AWG...impedance...gauge...can anyone explain??

[tmt]

hi there,

I recently bought new speakers and a new amp (nautilus 802 and Classe CA-401), and I need new interconnect and speaker cables. For the moment I' using interconnects that you almost can get for free

I've already read some reviews and articles on cables but I'm still puzzled about what kind of cables are "good enough".
Apparently you don't need cables that cost $$$$ with build in boxes that clean the signal and what else, you just need cables that have some basic characteristics (impedance, AWG,...)

Does anyone know some good guide(s) that explain all the techical terms, and explain what you need in a good cable?
Or is it more complex than saying: you need a cable with that much AWG, that much gauge etc.

Is it possible to test my existing speaker cables? Maybe they are good enough but I have absolutely no clue.

thanks for all the imput!

 

[ebough]

AWG is a measure of cable size (cross-sectional area). The lower the number, the bigger the cable and the lower the resistance. For runs up to 50 feet or so, 2 conductor cable of 12 AWG is fine. Get the cheapest you can buy. Pay attention, however, to the connections at either end. There are a lot of discussions in this forum which can provide you greater detail.

 

[mtrycrafts]

hi there,

For the moment I' using interconnects that you almost can get for free
!

That should be a , you have interconnects. No need for marginal increases unless you need more cables
Video cables can be used as interconnects, digital audio cables and subwoofer cables. Some interconnects will not be optimal fvor video or digital audio though. Again, cost is not an indicator.

AWG-American Wire Gauge. Do a google on it for a fuller explanation than the above person You just ask for gauge of cable in the US, AWG is understood. As was indicated above, 12ga or even 14ga will do for speakers.


Impedance refers to alternating current resistance.

 

[jaxvon]

I'm not sure about getting the cheapest cables you can buy...
While you're not going to get an improvement in sound quality, build quality is important. And, if it's desirable to you, appearance. Blue Jeans Cable offers some high-quality solutions for interconnects and speaker cable. If you need something with a little more *BLING*, then check out River Cable or Cobalt Cable.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I would add:

Cable gauge is almost always in reference to the cable that goes between your amplifier and your speakers. Not between your DVD player and your receiver or your HD cable and your receiver. Those are referred to as interconnects.

In a blind test with some blister packs (those cheap red/white/yellow cables) there was no noticable difference between them and better cables. Is it an accurate test? I'm not sure, but I would love to see more blind tests done with blister packs vs. Monster & Blue Jeans and other cables just so people would have a marginal point of reference on them. In the end, you may (MAY!) see an improvement by moving to better interconnects and the guys who run this site will always send you to Blue Jeans Cable for them, so why not give them a try if you are interested?

For speaker cables, the guage of the wire comes into play. The bigger a cable is, the more power it allows to flow through it. The most common reference is comparing a wide hose to a small hose. Your typical garden hose lets a lot less wather through than a fire-fighters hose does. Likewise, a speaker cable that is thicker (lower gauge number = thicker cable) will allow more electricity to flow through it easier. This is the impedence of the cable that is being affected. Many people recommend 12 gauge wire in a nice theater setup with good amps. I personally use 16 and don't see any problems at all. There are lots of numbers and facts to back up what gauge speaker wire you should be using and the impedence numbers that go along with it all.

Definitely Google it and take a look.

 

[tmt]

I've visited a few shops to get some idea what they're selling.
one shop has van den hull teatrack hybrid at 21 euros/dollars per meter (rougly $7 per feet) and also monster cable for double the price, both bi-wire cables.

I went to another shop and the QED supplier happened to be there, so he quickly advices his best cables of course
(the x300, x350 and the genesis, going from $12/feet to $30/feet, including plugs)
after the QED salesman left the guy in the shop said they also sold audioquest and monitor pc ($15/feet). He also said that with Nautilus speakers I should avoid cables that contain a lot of silver.
In the end he mentioned I could also use 'cheaper' cables, but at minimum the diameter of the wire should be 4 to 6 square millimeter, which corresponds to AWG 12 to 10.

It's a hard life spending your money

 

[Mudcat]

For speaker cables, the guage of the wire comes into play. The bigger a cable is, the more power it allows to flow through it. The most common reference is comparing a wide hose to a small hose. Your typical garden hose lets a lot less wather through than a fire-fighters hose does. Likewise, a speaker cable that is thicker (lower gauge number = thicker cable) will allow more electricity to flow through it easier. This is the impedence of the cable that is being affected. Many people recommend 12 gauge wire in a nice theater setup with good amps. I personally use 16 and don't see any problems at all. There are lots of numbers and facts to back up what gauge speaker wire you should be using and the impedence numbers that go along with it all.

There is also the pressure issue (volts for you EE's) a typical garden hose only has 25 to 50 psi behind it while a fire hose usually runs to 125 psi (from the truck - not the hydrant, that why it's called a pumper truck). Anyway AWG is based on three discrete reference points. I put them in an earlier thread, I'm in a hurry now, but later I'll look and edit this or repost. But all I remember right now is that 10 AWG is defined as a wire diameter that will have 1 ohm of resistance per 1000 feet. Which is why stranded wire is often only 0.998 ohms per 1000 feet.

 

[Mudcat]

Found it.

The AWG is based on two wire diameters (AWG 0000 = 0.46 inches diameter and AWG 36 is 0.005 inches diameter), and that there are 38 different sizes between the these two gages (wire is gage, a gauge is something that show temp, pressure, volts, amps, etc..). The ratio between one gage and the next larger gage is defined as the 39^thth root of 0.46/0.005 or 92, which equals 1.1229322.

5 basic parameters are developed from these relationships

1) An increase of three gag numbers doubles the area and weight and halves the resistance.

2) An increase of six gage numbers doubles the diameter.

3) An increase of 10 gage numbers multiplies the area and weight by 10.

4) A 10 AWG wire has a diameter of 0.1 inches, an area of 10,000 circular mils, and a resistance of of 1 ohm/1000 ft.

5) The weight of 2 AWG copper wire is 200 lb/1000 ft


There you have it. Probably a lot more than you needed to know.