16 or 12 gauge?

kylemm

I currently have basic RCA 16 gauge wire running to my 3.1 setup right now. It currently consists of two TSI 400's for the two fronts and a CS20 for a center channel. I also have the Fxi a6's on the way for the surrounds. I have heard a bunch of different opinions of wire thickness and for the length of runs (25 ft for rears) im running 16 gauge is going to be fine. So the length isn't going to be a factor; but im not against buying a new role of 12 gauge wire if it will improve the sound quality. I just want to know if 12 gauge is really going to improve the sound quality or if it isn't going to matter at all? thanks for the help

smglbrth

Ooops, and I thought you were talking about shotguns...

Anyway, it's been a while since I've been on this forum but I'm sure you'll get nothing but opinions regarding "gauges" in wire. IMO, I don't think it would matter a whole lot but, like I said, you'll get more than enough "options".

leftwinger57

I still buy into what Rodger Russell has to say about lenght vs gauge and copper vs mixed. Most polkies here couldn't care what he has to say but for me, he being an engineer for MaciIntosh for 30yrs and then going on to invent some pretty impressive speakers I would at very least give the guy a listen .Sorry I do not know how to link but you if look up Rodger Russel.com I'm sure you'l get there.Me I use 14 gauge clear from Parts Express and their prices and delivery times are very good.....

chindman

The resistance of 16 G wire is 4 Ohms/1000', 12 G is 1.6 Ohms/1000'. The capacitance and inductance per foot doesn't differ by enough to spit at. For the 25' run (& back) to your surrounds the resistance difference is about .12 Ohms or 1.5% of 8 Ohms. Such speakers driven at 5 amps rms ( thats 200Watts ! ) will 1) if sustained, produce hearing impairment in a small to medium size room 2) result in 2 Watts wiring loss with 12 G wire and 3) result in 5 Watts wiring loss with 16 G wire. If you are still concerned spend another $2 and get some 14 Gauge wire. Then forget about it and devote your time to worrying about speaker placement, room acoustics etc. i.e. differences that make a difference.

tonyb

chindman wrote: »

i.e. differences that make a difference.

If any of you haven't figured it out yet, everything makes a difference.....cables included. Different gauges maybe not so much as different cable quality. Also if you subscribe to Roger Russels thoughts, thats fine and dandy but your missing out on a world of sound available to you.

KYLEMM- any decent 14 ga wire will suffice, but if your buying that home depot wire, your shorting yourself on whats available to you to up your game. Everyones wallet is different, but to just brush aside what a quality cable can do is simply wrong. We have plenty of threads here of people who thought the same as Mr. Russel, and have now heard what others have talked about for years. You can go threw this hobby of audio with one eye shut from reading this or that article, but until you open both eyes, get some experimenting under your belt, you'll never realize what a good cable can do for your sound quality.

Tour2ma

In terms of cross sectional area 2 x 16g = 13g... not quite 12 g, but close.

So if you have some 16 g left over, try a double run to one main (and one surround when they arrive). See if you notice a difference. Just be sure that you don't get your wires crossed.

Wire is one of the deepest rabbit holes on this or any audio forum... Wire gauge is just the threshold. Plenty of time to fully explore it down the road.

olddog

16G should be fine at 25' for those surrounds. They don't carry as much signal as the mains.