Which guage for 6 Ohm rear surrounds?

[zak88lx]

I have an installer coming out next week to run 4 in wall (concealed) speaker lines to my 4 quadpolar surround speakers.
Each run will be approximately 30 feet in length.
The installer recommends 16 gauge wire but he can also run 12 gauge (THX) wire if I want to pay the higher cost.

The surround speakers are Axiom QS8 v2 (6 Ohms) and they are being powered by a Yamaha RX-V3800 receiver (140W x 7).



Should I go with the recommended 16 gauge wire or should I upgrade to the 12 gauge (THX) wire even though the installer thinks it's overkill?

Thanks,
Zak

P.S. Here's the current 7.1 room layout:

[DiverSpear]

I would go with the 12 awg the added cost is nill and make sure he is using CL2 rated at a minimum, if he is going to pull it through the walls.

[Hammie]

I always recommend 12AWG at a minimum for long lengths.

How much more is he charging? Will he allow you to obtain your own cabling? If so, place an order to Monoprice for a 100' spool of 12AWG wire.

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

I always recommend 12AWG at a minimum for long lengths.

How much more is he charging? Will he allow you to obtain your own cabling? If so, place an order to Monoprice for a 100' spool of 12AWG wire.

I agree with Lou, and would like to add that i recommend getting 12/4, this way should you decide to bi-amp or bi-wire them, your ready to go and won't need to do anything except make the proper/additonal terminations. i know you more than likely would not do the bi-wiring of any type (and maybe you would) but this would be one of those chances, and at not too much cost to have done it, look back say man, i sure am glad i had those extra conductors run, so i can do it. instead of, man it's gonna cost me $xxxx dollars to bi-amp/bi-wire, why didn't i just go ahead and run the 12/4 when i had the chance before?

nice to think of the future once in a while too many times it comes back to haunt us and we always remember saying i'm never gonna do that, i'm never gonna need that!

[ryan4blu]

just got done this week wiring and rewiring all my rear channels speakers (see my pics for details). i used 12 gauge in the wall wire that i bought off ebay. it was real high quality wire and it worked very well for me. i also ran from 25' to 35' to each of my 4 surrounds. i ran mine up the wall in the front and across my suspended ceiling and down to each rear channel speaker. it worked out fantastic.

i right away noticed a huge difference in sound as my old wire that i ran 8 years ago was thin and not very good quality. the sound that comes out now is amazing. it helps that i also upgraded to a pioneer elite receiver and new BD player. next is new speakers which i believe i am going to give axiom speakers a try to see how they work which it looks like you have.

how do you like your speaker setup? all the speakers you have are the ones i am thinking about buying. any input? thanks again and good luck.

[slaizer2000]

If you were doing it yourself and was not having it put in the wall you could try 16 and then easily change to 12 if you choose to.

But since you are paying someone to run it through your wall, then if you don't like the 16 gauge you're kind of stuck with it or stuck with having to pay someone again to do it again.

spend a little more now, and don't sit there everytime you watch something wondering if the 12 would have been better. Also future proofs it in case you end up upgrading to higher end speakers that may require better gauge wire.

[Kratos3]

12 ga

It'll take a little pressure off of your receiver. The difference probably won't be audible, but I always think that if you're gonna do it, might as well do it right the first time.

[Steve]

I would go 12 gauge as well. Like someone mentioned above, order your own spool of cable from monoprice. It'll probably be cheaper than whatever will be provided by the installer.

[zak88lx]

Thanks to all that responded.

I called the installer back and I'm upgrading all 4 runs to the 12 gauge (THX) wire.
It will cost me a bit more but in the end I will have peace of mind.
I'm really looking forward to the clean setup with no visible speaker wire.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by zak88lx

Thanks to all that responded.

I called the installer back and I'm upgrading all 4 runs to the 12 guage (THX) wire.
It will cost me a bit more but in the end I will have peace of mind.
I'm really looking forward to the clean setup with no visible speaker wire.

It goes without saying that you'll be posting some pics of course!

John

[Johk]

Just for information purposes from audioholics:

Tabulated below are the recommended cable distances (+20%) one should use for various speaker cable gauges and speaker loads.

18 AWG - 8 Ohm: 10 ft - 4 Ohm: 5 ft
16 AWG - 8 Ohm: 20 ft - 4 Ohm: 10 ft
14 AWG - 8 Ohm: 35 ft - 4 Ohm: 18 ft
12 AWG - 8 Ohm: 60 ft - 4 Ohm: 30 ft
10 AWG - 8 Ohm: 100 ft - 4 Ohm: 50 ft

Table 1. Recommended Cable Distances vs Gauge

So you made the right choice going to 12 AWG vs 16 AWG for 30 ft run... But now I'm wondering the knowledge of your installer who recommended 16 AWG and like the others said make sure also it's rated for in-wall installation.

By the way you will have a nice setup! (same speakers as me)

[Steve]

Originally Posted by zak88lx

Thanks to all that responded.

I called the installer back and I'm upgrading all 4 runs to the 12 guage (THX) wire.
It will cost me a bit more but in the end I will have peace of mind.
I'm really looking forward to the clean setup with no visible speaker wire.

I would be curious to know how much more money you'll be paying for that 12 gauge wire that has 'THX' on it.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by fireman325

I would be curious to know how much more money you'll be paying for that 12 gauge wire that has 'THX' on it.

So would I!

John

[zak88lx]

Originally Posted by fireman325

I would be curious to know how much more money you'll be paying for that 12 gauge wire that has 'THX' on it.

This looks like a trap but I will answer the question anyways.

They have charged me an additional $35 per run ($35 x 4 runs = $140) to upgrade from the 16 gauge to the 12 gauge.
This seems like a fair price to me although I'm sure some will disagree.

[Johk]

Originally Posted by zak88lx

This looks like a trap but I will answer the question anyways.

They have charged me an additional $35 per run ($35 x 4 runs = $140) to upgrade from the 16 gauge to the 12 gauge.
This seems like a fair price to me although I'm sure some will disagree.

That's not too bad...

Sure 250 ft of CL2 12AWG wire would cost you 70$ plus shipping at monoprice.

But at the risk of repeating myself, make sure is the cable he's going to install is rated for in-wall installation. We're telling you that not because it will do wonders to your sound (it should have basically no effect) but simply because it's part of the code (NEC), meaning it's mandatory and could cause you some problems during a home inspection or an insurance claim. You can check this article on Audioholics about ratings on cable.

Well with that out of the way (people here are only trying to help out ), I think we all want to see pics (preferably throughout the process.

[jomari]

i concur with the findings.

no point in running 16 to avoid cost, then end up placing inexpensive 12 gauge speaker wire from monoprice. in the end you are saving 70 dollars. not worth my restless nights.

great job on the recommendations folks... it goes without saying, there are more gurus on board to help out here.

[4x12]

Hey Zak,

how did everything go with the cabling ? any pics of the finished room ?