Speaker cable

[Samsang]

Originally Posted by brett_day

gauge of wire only really come in to play when you have runs over certain distances.

really if your runs are under 40ft then 16 gauge will be sufficient as there will not be any sound degradation over such a short distance. from 40ft to 100ft i would suggest 14 gauge, anything over 100ft i would suggest 12 gauge

Important points:

1. Listen to Brett, guys. He is giving you the pure truth, and purity is what high-fidelity is all about. Buying wire that is too big doesn't help your audio system in any significant way. Nor does heavier or thicker insulation.

2. Until you have to fill an arena or stadium (or worse yet, a huge outdoor concert) with gut-rumbling sound, you just won't be using enough power to justify large guage wire (unless you're using really low efficiency speakers.) We're talking low voltage and modest amperage here. In fact, you probably listen at average power levels from a few tenth's of a watt to a couple of watts max. Your big powerful amps serve you by providing headroom for the way above average levels of cymbal crashes and other loud transients. These can require hundreds of times the average power. But that's OK even with 16 gauge wires.

3. Damping of unwanted (resonant) movements of the speaker cone is influenced by the resistance of speaker wires. High resistance relative to the speaker impedance is not good. Too small a wire and damping suffers. Fortunately, even a 40-foot long 16-gauge wire has one-fiftieth the reistance of an 8-Ohm speaker -- an insignificant amount. If you have a long wire run and/or 4-Ohm speakers you may want to upgrade to 14-ga. wire. Twelve gauge is a huge overkill for most installations.

4. And "dielectric"? Give me a break. We aren't talking coaxial cable carrying SHF microwave signals. We are dealing with Extremely Low Frequencies -- audio. Any two reasonably conductive materials (aluminum, steel) and insulation (air, fabric, etc.) will do. Don't be drawn in by marketing BS. Oxygen-free copper? Please. Any old copper wire will do. Lamp cord works just fine and can be purchased cheap. Just do a continuity check to identify (and then mark) one of the conductors to differentiate them for positive and negative connections. Signal phase DOES matter.

5. Audiophile marketing practices appeal almost exclusively to the male machismo instinct. But high-fidelity sound is NOT about having the biggest, thickest, heaviest, longest, etc. It's all about the sound, not the chest pounding. Beware the salesmen who press you to spend significantly more for the insignificant accessories such as wires, cables and connectors.

Audiophile: One who is willing to spend what it takes for great pure sound.
Audiophool: One who will waste significant resources to gain nothing.