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18 AWG speaker wire vs 16 awg

3,223 425 February 6, 2009 at 07:09 PM
anyone know what the difference is? not sure which one to get to run a 5.1 setup in my bedroom.. probably only need 40-50ft max

does lower gauge = better sound quality?
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koven
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gEEk.
> bubble2 10,339 Posts
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Aluvus
02-06-2009 at 07:15 PM.
02-06-2009 at 07:15 PM.
16 AWG is thicker. Thicker means lower resistance means more power delivered to your speakers.
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DrewBard
02-06-2009 at 07:45 PM.
02-06-2009 at 07:45 PM.
Basically, the longer the run the thicker (lower gauge) wire you want. There are a lot of guides out there, sadly they all seem to have different numbers...

http://www.audioholics.com/educat...able-gauge
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-CahN..._wire.html
http://www.av-outlet.com/en-us/dept_216.html
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> bubble2 10,138 Posts
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larrymoencurly
02-06-2009 at 08:51 PM.
02-06-2009 at 08:51 PM.
Not enough to make a difference to even the best golden ears, even those who won't admit it.

DC resistance:

#18 AWG copper wire: 0.007 ohms/ft.
#16 AWG copper wire: 0.004 ohms/ft
dynamic speaker: 4-8 ohms DC

Almost all the impedance of a magnetic speaker is the DC resistance of its coil. I don't know the resistance of a connection between a wire and a speaker terminal, but I'd be surprise if it's as low as that of a foot of #16 wire.

Buy the cheapest zip cord that's UL approved because UL approval means fire resistance, not just electrical safety. And if you have kids or pets, get something that tastes bad so they don't chew into it.
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> bubble2 282 Posts
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lightsycle
02-06-2009 at 09:07 PM.
02-06-2009 at 09:07 PM.
I concur. Heavier(thicker) wire will give you louder sound(i.e. more power to spkrs), regardless of length, over smaller wire.
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Justmtnb44
02-06-2009 at 09:14 PM.
02-06-2009 at 09:14 PM.
Is the 40-50ft total or to 1 speaker? I ran 16 awg to my speakers where the longest run to any speaker is about 20ft. 18 awg would probably work perfectly fine too, but it can't hurt to go thicker.

I agree with larrymoencurly. I'm pretty sure that with normal quality/power home speakers most people would not be able to tell a difference in sound quality or volume between 18 awg and even 12 awg speaker wire.
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Last edited by Justmtnb44 February 6, 2009 at 09:17 PM.
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larrymoencurly
02-06-2009 at 09:48 PM.
02-06-2009 at 09:48 PM.
Quote from Justmtnb44 :
I'm pretty sure that with normal quality/power home speakers most people would not be able to tell a difference in sound quality or volume between 18 awg and even 12 awg speaker wire.
I mean taht even with the best speakers, thicker wire won't matter, unless the wires are very, very long or the power level is very high.

Professor W. Marshall Leach has some info about audio equipment here [gatech.edu], here [gatech.edu], and here [gatech.edu]. The last two links are for his audio amplifier designs, which have been praised by high-end audio magazines and hundreds of electrical engineering students who built them.
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TheJudge
02-06-2009 at 10:00 PM.
02-06-2009 at 10:00 PM.
Quote from koven :
anyone know what the difference is? not sure which one to get to run a 5.1 setup in my bedroom.. probably only need 40-50ft max

does lower gauge = better sound quality?
Would you like to know the real truth?

Buy some cheap Radio Shack wire.
Save your money.

This has been tested time and time again.


Don't listen to these uneducated people that tell you -you'll need thick a$$ wires or some 100$ a ft cables....

For your application ANY gauge will work just fine.
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Last edited by TheJudge February 6, 2009 at 10:02 PM.

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> bubble2 13,929 Posts
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greenmeansgoooo
02-07-2009 at 03:25 AM.
02-07-2009 at 03:25 AM.
You want to use the lowered numbered gage, which is thicker wire, for longer runs so you don't lose as much signal.
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Q-Bert
02-07-2009 at 08:16 AM.
02-07-2009 at 08:16 AM.
You MUST USE Monster cable.

It's the best... plus the "Monster" name makes your speakers sound better..

LMAO LMAO LMAO
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> bubble2 13,929 Posts
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greenmeansgoooo
02-07-2009 at 08:45 AM.
02-07-2009 at 08:45 AM.
Quote from Q-Bert :
You MUST USE Monster cable.

It's the best... plus the "Monster" name makes your speakers sound better..

LMAO LMAO LMAO
Remember when they were going after the other companies and what they were doing behind the scenes.
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> bubble2 12,438 Posts
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chanle51
02-07-2009 at 10:01 AM.
02-07-2009 at 10:01 AM.
16 or 18 AWG lamp cord may save you a few bucks. Price that out by the foot at your local hardware stores and see if it comes out any cheaper than the same gauge speaker cord they sell at WalMart or Monoprice. Your ears will never know the difference.
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kakomu
02-07-2009 at 11:01 AM.
02-07-2009 at 11:01 AM.
Quote from larrymoencurly :
Not enough to make a difference to even the best golden ears, even those who won't admit it.
This is, indeed, true.
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Moeyyy
02-07-2009 at 11:35 AM.
02-07-2009 at 11:35 AM.
But the guy at Best Buy told me I needed to get Monster Cable to fully enjoy my surround sound?
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gEEk.
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Aluvus
02-07-2009 at 11:50 AM.
02-07-2009 at 11:50 AM.
Quote from larrymoencurly :
Not enough to make a difference to even the best golden ears, even those who won't admit it.
You imply that the difference in wire gauge is one of fidelity, which it principally is not. The difference is in power delivered to the load (the speaker) for a given input. In short, the difference is in how loud your music is for a given volume setting. For very long lines or very high-power systems, that difference is not at all trivial.

Quote :
DC resistance:

#18 AWG copper wire: 0.007 ohms/ft.
#16 AWG copper wire: 0.004 ohms/ft
dynamic speaker: 4-8 ohms DC

Almost all the impedance of a magnetic speaker is the DC resistance of its coil.
Speakers are not rated based on their DC resistance, which is in fact very low. They are rated based on their impedance at different input frequencies (impedance is measured at several frequencies, then a voodoo dance is done to pick a representative number). In an audio system, DC resistance is not the main item of interest because there is no audio at 0 Hz. In any event, the DC resistance of an ordinary voice-coil speaker is very low (it is just a bit of wire from a DC perspective), while its inductance is rather higher. Speakers are very much inductive loads.

tl;dr: Almost none of the impedance of a magnetic speaker is the DC resistance of its coil.
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