Speakerwire

[jcook71506]

What is the best gauge for speaker wire? 12, 14, 16 or 18 or 22? I want the best sound and clarity and bass response that I can possibly get. Picking up son shortly please advise all. Thanks.

[Scooby Blu]

What kind of speakers do you have ? Floor Standing or bookshelf ? Two channel or 5.1 or 7.1 ?

[RUR]

Originally Posted by jcook71506

What is the best gauge for speaker wire? 12, 14, 16 or 18 or 22? I want the best sound and clarity and bass response that I can possibly get. Picking up son shortly please advise all. Thanks.

See here for a useful table to show appropriate gauge for given runs and speaker impedences: http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

[jomari]

considerin your onkyo HT-sp908 HTIB, id go with the best gauge that would fit your speaker terminals tho.

i also see that your receiver allows banana plugs on it, but i cant see the speaker terminals.

id go with speaker wires that would actually fit your terminals. if its spring loaded types, then the best gauge that may fit would be 16 gauge.

if they accept banana plugs, a 14 gauge would be sufficient IMO

[jcook71506]

Originally Posted by Scooby Blu

What kind of speakers do you have ? Floor Standing or bookshelf ? Two channel or 5.1 or 7.1 ?

Bookshelf. They are the onkyo brand. Need to upgrade later on.

[jomari]

[celticpride]

I use 12 gauge with banana plugs on my onkyo 805 receiver. i got my speaker wire at monoprice. com for only $24.99 for 100 ft. and i get awesome sound out of my system!

[celticpride]

BTW tje lower the number on the gauge the better sound yo should get

[gearyt]

Originally Posted by celticpride

BTW tje lower the number on the gauge the better sound yo should get

sorry, not true...

the lower the number the thicker the wire
unless the wire is way way too small, no difference in sound
on "normal", short runs ( less than 50' ) , normal wattage, 16ga or better is ok

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=35062

[DIY_HD]

Originally Posted by gearyt

sorry, not true...

the lower the number the thicker the wire
unless the wire is way way too small, no difference in sound
on "normal", short runs ( less than 50' ) , normal wattage, 16ga or better is ok

I agree. Everything I have read says that signal loss and interference are far less of a problem than the Monster cable ads would have you believe. If you don't believe me, try two different gauges and see if you can hear any difference.

That being said, I did use 12-gauge for my rear surrounds. However, I was running the wires through the walls. I bought 110 feet of cable and used every foot of it. So I was actually at the threshold of the 60-foot maximum distance recommended for 14 gauge. BTW, it's also unshielded. With volume up on the AVR with no signal, I can barely hear the hum of the amplifier. I kept the cables at least 2 inches away from A/C lines.

You should also consider that copper used for electrical wiring must be of a higher purity than for, say, copper pipe. There is no recycled copper in electrical wire. And since the price of copper jumped dramatically a year or so ago (tripled, I believe), cable prices have reflected that increase. Add to this that it is more difficult to handle heavy, stiff cable and it makes more sense to use a cable no thicker than you need.

I suggest that you consider invest in better quality speakers instead of expensive cables.

I stole this off the Internet somewhere. Google for it, if you want to read the rest of the article.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SPEAKER WIRES

Maximum Wire Lengths For TWO CONDUCTOR Copper Wire

Wire Size __2 ohm load ___4 ohm load ___6 ohm load ___8 ohm load

22 AWG ___3 feet max ___6 feet max ___9 feet max __12 feet max
20 AWG ___5 feet max __10 feet max __15 feet max __20 feet max
18 AWG ___8 feet max __16 feet max __24 feet max __32 feet max
16 AWG __12 feet max __24 feet max __36 feet max __48 feet max
14 AWG __20 feet max __40 feet max __60 feet** ____80 feet**
12 AWG __30 feet max __60 feet** ____90 feet** ___120 feet**
10 AWG __50 feet max _100 feet** ___150 feet** ___200 feet**

For example: you can use#18 wire for a 25 foot run to a nominal 8 ohm speaker, but if the run is increased to 35 feet, #16 wire must be used. (**) 50 feet is the maximum recommended length for normal line cord or Romex solid copper wire. This length is more than adequate for most installations.
It is also important to note that wires running to the speakers should all be of the exact same length to prevent an imbalanced load, that is increasing resistance to some speakers while having a reduced resistance to others. This is an extremely important factor that many speaker wire discussions omit.

What about oxygen free wire?
Oddly enough, it isn't the freedom of oxygen in copper wire that makes any difference. The process of removing oxygen also removes the impurity of iron and it's this impurity that can cause the resistance to be slightly higher. The difference in resistance between copper wire and oxygen free copper wire is too small to be significant for speaker wiring. It can be considered to be ordinary copper wire as far as the recommended lengths of copper wire in the table. Oxygen free copper wire can be more expensive than ordinary copper wire.

[jomari]

Originally Posted by DIY_HD

I stole this off the Internet somewhere. Google for it, if you want to read the rest of the article.

THE TRUTH ABOUT SPEAKER WIRES

....

you can find the source material here..

care of roger russell

sorry lads, i hate seeing articles that dont give creds to the author.