Having the right wire size is most crucial for an efficiently working speaker. However, it's fairly challenging if you don’t have any previous knowledge. Here we will give you some basic ideas on choosing the best wires for your speakers.
Speaker wire gauge
The speaker wire gauge is simply the thickness of the wire. The AWG (American Wire gauge) is a unit for representing the sizes of wires.
There are speaker wires starting from 12AWG to 18AWG. However, more doesn't mean the wire will be thicker. The 18 AWG is the thinnest, and the 12AWG wire is the thickest. The thickness of the wire depends on the size of the speaker and amplifier. Moreover, it also affects the resistance.
Hence, we would recommend you to go for thicker wires as they have lower resistance. Furthermore, choosing between a solid wire and stranded wire, we would recommend getting the stranded one as it's flexible and can endure vibrations.
However, the only problem is, they are pricey as compared to solid wires owing to complex manufacturing, but they are worth the price as the sound quality you will get is exceptional.
Wire resistance
The thicker the wire, the lower the wire resistance, so go for thicker wires of 12 AWG or 14 AWG as they offer a lower resistance, which in turn provides an easy energy transmission. On the other hand, if you go for lengthy and thinner wires, they will have high resistance.
Cable length and distance
When choosing a wire, you should also consider the length and power requirements.
For that, you will need the distance between two speakers and an amplifier. Use a measuring tape and also make sure you keep some extra wire length in case you move the amplifier or speakers from their initial space.
Now, it's time to choose the thickness of the wire and it hinges on the impedance of your speakers. Hence, the lower the impedance, the higher power the speaker will require so, for a 4-ohm impedance, go for a 12 or 14 AWG wire.
Furthermore, if you have a speaker with a higher impedance, like 8 ohms, we would recommend you a wire gauge of 18AWG. Likewise, keep in mind that if the distance is longer, go for thicker wires, as using thin wires will alone increase the resistance.
GAUGE | 4 OHM SPEAKER | 8 OHM SPEAKER |
|---|---|---|
12 AWG | 60 feet max | 120 feet max |
14 AWG | 40 feet max | 75 feet max |
16 AWG | 25 feet max | 50 feet max |
18 AWG | 15 feet max | 30 feet max |
CONCLUSION
The wires you will use for your home theatre or speaker setup are a deciding factor for the quality and loudness you will get with a speaker. Moreover, if you choose the right wires, they can cut the electricity cost to half. On the contrary, if they are of incorrect size, they may add to your electricity bills, so make sure you get the right sized and good quality wires for your speakers.
Hello readers, welcome to my blog! I’m Stefan. I’m in hard love with the music and used to collect all kinds of musical instruments at my garage. While looking for the best instruments, initially, I’ve struggled a lot. Like me, some of you might be struggling to choose the best musical equipment. So, keep reading my articles and get the best musical instrument that is worth your pay.