12 guage wire for these?

Mr. Sharpe

Just curious, but my dad has Polk RTA 12C's and Adcom Gfa 1-A and Gfp 1. the speakers are probably 4 feet from the amp and I gave him some 12 gauge wire I had sitting about 6 foot long each is this overkill or do you think "the bigger the better"?

My philosophy about hooking up speakers is use 12 gauge for all mains no matter how far away.

John K.

"Philosophy" hopefully would be supported by the scientific realities of audio technology. At those very short distances 12ga could have no significant advantage over say, 18ga.

nooshinjohn

John K. wrote: »

"Philosophy" hopefully would be supported by the scientific realities of audio technology. At those very short distances 12ga could have no significant advantage over say, 18ga.

***grabs a bucket of chicken wings and a beer***

This is going to be fun.:D


You did well going with 12g wire for the runs. IMHO wires can have a significant impact on the way a speaker sounds. 18g wire is in no way something I would recommend to anyone. I don't think you need to go nuts on wires in your case, but this is one area I would not got for lamp cord either.

Face

John K. must be the life of the party wherever he goes.

decal

Does your Dad like the sound his rig produces?If so,why does it matter what someone else thinks?Just a thought.

ben62670

Run the 12ga or 14ga.

concealer404

Run a wire that sounds good.

Mr. Sharpe

John K. wrote: »

"Philosophy" hopefully would be supported by the scientific realities of audio technology. At those very short distances 12ga could have no significant advantage over say, 18ga.

actually 18 is too small, sorry.

Mr. Sharpe

Face wrote: »

John K. must be the life of the party wherever he goes.

who's that? what's that? who's he? that is the most confusing thing i've ever read LMAO. don't do that:p

Mr. Sharpe

good thought: not only does he value the opinion of others but he trusts his ear too, and he trusts me too and and he also knows that 12 gauge puts through the best audio signal and he's always used it.

gimme some chicken:D

concealer404

I am so confused.

kawizx9r

concealer404 wrote: »

I am so confused.

+1 to that.

Bobsama

Notta clue to what they're up to. Probably going on the "generic biwire v. audiophile cable" bits. As a starving student, I'm perfectly happy with my cheap #16 biwire and $1 Monster RCA cables.


#12 wire will be fine. With a short run like that, you can run even #22 without running into the impedance curve. Even so, if you already have the wires, just run what you've got. #12's just fine.

Mr. Sharpe

@concealer404: +1 to both of comments lol

thanks bobsama!

Bobsama

No problem.

My personal view on the cable issue is based on priorities. I'd rather buy new or higher-quality source gear then spend the money on cables. Using #12-#16 on a small system with <8' runs is perfectly fine with me. The next $100 I get isn't going towards cables; it's probably going towards upgrading my headphone setup.

Tip: If you need inexpensive but good-quality cables in the USA, I've found Monoprice to the top choice.
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

nooshinjohn

Bobsama wrote: »

No problem.

My personal view on the cable issue is based on priorities. I'd rather buy new or higher-quality source gear then spend the money on cables. Using #12-#16 on a small system with <8' runs is perfectly fine with me. The next $100 I get isn't going towards cables; it's probably going towards upgrading my headphone setup.

Tip: If you need inexpensive but good-quality cables in the USA, I've found Monoprice to the top choice.
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

Not having decent cabling and wires will compromise the sound that higher end gear is capable of producing. I am not saying that tens of thousands need to be spent on wires/cables, but a high quialty CD player will perform only as well as the rca's that carry the output signal. I subscribe to the 10/1 ratio. For every ten dollars I spend on a component, I will spend a buck on the cable. With the gear in my stack of stuff now, I will be more focused on tweeking things a bit and cables are at the top of my list.:)

Mr. Sharpe

Bobsama wrote: »

No problem.

My personal view on the cable issue is based on priorities. I'd rather buy new or higher-quality source gear then spend the money on cables. Using #12-#16 on a small system with <8' runs is perfectly fine with me. The next $100 I get isn't going towards cables; it's probably going towards upgrading my headphone setup.

Tip: If you need inexpensive but good-quality cables in the USA, I've found Monoprice to the top choice.
http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

ya know, that sounds pretty good about the dollar on every $100 you spend, that's pretty much what he has, I gave him a monster 600 interconnect from amp to preamp, and another monster something for the CD, it's NAD too and it seriously made a difference!

I wanted to try Monoprice one time but decided not to for some reason, i just thought it was a little too good to be true:( I'll give it shot since I know you've tried em' and stuff:)

Mr. Sharpe

I should just stop quoting everybody on everything lol especially since I have to reply to everybody all the time:p

@nooshinjohn, I totally agree with you:) thanks.

BlueFox

nooshinjohn wrote: »

With the gear in my stack of stuff now, I will be more focused on tweeking things a bit and cables are at the top of my list.:)

Tweaking the gear is what I have been doing for a while now. I have been really surprised at how much better the sound has become after adding brass footers for vibration, new speaker cables, and just recently new MIT XLR ICs.

Damn!!!!!! I just remembered. I have a $1200 MIT Magnum digital cable sitting in the car. I picked it up from UPS this morning, but got so involved at work I just came home and forgot all about it.

To the car!!!!! And upgrade my Wadia to DAC IC.

Review coming.

Mr. Sharpe

HAHA! let me know BlueFox. I should really try some vibration things myself.

Mr. Sharpe

right on buddy:)