OK, I am stumped. Do I have a good setup? or should i change this

[jalvarez699]

Hey guys,

You've all been a great help. But I am stumped. I am wondering if I have the proper Gauge speaker wire for each of my speakers. I will list them and then I am wondering if you would suggest a different Gauge. As well I am confused about Speaker Imp. So any help would be great! Thanks!

My receiver is the panasonic SA-XR50, I believe it has a max output of 100W at 6ohm, per channel.
My front Left and Right speakers are Quest QBNX with an output of 100W and Impedience of 8ohms.
My Center is a Athena LCS-100B with an output of 125W and I am not sure of the Imp.
My Rear channels (left and right) are Athena WS-15B with an output of 100W and imp. of 8ohms.

I believe that my front channels are using 18 gauge speaker wire as well as my fronts, my rear right has 16gauge, and my rear left has 18 gauge i think?
Is this affecting my sound? My subwoofer is connected directly to the sub output of my receiver.

Thanks!!

Justin

 

[Brian_the_King]

I would think any effects on the sound would be negligible.. what are the lengths of each run of wire?

Also these are helpful reads, if you haven't already seen them;

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-length-differences-do-they-matter

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-gauge

edit: it might be wise to start saving for three high quality, 'matching' speakers for the left right and center channels, rather than rebuying speaker wire. although I couldn't really find any info on your speakers, maybe i'm talking out my ***.

 

[jalvarez699]

sorry about that. yeah the rear runs are about 15 feet, where the front speakers are around 5 to 6 feet max. As for the quest speakers, i do intend to upgrade them eventually, but right now they are much better than my old Bose setup.

 

[Brian_the_King]

I don't think you'll notice a difference, but according to that article [i trust its judgement] all the runs should be 16 gauge [lower wouldn't hurt, of course, but that they are all the same thickness would be a good thing]. The lengths are close enough where it doesn't matter.

 

[jostenmeat]

Nice links Brian. Makes me wonder... I thought* I had researched this already . . . but I have all lengths at over 10 ft, six speakers being 4 ohm minimal, and the gauge is only 16. Hmrz. Bah.

Maybe I'll buy some new speaker wire someday.

 

[3db]

Hey guys,

You've all been a great help. But I am stumped. I am wondering if I have the proper Gauge speaker wire for each of my speakers. I will list them and then I am wondering if you would suggest a different Gauge. As well I am confused about Speaker Imp. So any help would be great! Thanks!

My receiver is the panasonic SA-XR50, I believe it has a max output of 100W at 6ohm, per channel.
My front Left and Right speakers are Quest QBNX with an output of 100W and Impedience of 8ohms.
My Center is a Athena LCS-100B with an output of 125W and I am not sure of the Imp.
My Rear channels (left and right) are Athena WS-15B with an output of 100W and imp. of 8ohms.

I believe that my front channels are using 18 gauge speaker wire as well as my fronts, my rear right has 16gauge, and my rear left has 18 gauge i think?
Is this affecting my sound? My subwoofer is connected directly to the sub output of my receiver.

Thanks!!

Justin

Hi,

The first thing I would do is upgrade the speaker wire from 18 gauge to a minimum of 16 gauge. I think with 15' runs, you should be good. Will you notice a difference? I don't think so but the amp won't have to work so hard in trying to get the sginal to your speakers.

But what has prompted you to post this? Are you not happy with your system? Have you heard other systems that you like better? Just curious.

In my opinion, I would replace teh Quests with Athena's. That would be my other upgrade. At least you kept the mains and the center channel from the same manufacturer for timbre matching. Good luck.

 

[Midcow2]

Wire gauge is not a problem.

sorry about that. yeah the rear runs are about 15 feet, where the front speakers are around 5 to 6 feet max. As for the quest speakers, i do intend to upgrade them eventually, but right now they are much better than my old Bose setup.

Your wire gauge is not the problem at those distances. You can gat larger gauge, 14 or 12, but you will not see any discernable difference.

For objective facts and reasoning as to my statement. 18 gauge is 0.00751 ohms per foot , so 15 feet is 0.11265 ohms.

with a 6 ohm nominal impedance speaker the wire loss is 0.11265/(0.11265+6) = 1.84% Anything less than 5% ( 95% or more of load is the speaker) is not discernable.

In the future, 14 gauge is good for almost everything. You can get bigger gauge (lower number), but you will not see any improvement.

 

[Nuance AH]

In the future, 14 gauge is good for almost everything. You can get bigger gauge (lower number), but you will not see any improvement.

+1

If you do not like the sound I'd look into other things (such as the speakers).

 

[jalvarez699]

yeah the only reason that I posted this, was because i don't want to stress out my Amp with a thinner speaker wire, i didn't think it mattered and then i read stuff on impedence and that made me wonder whether or not the amp will get overloaded. As for the sound, no they sound 1000x better than my old bose setup that i used to have(I was an idiot, but the 50 price tag was still too much!) I do plan on changing the fronts to Athena or even Klipcsh (If I got the Klipsch route i will change everything) But the reason i have such a varying setup is because i bought all my speakers as clearance from a retailer i work at. I paid 10.00 for the rear channels, 10.00 for the front left and right and 15 for the center. All factory sealed! I couldn't pass it up, but if i do find some Athena s for a good price (trying to save for a wedding :-/) then i will purchase them. Thanks for the help though guys! I do appreciate it!

Justin

 

[no. 5]

yeah the only reason that I posted this, was because i don't want to stress out my Amp with a thinner speaker wire, i didn't think it mattered and then i read stuff on impedence and that made me wonder whether or not the amp will get overloaded.

There are some things to be very mildly concerned about with regard to speaker wire, but stressing you amplifier is not one of those things.

 

[jalvarez699]

Thanks everyone,

so i should probably look at changing the gauge then? or the front channels first?

 

[jamie2112]

Just buy 14awg then you will have no issues. It might cost you a few dollars more than 16 gauge at www.monoprice.com

 

[jostenmeat]

The one thing I don't like about Monoprice, and this is usually a good thing, is how THICK all of their cables are.

So for the speaker wire, their 16 gauge looks like others' 14 gauge, etc. The insulation is very thick, probably the thickest I've seen respectively for typical speaker wire. Just FWIW.

 

[3db]

Thanks everyone,

so i should probably look at changing the gauge then? or the front channels first?

If I were in your shoes, I would have done the same thing and purchased what you did. Its great to be offered that kinda discount from Future Shop

As far as speaker wire goes, I think I payed like $30.00 for a 50' spool of 14 gauge Philips speaker cable at Walmart. I think thats a good deal as its under a $1 a foot.

 

[jalvarez699]

Thanks 3Db. Yeah The discount couldn't be beat...too bad i am not there anymore...oh well. Where do you live? In Canada I am assuming?

 

[3db]

Thanks 3Db. Yeah The discount couldn't be beat...too bad i am not there anymore...oh well. Where do you live? In Canada I am assuming?

Out in Ontario

 

[jsholland70]

The effects will be small but probaly noticable. I would at least make sure your LCRs are the same gauge and make your surrounds the same as each other.