Wire gauge and length

snake1

Just a couple of simple questions for those that can answer!
1. What gauge wire do I need to use for surrounds? Its going under the house. I may use towers in the rear so keep that in mind.
2. Do all your wires need to be equal length front and rear, or does the AVR I have compensate for distance somehow? I have my 2 mains equal length, but does the center and rears need to be that same distance as well?

tonyb

How long is the run to the surrounds ? Under the house ? Better get outdoor rated cable in the 14 ga area then. Your Avr compensates for distance to a point, but by sound waves, not cable lengths. If your under say 25 feet, I wouldn't worry about it. Some will say they should all be the same lengths but personally I've never encountered a problem if one was shorter than the other.

snake1

Its going to be using 25ft roughly. I would just hate to have 25ft of wire to hide for fronts and a center to even it up.

tonyb

No...no, I ment for each surround. LOL !!

For instance, your front left and right should be the same length and your rear or side pairs should be the same length. The center is what it is. Now if one of any of those pairs is 2 feet,3 or4 feet shorter/longer, it won't make a spit of difference, none that you can hear anyway.

teekay0007

snake1 wrote: »

Its going to be using 25ft roughly. I would just hate to have 25ft of wire to hide for fronts and a center to even it up.

No, no, no! :razz: When people recommend equal lengths of wires, it only applies to the pairs. So, by those guidelines, you'd want your fronts' cable lengths to be equal to each other, your surrounds' lengths to be equal to each other and your back surrounds' (if applicable) lengths to be equal to each other. I've seen where some recommend the center's cable length be equal in length to those of the fronts also, but I'm sure that if it varies by a few feet it wouldn't be an issue. Minimal difference would NEVER be detectable by human ears.....well 'cept for maybe some of those very highly discerning ones owned by some of contributors over on the cable fable thread.

snake1

Thanks guys! As long as the pairs are the same length huh? Well that shouldn't be a problem!

20hz

I use low budget 16 ga going to the rears one is 30 feet one is 40 feet long I never heard a sound differance and I balance it with a digital decible meter there is no differance side to side .
If you are concerned about the length vs gauge there are charts on the prosound companys websites for example crown amplifiers .

tonyb

snake1 wrote: »

Thanks guys! As long as the pairs are the same length huh? Well that shouldn't be a problem!

Even if they aren't, I doubt you'd be able to hear the difference, so don't lose sleep over it.

rooftop59

Yeah I find that unless you are a gamer that plays lots of heavy surround games or you listen to lots of multi channel sacds or dvd-audios, the surrounds are not nearly as sensitive as the front three. Even on movies with a fair amount of surround action, they are rarely sounds that you are focusing on or are dominating the scene. So I have always used 16 gauge in wall monoprice crappola for the surrounds, doesn't seem to matter. And I really don't think the length will matter either.

snake1

Thanks guys for the info and the input!!

What about subwoofer cable? I know its an RCA style cable, but does it need to be any particular gauge??

gp4jesus

use the heaviest, equal length you can $wing & $queeze into your connectors.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160887284861?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170829854450?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/130370755789?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

I do. PM me for details why.

Shalom, Tony

pitdogg2

peterr89 wrote: »

Hello,your front left and right must be the same length and your rear or should be the same length.

really why?

BlueFox

peterr89 wrote: »

Hello,your front left and right must be the same length and your rear or should be the same length.

And the center should be the average of the two lengths. :rolleyes:

pearsall001

You need to get up the 500-1000ft difference in cable lenght between speakers to "supposidly" hear an audible difference. Even then...doubtful. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

F1nut

pearsall001 wrote: »

You need to get up the 500-1000ft difference in cable lenght between speakers to "supposidly" hear an audible difference. Even then...doubtful. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

What a load of crap.

pearsall001

Oh please spare me. You wouldn't hear a lick of audible difference.

gimpod

Jesus H Christ, When are you guys going to learn all's you need is a boat load of old rusty paper clips, acid core solder and duck tape nothing sounds better and it's cheap. You can add a couple Christmas tree lights if you want that tube sound.

















Sorry couldn't help myself. :redface:

F1nut

pearsall001 wrote: »

Oh please spare me. You wouldn't hear a lick of audible difference.

Wanna bet!

polkfarmboy

Sorry to semi-jack this but what about the center? Should it be the same length as the front L/R ?

pearsall001

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Sorry to semi-jack this but what about the center? Should it be the same length as the front L/R ?

Keep it within 1" & it'll be just fine.

F1nut

There's so much more to wire than the gauge. Material and the quality of it, solid, stranded or both, configuration, dielectric and termination all play important roles in the end result.

snake1

Aside from length questions, F1, could you explain those terms?? I would greatly appreciate the explanation!

F1nut

They seem self explanatory.

snake1

Probably to a veteran but not to a neophyte. I think I know what termination may mean.

teekay0007

F1nut wrote: »

There's so much more to wire than the gauge. Material and the quality of it, solid, stranded or both, configuration, dielectric and termination all play important roles in the end result.

Yeah, snake1, some/most of his posts are worth readin'. Some, well....not so much! :cheesygrin: I guess what he's sayin' is get yourself some 10 gauge, pure, solid lead figure-eight configured, ultra-high clarity glass dielectric with rubber knuckle terminations and you should be good to go!! Quite self-explanatory

---

I think NOT! :rolleyes:

F1nut

Probably to a veteran but not to a neophyte.

Fair enough....

Material and the quality of it - common choices are copper, tinned copper, silver clad copper, silver. The purity of the material and the drawing process also play a role.

Solid, stranded or both - wire can be solid core, stranded or a combination of both.

Configuration - can be twisted, straight, larger gauge combined with smaller gauge and a whole bunch of other variations.

Dielectric - the material used around the wire, lots of choices.

Termination - the type of end (banana, spade, etc.) attached to the wire, which can be soldered, crimped, a combination of both, cold welded, even just bare wire ends.

tonyb

teekay0007 wrote: »

I guess what he's sayin' is get yourself some 10 gauge, pure, solid lead figure-eight configured, ultra-high clarity glass dielectric with rubber knuckle terminations and you should be good to go!! Quite self-explanatory

---

I think NOT! :rolleyes:

See now, thats your problem right there....your guessing.

cowtrimmer

How come no one has posted a link to some wire that cost's $20,000 a meter yet ? That would solve this guys problem and bring this thread to its logical conclusion.

tonyb

cowtrimmer wrote: »

How come no one has posted a link to some wire that cost's $20,000 a meter yet ? That would solve this guys problem and bring this thread to its logical conclusion.

Of coarse....how silly of us. As though there is nothing inbetween monoprice cables and 20,000.00 cables.:rolleyes:

Hence another cable debate....oh goody.

snake1

If someone would explain what some of these terms mean, I can find something that will work. I really enjoy learning new stuff!! This is preferable to sarcasm and making the thread useless.

halo71

I've used 5' on the left and 12' on the right before with no audible difference. "I" think for the casual/average user, you won't tell any difference. Surely not something to loose sleep over or scour the net for an answer. Just "my" opinion of course.