the monster 8g-10 g? Thx

[gene]

sorry din't clarify, the monster is 8g or10g, (the 18g zip was some other wire an installer used THAT I REMOVED), so I'm good with the monster 8g-10 g? Thx

The monster is likely 12AWG so it will work just fine. You don't have to match wire gauge, just use 12AWG or less and you will be ok.

[Tuddy]

Gene,

Thanks for the article and the timing could not have been better
as I almost bought some "snake oil" speaker cable for $400 bucks

After reading your article and some actual reviews that included measurement
analysis of the MI* cable I almost bought I have decided to get the 6 foot Sonicwave 10 AWG.

It seems the shorter the run the less AWG needed. True?

Do I need 10 AWG with 6 foot runs? it won't damage the speakers, will it?

I have read the shorter and thicker the speaker cable the better
and I want some quality for the B&W 804S's.

Appreciate any feedback folks.

[ro7939]

Your wire chart displaying insertion loss per distance @ 8-Ohms is ultra sweetalicious! Thanks!

Flat speaker cable is going under pre-laid carpet on slab floor; critical this be done only once.

This is a top-level music system w/ costly, meticulously chosen French monitors. Question applies only to the critical front speakers. Owner is a musician & very picky.

The speakers are NOMINAL 8-Ohm but dip to 5.4-Ohms, briefly at 80 Hz & from about 100-400 Hz. Source is 110W RMS amp rated only down to 8-Ohms, indicating minimum current reserves. Balancing the amp's 8-Ohm minimum rating is the fact that the speaker has a sum total one 6.5" bass/mid & is actively HPX'd @ 80 Hz.

Being particularly picky (some might say anal), if the AWG is matched to the speaker's MINIMUM impedance, the 25'/8-Ohm NOMINAL cable length converts to about 40' @ 5.5-Ohms on the chart.

The chart line indicates a minimum AWG of 13.5 but the largest flat wire seen so far is AWG15. Should I double the wire runs? From another chart is looks like doubling the AWG lowers the AWG (thicker) by a quantity of three, in other words 2x AWG15 = AWG12. Is that correct? If so, I may employ 2x AWG16 for an equivalent AW13.

Many thanks in advance.

Jimbo

[ParadigmDawg]

This is still my favorite, it is very nice and not too expensive.

I also like what Haoleb made.