12g vs 14g speaker cable

rodneyat
rodneyat Posts: 67
edited February 2002 in Technical/Setup
I am looking at rewiring my entire speaker setup...I have a "cludge" of cables right now and so I think I am going to buy a 200 feet of cable and rewire it all. I am torn between 12g and 14g cable. I know that 12g is definitely going to give the best perforance but man is it big! My main concern is in bi-wiring all of my fronts. I am currently doing it now but it is 16g wire so it is not too bad. I know if I switch to 12g it is going to be a lot bigger. So, I guess my question is whether or not I will really loose that much performancy by going to a 14g wire instead, as to save a little "bulk" Comments? Suggestions?

Rodney Turner

Yamaha RX-V1200
Yamaha DVD-C900
Polk CS 400i (center)
Polk RT 800i (front)
Polk FX 500i (on their way for the rear)
Polk RT 800i mains, CS 400i center, FX 500i surrounds, RT 35i rear centers, Definitive Supercube II, Yamaha RX-V3800, Samsung PN58C8000
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Comments

  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    i am running all 14AWG cable. the fronts are all bi-wired, (i ran 12AWG before biwing them). all surrounds are wired with 14, i too couldn't handle the bulk of the 12 for the surrounds. 14 works well, and was an improvement over the cheap **** 16 i had.

    front biwired with: MC S14-4R CL

    surrounds are run with: MC S14-2R CL
    THX maximum lengths: fronts 30 Feet; surrounds 60 Feet.
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  • ncstatesman
    ncstatesman Posts: 145
    edited February 2002
    Hi Juice,

    How does bi-wiring sound for you as far a music and movies - are you going to revert back or stick with it - just curious.

    Ps - last friday I orderd the csi400 from crutch, and the fed ex guy delivered it in less than 24 hrs - I did not pay extra for shipping either (about $7 for reg UPS shipping) . Havent a chance to play with my new 800i's and csi400 yet
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    the bi-wiring is staying for me! as posted in the bi-wiring thread i posted, i found very pleasant results wiring my 800's & 400 this way...

    glad to hear you got your 400 quickly! now all you need is time to play!!!:D
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  • johnnyamerika
    johnnyamerika Posts: 382
    edited February 2002
    Whether you wire with 14 or 12 would depend on the length of your wires. If you are running to your fronts that are less than say, 10 feet, you could run 16 and not notice a difference. For a helpful article and chart, check this out:

    http://www.sundial.net/~rogerr/wire.htm

    Based on this article, if you're running a 6 or 8 ohm load you could run 14 AWG wire 50 feet (maybe more without noticable degredation, all in the 10kHz to 20kHz range as the article suggests)

    There would probably be people that disagree with this article, but I find it to be true.
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  • rodneyat
    rodneyat Posts: 67
    edited February 2002
    Thanks! That is good info to have...I think I am going to go with 14g...None of my runs are more than 40 feet or so. The mains are all less than 15...

    Anybody know of some good sources to get decent wire without breaking the bank to get it???
    Polk RT 800i mains, CS 400i center, FX 500i surrounds, RT 35i rear centers, Definitive Supercube II, Yamaha RX-V3800, Samsung PN58C8000
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  • johnnyamerika
    johnnyamerika Posts: 382
    edited February 2002
    I would say radio shack, home depot, and sears...they all have inexpensive, 16-12 AWG wire. I've heard, however, the clear Home Depot Wire is known to corrode....also, try partsexpress.com! :D
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  • juice21
    juice21 Posts: 1,866
    edited February 2002
    i got my monster cable 14x2 for $0.50/foot. good deal for the quality of cable it is. i probably still have the email of the person i got it from if you are interested. just drop me an email if you are.
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  • TrappedUnder Ice
    TrappedUnder Ice Posts: 975
    edited February 2002
    home depot has roll 12g 250ft for @70.00... so I would guess tht 14g would bet about 50.00.. good luck..

    btw..I use the 12g myself.. nice stuff..and yes..its pretty thick
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