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Speaker cable gauge considerations

4-2-7 said:
Anyone try telephone wire yet?:D
come-on own it there's got to be someone here who did.
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LOL true! One of the old Pioneer tube receivers I picked up recently had remnants of phone wire under the screw terminals. At least it was the solid wire used to wire houses instead of the curly handset cord...
 
FWIW, I came across a half spool of older 14 ga speaker wire, and jumped on it for future use; it is pure copper.

Over the weekend I saw speaker wire in Lowes, it was all copper clad aluminum.....no thanks.
 
Blue Shadow said:
That is like hooking up a garden hose to a fire hydrant and trying to put out a 3 alarm fire.

No one here recommends anything less than 16 gauge, maybe because you can buy lamp cord (18 ga) everywhere and well we have to have something that is a bit more esoteric.

Even at lower volumes the bigger (16Ga) should let the power through to the speakers.
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Likely a dumb question but is there anything wrong with using lamp cord wire?
 
I have about 10' per speaker of 12AWG pure copper CL3 on my stereo setup. This is with 400 WPC at 4 Ohms. I had the wire on hand from remnants of a controlled door lock setup that were headed for the trash! If not, 14AWG is much easier to work with. My work system on my desk is connected with 16AWG pure copper zip cord.
 
pdxtim said:
Likely a dumb question but is there anything wrong with using lamp cord wire?
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18ga is what the stereo shops gave out with a system purchase. It's fine for most uses. High power or runs longer than 15-20 feet and bigger wire is recommended.
 
4-2-7 said:
Anyone try telephone wire yet?:D
come-on own it there's got to be someone here who did.
Click to expand...
Not since I was 10. It was pre-run all over the house. So I put speakers all over the house.
Well, it worked. Kinda.
Dad watched and said nothing.
 
the skipper said:
What he said. Those numbers are minimums, not an "optimum".

Many of us consider 16 gauge to the de facto standard for general uses. Thick enough to not introduce unneeded resistance and small enough to fit into virtually any standard connector.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable
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I agree with this. Some amplifiers don't like that resistance either, and bass quality suffers even when the amp tolerates it. 16 gauge is a good common sense size for speaker cables.
 
I have been using Radio Shack 16 gauge speaker wire for many years, never had a problem. I AM thinking about trying new Banana plug/14 gauge cable, just for the heck of it, in my credenza system and see how it works.
 
I’ve used various gauges / types of speaker cable. The gauge / stranded vs solid / material comp / length / connectors etc. are some things to consider. As a general rule of thumb I prefer flexible stranded cable and for many situations 14 or 16AWG OFC is just fine. I would not use anything smaller than 16AWG. I also like some of the early vintage heavier gauge AQ solid wire cables like the Indigo.
 
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Let's keep this going. Last night to try something different, I picked up enough Southwire 12 gauge stranded THHN wire to test out. I have a long run, 28 feet and 23 feet . There is more clarity with this wire - and I was pretty happy with the wire I had (which you all will make fun of, so I ain't sayin' but it starts with an M and ends with an XP).

Is it because it's true 12 gauge copper and not something that looks like 12 gauge and has some sort of dialectic tube running through the middle? I don't know. But what I hear is noticeable, and again, I was happy before - but all this discussion and I had to start playing with wires. Jeesh.

However, this will take some working with. It's stiff and sort of unruly especially in this long of a run. I may try braiding them as well.
 
HiFi in WYO said:
Let's keep this going. Last night to try something different, I picked up enough Southwire 12 gauge stranded THHN wire to test out. I have a long run, 28 feet and 23 feet . There is more clarity with this wire - and I was pretty happy with the wire I had (which you all will make fun of, so I ain't sayin' but it starts with an M and ends with an XP).

Is it because it's true 12 gauge copper and not something that looks like 12 gauge and has some sort of dialectic tube running through the middle? I don't know. But what I hear is noticeable, and again, I was happy before - but all this discussion and I had to start playing with wires. Jeesh.

However, this will take some working with. It's stiff and sort of unruly especially in this long of a run. I may try braiding them as well.
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Everything in the chain affects the output ..
Interconnects and speaker cable always make a difference .. sometimes it's a very distinct difference .. experiment ...
The reasons why are an open question ..
 
mschool said:
I've decided what speakers I plan to buy. They're 6 OHM speakers and my run lengths from my amp will be 2 meters for each speaker (6.5 feet each). My research tells me that 24-AWG wire is optimal, given the short length of the wire and the 6-OHM rating of the speaker. Is there something else I need take into consideration?
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I install A/V for a living. I would never use anything thinner than 18AWG for speakers and 18AWG is good for up to 50’. At 6.5’ I would use a minimum of 18AWG and a maximum of 16AWG. No need to go any thicker. There’s virtually no voltage drop at such a short distance so going any bigger is just overkill. You won’t hurt anything if you do other than your wallet and you won’t gain anything sonically.
 
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