What's more practical 16 or 18 gauge wire?

**gobrigavitch** · **04-07-09, 04:57 PM**

Quote:

Candoo wrote:

I hope no one minds me throwing in my two cents here. smile.

my ht speaker runs are 50ft. x 4 for the fronts (bi-wired)
and 20ft. each for the rears (not bi-wired)
center is a single pair

I used all 16ga. wire.

previously when i had my system setup with the equipment in the front under the center channel i used 14ga. wire too the fronts.
when i moved the equipment to the rear i swatched to 16 due to price and local aviability.

I have no noticed a signitifcant sound difference even with the added distance and the small ga.

however one factor that isn't being mentioned. bi-amping -r bi-wireing changes the wire requirements. also you can also run more than one set of wires too a single speaker even if not bi-amping or bi-wireing and that could save mony if a large ga. is needed.

thanks my two cent. I could be wrong.
thank you for reading my post.

I'm not sure of the exact math but I'm pretty sure that running 2x 16guage would be about equivalent to a single 14 and 2x 14guage would be like one 12guage. I would confirm this with an electrician or someone in the know, but I think that is a rough guide.

**bobgpsr** · **04-07-09, 08:53 PM**

If you expect to get accurate bass (< 100 Hz) response out of a given speaker, then give it a speaker wire gauge as large as practical (#12 AWG) for long runs.

The less wire resistance (esp impedance) then the better the AVR/Amp's power output stage can precisely control the speaker cone motion (damping factor) thereby giving more accurate and lower distortion bass.

**gobrigavitch** · **04-23-09, 06:12 PM**

I have 16 guage wire to my Mirage omnisat speakers currently. I'll be replacing them with Omni 150's and 350's over the next year. I have 16guage speaker wire throughout my setup with runs up to 30 feet or slightly more. Would I get any appreciable increase in sound quality by replacing speaker wire with 14 guage. It would likely cost a 100$ or more given the 7 speakers so I wouldn't want to waste my money and time.

**erasma** · **04-23-09, 06:31 PM**

Quote:

gobrigavitch wrote:

I have 16 guage wire to my Mirage omnisat speakers currently. I'll be replacing them with Omni 150's and 350's over the next year. I have 16guage speaker wire throughout my setup with runs up to 30 feet or slightly more. Would I get any appreciable increase in sound quality by replacing speaker wire with 14 guage. It would likely cost a 100$ or more given the 7 speakers so I wouldn't want to waste my money and time.

Save the $100 & buy something for the wife!! will get much better value doing that then speaker cables!!

Remember it's all about how well the signal moves across the cable - more is not always best!! you don't get twice the sound quality with the twice the size cable!! if only then I would just keep increasing cable size all the time.

Source is way more important - also have you ever seen the cable they use inside amps & speakers

that will give you an idea of what you need....

**gobrigavitch** · **04-29-09, 12:03 AM**

Quote:

erasma wrote:

Save the $100 & buy something for the wife!! will get much better value doing that then speaker cables!!

Remember it's all about how well the signal moves across the cable - more is not always best!! you don't get twice the sound quality with the twice the size cable!! if only then I would just keep increasing cable size all the time.

Source is way more important - also have you ever seen the cable they use inside amps & speakers

that will give you an idea of what you need....

Thank you. I will feel better now just leaving my wire in place. I really didn't want to go through the hassle and expense of upgrading the wires. I find when I read these forums I can convince myself I need something that I didn't even think of 2 days before.

**railcon56** · **07-06-09, 11:59 PM**

OK I wanted 100 ft of 16 gauge. I ordered 4 rolls of 100 ft by mistake. After reading this thread I am regretting the 16 gauge. Could I double up on the wires and put 2 wires in each connection...and would that help?
Thanks in advance

**eugovector** · **07-07-09, 09:25 AM**

Take a look at this: http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#wiretable

If your wire runs are less than 48 feet (assuming you have 8 ohm speakers) don't bother. Sell or return the other 3 rolls and enjoy your system.

**Sycraft** · **07-10-09, 01:01 PM**

Don't worry too much on wire gauge if your runs aren't all that long. That table eugo linked is a good one and similar to the one that I used to have for stage runs.

The only exception would be if you have low impedance speakers. While it is pretty rare, there are some exotic speakers out there that go pretty low. In that case you obviously need to have some larger wire. However if your speakers are 8 ohm, and most are these days, then it is real unlikely that you have a run in your house longer than 16 gauge wire can handle.

**Wayne A. Pflughaupt** · **07-10-09, 07:11 PM**

Quote:

railcon56 wrote:

Could I double up on the wires and put 2 wires in each connection...and would that help?

That would definitely have the effect of increasing the gauge size (lower numerically). IIR, doubling a particular wire increases the gauge by three numbers. So, 16-gauge would end up being the equivalent of 13 ga. Whether or not that actually "helps" anything depends on a number of factors, as the others have mentioned. I personally prefer to have at least 14-gauge wire, just because bigger never hurts, while too-small can.

Regards,
Wayne

**erasma** · **07-11-09, 03:57 AM**

Peeps lets look at monster cable & the rest of the cable guys - they offer small cable sizes saying it will do a better job!

we all kow that the cable lie is just that! current is a factor how many people do you know running large current???

I am not sure the size cable I run I just know I did not buy my cable from a hifi shop but a hardware shop!

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