10, 12, 14, 16 guage speaker wire > What do you use?

[Turbota]

I am going to be hooking up 4 polk speakers and a powered Rava sub (all 8 ohm load speakers) for audio use only.

The longest run of speaker wire will be about 45 feet (for the rears)

Looking at a wire application chart, I could get by with as small as 16 guage wire, but I have heard that "bigger is better". I haven't purchased the wire yet.

Just wondering what the majority of people here are using.

10, 12, 14, or 16 guage?

Thanks,
Ron

[Frank Z]

12 for the mains and center, 14 to the surround and rear speakers.

[wallstreet]

I, in the minority, am using 16.

[RuSsMaN]

As a general rule (mine), 16awg will work fine on runs up to 50ft. 14awg works fine for runs up to 100ft.

That being said, anything 12-16 should work fine for your scenario.

I have my HT rig setup as Frank suggested, 12 on the front stage, 14 on the rears.

I wired the entire house rig (up to 80ft runs) with 14. The outdoor speakers are wired with 16 (30ft run). No issues.

Cheers,
Russ

[dorokusai]

10 gauge all around the 5.1 HT.

[HBombToo]

Originally posted by dorokusai
10 gauge all around the 5.1 HT.

I was thinken 2:rolleyes:

HBomb

[steveinaz]

I would personally run 14awg for the rears, 12awg on the fronts/sub. Why thicker wire on the shorter runs? 2 reasons; Because your main program material will be on the front/cntr, and your sub should have a heavier gauge. 14awg will be fine for rears at 45 feet.

If you don't mind spending the extra bucks, go 12awg all-around.

[steveinaz]

I didn't read your post closely. For an Audio only system, this is what I would run; 12awg stranded to the sub-woofer, Audioquest type 4 (or if you're feeling cocky, AQ Granite) to the 4 polks. Given that Polk's have a tendency to be a little "forward" in the upper frequencies, I'd lean towards the AudioQuest Granite--it's a little mellower than the Type 4.

You have some nice equipment, I'd get some good specialty cables for it. I have some Athena AS-F2 towers that are a bit hot on the high-end, and the AQ Granite was a perfest match for them. Check Audio Advisor, they've been having a 50% off special on Granite for some time now--it's the ONLY reason I would spend that kind of money on cables.

[wallstreet]

O I Forgot, I use coax for the sub.

[dorokusai]

HBomb - Yea I was going to use #2/0 grounding cable stranded, leftover from the Sprint sites I do site acceptence for...but that seemed like overkill :D

I guess I could have used #4 or #4 THHN, that would look real neat ;)

[HBombToo]

Originally posted by dorokusai
HBomb - Yea I was going to use #2/0 grounding cable stranded, leftover from the Sprint sites I do site acceptence for

Big BadAss Green Cable;)

HBomb

[John K.]

No, Ron, bigger isn't necessarily better, just more expensive. I use just the standard 16ga lampcord for all my runs(up to 35 feet). Follow the chart, especially if it's here (http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm#wiretable) in this excellent article by a veteran audio professional.

You should be planning to connect the sub with a coaxial cable, if possible, but if instead you want to use the same speaker wire to the sub's speaker level inputs, there's no problem. The connection to the sub carries no power(just the audio signal) at all unless you also use the speaker level outs on the sub to feed the other speakers; in that case the power would be carried over the amp to sub to speaker distance.

[dorokusai]

Blah blah ba blah ba blah. Blah ba bab ba, blah.

OMG I just explained every theory ever discussed about cables and their physical properties.

[Frank Z]

Foolish boy, you only cover the theory behind electromotive force! Now had you stated YADA, YADA, YADA, well then all of the bases would have been covered!!

[dorokusai]

Frank - Damnit, I knew I forgot something! Good one man :D

[Turbota]

Well, I really appreciate all the feedback.

This board and it's members are great! :)

Thanks so much,
Ron

[jkratzer]

14 GA for the surrounds and 12 GA for the fronts and center. Be sure to use high-quality, oxygen-free, high strand count wire. I use the wire from Parts Express.

[HBombToo]

Originally posted by Frank Z
Foolish boy, you only cover the theory behind electromotive force! Now had you stated YADA, YADA, YADA, well then all of the bases would have been covered!!

effin Gold Fank!:D

Originally posted by steveinaz
I would personally run 14awg for the rears, 12awg on the fronts/sub. Why thicker wire on the shorter runs? 2 reasons; Because your main program material will be on the front/cntr, and your sub should have a heavier gauge. 14awg will be fine for rears at 45 feet.

If you don't mind spending the extra bucks, go 12awg all-around.

[/B]

yup^^2

Twin