What Gauge wire to use

[gcmarshall]

Hi,
My speaker documents recommend 18 gauge wire and 16 gauge for over 35 feet. I went ahead and used 16 gauge for my fronts and surrounds, none of which is over 35 feet (although the surrounds are close to 30). I have seen a lot of posts generally suggesting 14 gauge wire. With thicker gauge always provide better sound? Could it damage my fronts if I use 14 gauge when they suggest 18/16 gauge? Could thicker gauge cause a degradation in sound?
Thx

 

[mike c]

no it wont harm your speakers.

thicker is better. there is "less" signal loss with thicker gauge than with thinner gauge wires.

 

[MACCA350]

With thicker gauge always provide better sound?

To a point, depending on the amount of current passing through it, too thin can cause problems. Think of a fuse, the thinner it is the less current can pass through it before it heats up to much and blows.

Could it damage my fronts if I use 14 gauge when they suggest 18/16 gauge?

No, unless you have to force the connections and damage them when trying fit the wire.

Could thicker gauge cause a degradation in sound?

No, its the other way around.

cheers

 

[gcmarshall]

Thanks guys. I guess another way to ask that would be as follows - my surrounds are about 30 foot runs each. I am using Polk FXI5 speakers back there and have 16 gauge Acoustic Research wiring from Best Buy. Receiver is Yamah RX-V2500. Should I feel compelled to chnage that to 14 gauge for the surrounds speakers? I can more easily (and with less cost) try out 14 gauge up front, but am not sure I am going to get much improvement on the surrounds. Considering the cost and time to rerun that length for the surrounds, I was hesitant to go thru with it if the difference will be nonexistent to the ear.

 

[MACCA350]

I dont think there would be any audible difference. 16guage wire should be fine for your application. Someone else can chime in for Watt guidelines for different guage wire.

cheers

 

[MacManNM]

It's not so much a watt guideline. It's a resistance issue.

12ga wire for a 30 ft run is going to be 0.0972.

16ga wire for the same run is going to be 0.245 Ohms.


Since the speaker is an impedance device this resistance will effect frequency response of the unit. I would go with 12 in any run over 15 ft.

That's the science end.

Go down to Home depot and get some of their 12ga speaker able, it's like 12c/ft, will sound great and look really cool.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

It's more than that. I'm thinking .20 - .25 cents a foot. You need to get it in bulk for a price reduction. Solder some banana plugs on the ends, and you'll have the perfect speaker wire.

I know Walmart has 14ga wire in 50' spools back in automotive for $9.99 a spool. You can't beat that with a stick if your runs are under 50'.

 

[MDS]

16 gauge should be fine for 30 feet. 14 gauge would be slightly better in terms of resistive loss but probably won't make any audible difference.

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

 

[Francious70]

Just to be sure, I always use 12 AWG for all of my speakers. I've done it this way for years. And it's not like it expensive.

 

[warpdrive]

Just go buy some 12 guage....unless you are starving and need to save a few bucks.

Order water instead of a Cokes at your next dinner out and now you are probably even. Better for your health anyway.

And to answer your original question, going to 16, 14 or even 12 gauge is a GOOD thing, it will never harm the sound unless there is something wrong with the wire itself. Less resistance is always a good thing. The thicker the pipe, the more the sound gets through unscathed.

 

[Mudcat]

The only problem I can foresee with using a larger gauge wire is if your speakers use spring clips instead of binding posts. Most spring clips will not accept anything larger than 14 gauge.

 

[MacManNM]

The only problem I can foresee with using a larger gauge wire is if your speakers use spring clips instead of binding posts. Most spring clips will not accept anything larger than 14 gauge.

Yeah but then you can just splice a piece of 14 on for the last couple of feet

 

[j_garcia]

For my mains, I use 14 awg. 12 awg isn't necessary for 99.9% of situations (typical HT), but it certainly isn't going to hurt anything either. If you are in a situation where you'll need to run 12 awg (see that chart) for the rears, then it makes sense to just buy in bulk and use it for the mains as well.

 

[MDS]

I remember many years ago as a teenager when I bought some speakers and opted for 10 gauge wire. I remember the salesman saying 'Man, that is going to sound good'. That stuff is so thick it is totally unweildy and guess what - no difference in sound quality.

The ONLY thing that matters for speaker wire is that you use the proper gauge for the length of run. I'm with j_garcia on this one. 14 gauge gives you a little extra piece of mind although you will not likely hear any difference between that and 16 gauge for the typical length needed in most HT installations.

 

[ht_addict]

I use 10AWG Accoustic Research Master Series cable in my setup. The front(l/r) are bi-amped

 

[furrycute]

I use 10AWG Accoustic Research Master Series cable in my setup. The front(l/r) are bi-amped

me too.