So Im sitting around this afternoon with nothing to do (gotta love sitting alert) and started looking at speaker wire, since I need to run some for my subs (if my boxes ever get here).

What brand do you guys prefer and why?

Do you use the same gauge for all applications (subs and mid/highs)?

if not, do you have a cutoff point where at x amount of watts you go up in size? and what is that cutoff?

 

I prefer whatever is cheaper at the time. Walmart cable is usually good.

14 gauge is more than enough for most any application.

 

>100watts RMS/channel you can get away with 16 gauge. I used monster cable's speaker wire from Walmart. For ~$20 per 50 foot roll, it's hard to beat that price.

anything more that 100watts/RMS/channel should use 14 gauge.

For subwoofers, most applications can use 12 gauge. it's the largest gauge wire accepted by most terminal caps. use of 10 gauge is possible but you'll usually need a replacement cap terminal to get the best use from this wire.

 

I use 12 and 14 gauge.

 

I use 14ga for left/right channels and 8 or 10 for the sub. I know I can use smaller but you can't hurt anything going big.

Most important thing is to make sure you are using pure copper wire,,, no aluminum and no copper clad aluminum.

 

i agree with the copper wire. www.monoprice.com has great prices on speaker wire.

 

Generally 16 for speakers ,12 for subs

 

I tried a roll of the moster cable from walmart, that stuff is STIFF! It drove me nuts! I went to a local installer and they said they use 14 for everything. I found that interesting. The speaker wire calc. at bcae1 says I need at least 12awg given the distance and power on a 1ohm load. And I know they install systems running WAY more power than I am. So how big of a deal is this really? Im probably reading too much into it (consequence of too much free time!) and 14awg will be fine. Thats what Im gonna run anyway, since thats all anyone around here seems to sell in something thats managable (not super stiff!)

BTW they have some pretty interesting fact and calculators related to wire size on bcae1.

 

Wire size is dependent on power, distance and load. In a car, the distance is fairly short. The power between a 100w amp and a 500w amp at a short distance is a negligable difference. The real deal is that load. Some of you guys are wiring multiple speakers for 1 ohm. This increases the need for a larger guage and reduces damping factor. If you can wire your speakers for 2, 4 or even 8 ohms, you will have less power loss in the cable and better damping factor for your subs. In my opinion a 16g wire is plenty for those short runs at 2 ohms and greater.

 

I had considered this, however, I find myself limited to either a 1ohm or a 4ohm load. As I have 2 4ohm DVC subs(ED 9Kv2, 250rms looks to be ideal). Initially my plan was to run them at a 4 ohm load, but the amp needed to poewr them at a 4ohm load was too big and I just couldnt make it work. So I found an amp that is small enough and has the power, but at 4ohms I feel that I wont be getting the most out of my subs, Ideally a 2ohm load would be perfect but that isnt possible(Kenwood Excelon KAC X10D, Mono amp 300wrms @4ohm, 600wrms @2ohm and >600wrms @ 1ohm). Since the amp is 1ohm stable I figured I would run it that way and see how it works out. If I replace these subs it will be with 2ohmDVC instead of the 4. this way I can run the 2ohm load. Thats what happens when you dont plan very well before you buy!
If you think I severley misunderstand the way this works please let me know...Im new at this. With 14awg wire at 12ft (running from drivers seat around the back of the car to the pass side cubby) running a 1ohm load the voltage drop is .99 but still delivers an acceptable amount of watts (actually a perfect amount) at the speaker. Given the amps output ability running a 4ohm load will result in a significantly lower drop in voltage @ .37 but not deliver an apropriate amount of watts to the speaker. So its true that I lose more watts on the 1 ohm load, but I still deliver more overall. I guess the next question would be what is an acceptable amount of volts at the speaker? I cant seem to find and data on that, but I get about 16 and 24 running the 1 and 4 ohm load respectivly. If 16 is an acceptable amount for these subs then I should be good!? Or another question should be; whats more important at the speaker terminals, voltage or watts?

 

Conventional loudspeakers are not flat resistive loads. They are combinations of capacitance, inductance and resistance, and as such will cause an applied generator to vary voltage and current with frequency. There is no simple answer. That said, Robvuk is correct, 16 AWG is plenty for most applications. Damping factor is a more important consideration (for quality sound) than raw available power.

 

You lost me with DF. I read about it but I have no clue how to apply that into making an informed descision on either amp choice, wire choice, or load configuration. Or how to come up with this number for that matter!

 

damping factor... it can effect bass performance. Under 30 or so at the speaker, its pretty noticeable. between 30-80 you would need a trained ear (spkrboy would be able to hear it, but not me) above 80 is moot

it goes down considerably with small wire gauge/wire length.

bcae1 has a calculator

chances are, if you use a class a/b amp its not an issue.

 

Yes I looked on bcae1 and found the calculator, but I cant find the rated DF for my amp, maybe I just dont know where to look. It is a class D amp. http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entert...fiers/KAC-X10D

I am starting to get the impression that a larger speaker wire may be necassary here?

 

i'll never use monster cable again. It's expensive for what you get. I actually had some great (14 gauge i think) experience with some rca brand speaker wire from home depot. i believe i got a 25 ft roll for 10 bucks IIRC. It was easy to run and nice and flexible. For what it's worth, i'm running that stuff for my mids and tweets (8 ohms). The sub wire is a bit thicker but a shorter run

 

Is this a speaker wire thread?

I usually use 12gauge for the subs and 14-16 gauge for the mids/highs

 

its probably anywhere from 60-100.

There are only two reasons not to go bigger in wire:
1) Cost
2) Ease of Routing

 

A way more in depth, technical discussion on wire than I thought possible!