Newbie question on speaker cable.

[jlindsey86]

What benefits do a thicker speaker cable offer? Right now I am using 14 gauge philips speaker cable I bought at walmart for $20. Is this bad? Seems like everyone is saying 12 gauge?

 

[Tritonman]

What benefits do a thicker speaker cable offer? Right now I am using 14 gauge philips speaker cable I bought at walmart for $20. Is this bad? Seems like everyone is saying 12 gauge?

It all generally depends on the distance the speakers are from the source. As long as your speakers arent 30' away from your receiver than 14 gauge is doing just fine

 

[korgoth]

thicker is better, it just sends a cleaner signal and it will hit the contacts of the receiver and speaker better, but i wouldnt bother if i had lower end speakers. High end speaker would probobly be better suited with 12 guage though.

but the audible difference between 12 and 14 guage even at 30+ feet is probobly small. Only a person that knows what to listen for is going to be able to tell the difference.

 

[jaxvon]

thicker is better, it just sends a cleaner signal and it will hit the contacts of the receiver and speaker better, but i wouldnt bother if i had lower end speakers. High end speaker would probobly be better suited with 12 guage though.

but the audible difference between 12 and 14 guage even at 30+ feet is probobly small. Only a person that knows what to listen for is going to be able to tell the difference.

This isn't totally accurate. The 12ga cable will not pass a "cleaner" signal. The only difference between similar build-sytles of cable that are 12ga and 14ga are resistance levels. 12ga has less resistance than 14ga cable. The higher resistance will attenuate the signal more, but this won't be audible until very large differences are reached. In short, don't worry about it.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

If you ever opened your speakers and saw the wiring they used from the posts to the actual speaker, you would see the wires are very thin in comparison...makes me wonder what the point is to use big fancy heavy guage wire. i use 12AWG, for piece of mind and it's easy to work with.

 

[Tritonman]

If you ever opened your speakers and saw the wiring they used from the posts to the actual speaker, you would see the wires are very thin in comparison...makes me wonder what the point is to use big fancy heavy guage wire. i use 12AWG, for piece of mind and it's easy to work with.

Generally the reason for that is the distance the signal has to travel from the input. It has less distance to travel therefore less loss so a larger gauge wire is not necessarily needed. There are other reasons including the internal crossovers. But thats a good basic answer.

But still a good question.

 

[j_garcia]

The distance is not the only factor; the impedance of the speaker is very important as well. The lower the impedance of the speaker, the large the AWG of wire that will be required for longer distances. 14AWG is fine for 80ft for a typical 8 Ohm speaker.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

 

[mulester7]

If you ever opened your speakers and saw the wiring they used from the posts to the actual speaker, you would see the wires are very thin in comparison...makes me wonder what the point is to use big fancy heavy guage wire

....the internal wiring only needs to be big enough to handle two or three feet, Johnny....it's the speaker wire's job to get it to the speaker terminals....12 gauge for peace-of-mind is good....that's why I use 10....I'd say use SoundKing either way, and be PROUD of your wires along with knowing they are MORE than doing the job....really pro-looking stuff with 417 SOFT strands with the 10 gauge....yeah, that's a bunch of strands and thickness....you guys with grapefruit plugs are in good shape, but you direct terminal wirers, of which I are one, strip 3/4 inch on the end, fan out the wires, bring back up the MIDDLE 1/3'rd, snip them level, bring the rest up, and twist....was that banana?......

 

[Snap]

....the internal wiring only needs to be big enough to handle two or three feet, Johnny....it's the speaker wire's job to get it to the speaker terminals....12 gauge for peace-of-mind is good....that's why I use 10....I'd say use SoundKing either way, and be PROUD of your wires along with knowing they are MORE than doing the job....really pro-looking stuff with 417 SOFT strands with the 10 gauge....yeah, that's a bunch of strands and thickness....you guys with grapefruit plugs are in good shape, but you direct terminal wirers, of which I are one, strip 3/4 inch on the end, fan out the wires, bring back up the MIDDLE 1/3'rd, snip them level, bring the rest up, and twist....was that banana?......

Got a picture of that Mule?? I would like to see it.

 

[mulester7]

Got a picture of that Mule?? I would like to see it.

.....I will, post some pictures someday, Snap, and then I'll get run out of here for sure.....Mama's mad at me, Snap, she's claimin' I been relievin' myself a mite close to the house, and she said the chickens were trackin' it in.....

.....now, IF that's true, all I can say is, "THEM STEWPID CHICKENS!!"......

 

[j_garcia]

I have some left over 10ga wire from my younger days too. Know what I use it for now? Tying stuff together.