subject: Smart Tips to Choose Speaker Wire Gauge [print this page] If you are going to equip your audio system with speaker wire gauge, one of the most important things that you should keep in your mind is about the size of your audio system. Besides, you also have to pay attention to the length of the wire between the power source and the speaker, and do not forget to check the quality of the wire. In order to get the best performance from your audio system, it is very important for you to choose the right speaker wire gauge. At this time, this article is going to give you several tips to choose speaker wire gauge.
Firstly, you need to determine about how long the each run of the speaker wire is going to be from the power source to the speaker. It is very important especially for the home audio applications since the speaker wire runs are usually 10 to 20 feet or more. The longer runs of wire need thicker gauge wire in order to get the best performance and also for getting less strain on amplifier or receiver.
Secondly, you need to decide which gauge wire that you are going to use for particular situation. For general guide, it is suggested for you to use 12-gauge wire on up to the 30-foot runs, the 14-gauge wire on up to the 18-foot runs, and also 16-gauge on up to the 10-foot runs. You have to keep in mind that these figures are actually based on the 4-ohm resistance load that is typical to be used for the average car audio setup. On the other hand, there are many home theater systems that use 8 ohm or the higher loads. It means that you can run the wires safely on even longer runs than the above figures without having loss of sound quality.
Thirdly, you need to determine the quality of the wire that will work best in your system. When you are using high quality component like speaker, amplifier, and head unit, you have to select high quality speaker wire as well.
