Connecting an HK 635 to Klipsch 100W 4 Ohm speakers

[BassAddictJ]

heat dissapation is my main concern. like mentioned before give it room to breath and you should be just fine.

 

[PENG]

Thank you everyone for your replies! I called HK up and they said that the AWG of the cable they sell for that receiver is 8 - 10 AWG so I'm just going to bite the bullet and order one directly from them for 17.94 (ouch!).

Either you heard HK wrong or they made a mistake. I do not believe the 635 comes with a 8 to 10 AWG power cord. It is most likely a 14 AWG one.

What AWG speaker wire would any of you recommend for this setup? Also, do brands matter with speaker wire? When I called HK, they recommended 14-16 AWG, but still I wanted to check with the pros here to be sure

I don't care what they told you, I suggest you go with 12 AWG for speaker wires that are less than 10 ft otherwise I would go 10 AWG.

 

[Alex2507]

I suggest you go with 12 AWG for speaker wires that are less than 10 ft otherwise I would go 10 AWG.

This I wasn't expecting ... I'm not like challenging your position but I am interested in your reasoning. That recommendation by far exceeds the Roger Russell stuff and even tops the AH recommendation from their A/V University write up I believe.

... so if you got the time and the inclination I would love to hear the reasoning here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PENG]

This I wasn't expecting ... I'm not like challenging your position but I am interested in your reasoning. That recommendation by far exceeds the Roger Russell stuff and even tops the AH recommendation from their A/V University write up I believe.

... so if you got the time and the inclination I would love to hear the reasoning here.

Thanks in advance.

Based on the fact that he wants to drive low impedance speakers. Transient peak current could be as high as 20 to 30A. Thicker wires would minimize voltage drop and may help in keeping damping factor high. Lastly, thicker is better, like more power is better whether you need it or not. There is a limit though, I would not recommend anything larger than 10 gauge. You can Google yourself on this one if you wonder why.

 

[Alex2507]

There is a limit though, I would not recommend anything larger than 10 gauge. You can Google yourself on this one if you wonder why.

I'm going to guess inductance ... no, wait ... capacitance.
Yeah ... final answer ... capacitance.

I don't think I know how to Google that but I'll give it a go.

-after googling with no luck-

Oh, no wait! You don't need anything larger than 10 gauge because it meets that 5% rule for the nominal impedance of a speaker for just about any reasonable distance and ... and ... and ... you don't need it any thicker because you'll never get more of an amp draw that would warrant a heavier gauge.

Thanks, PENG. I never knew you could get that big an amp draw through speaker wire.

 

[PENG]

I'm going to guess inductance ... no, wait ... capacitance.
Yeah ... final answer ... capacitance.

I don't think I know how to Google that but I'll give it a go.

-after googling with no luck-

Oh, no wait! You don't need anything larger than 10 gauge because it meets that 5% rule for the nominal impedance of a speaker for just about any reasonable distance and ... and ... and ... you don't need it any thicker because you'll never get more of an amp draw that would warrant a heavier gauge.

Thanks, PENG. I never knew you could get that big an amp draw through speaker wire.

Well you are right, I forgot we are talking about a so called 635 high current amp so it probably could deliver a peak to peak transient current of 15 to 20A to one speaker but not more. If you hook it up to an EMO XPA-2 than yes if you have speakers that dip down to 2 ohms you could get transient peak to peak values of 30+ A to one speaker.

 

[Alex2507]

If you hook it up to an EMO XPA-2 then yes ...

... you can arc weld.

I had to look up that unit and hope you'll forgive the cut and paste ...

300 watts RMS x 2 into 8 ohms, 500 watts RMS x 2 into 4 ohms

Also here's a link to the A/H speaker wire write up by Gene.

Personally I gotta say that 14 gauge is about it for me in my application. I believe it does a good enough job 99% of the time. Granted I am using 14/4 for an effective gauge of 11 as Gene's article talks about for my front 3 speakers but that's only because the price was right on a 500' roll that I split with a friend. Incredibly enough my half is used up.

Here's another thing I noticed with speaker wire. The cheap 14/4 that I got has a flimsy jacket that is hard to slit with that Parts Express tool. However the Parts Express 14/2 speaker wire that I later bought for an install has a stouter jacket that is handled well by that slitter. How good the jacket is might seem trivial but not when you're actually wiring up 7 speakers ... having to perform that stripping business on each end of the wire ... that's 14 times. Whenever I do anything 14 times I want it to be easy. Also know that if you have read this far into this post you will do that many, many, many times.

 

[PENG]

... you can arc weld.

If you want to exaggerate things by 30 to 50 times, yes.

Also here's a link to the A/H speaker wire write up by Gene.

Personally I gotta say that 14 gauge is about it for me in my application. I believe it does a good enough job 99% of the time. Granted I am using 14/4 for an effective gauge of 11 as Gene's article talks about for my front 3 speakers but that's only because the price was right on a 500' roll that I split with a friend. Incredibly enough my half is used up.

He might have based his criteria on accepting a lower, but high enough damper factor. Another school of thought, e.g. Crown, advocates much higher damper factor. Ironically my surround back speaker cables are 35 ft long double 16 AWG runs yet my bi-wired 12 AWG front L/R are less than 10 ft long. I want to give my 2 channel listening the best chance and using thicker cables (to a point) is an inexpensive way even if you don't buy the cheapest ones, to perhaps gain some incremental SQ improvement as opposed to throwing money on electronics, more watts etc. Anyway, I was being extreme when I mentioned 10 AWG, but for my front speakers I won't use anything less than 12 even though I agree with you that 14 is good enough 99% of the time.