GotApex? Forums - View Single Post - S-Video vs. Component

ufcrusher · 08-24-2001, 01:38 AM

The guage is the width of the wire itself with the smaller the number corresponding to a thicker wire. Depending on what you are trying to do, the distance you are running, the quality of your speakers, etc. Basically, this deals with impedance again and the guage of the wire should be increased (as in going from a 16 to a 12) with the distance.

The rule of thumb in the industry is that you never want to use any wire that is smaller than a 16 guage. If you are running 25 feet or less you can get away with a 16 guage. If you are running up to approximately 50 feet you can go with a 14 or 12 guage (usually its a 12 since 14 is hard to find unless you are going with in wall wire). After that you are going to 8 guage or even larger. Truthfully, the cost of running the wire would be so high that you could buy another stereo to set up closer to the speakers.

That deals with solely the distance and the resulting impedance in the wire. Then you get into other factors such as your speakers. THe larger the speaker, the more power you want to feed them, thus you want to use a thicker wire. I always told people to think of filling a swimming pool, would you rather use a garden hose or a firemans hose. Certain high end speakers are even bi-wired which separates the high, mids, and low signals for better clarity.

When looking at wire you need to see if it is timewound, how pure the material is, whether it is shielded, the guage, what you are powering, the type of receiver, speakers, etc. Once you have an idea of what you are trying to do, you can figure out your wires. For example my main speakers are run on 8 guage wire with bananas, but they are only 10 feet away from my reciver. I have my rears and secondary mains on 16 and 14 guage respectively,but they are about 30 feet of wire away. I have set up for customers outdoor speakers with 100 plus feet of wire and used a 14 guage which seemed to work fine. Not what I recommended, but they were happy with the sound and ok with straining their receiver.

Hope that helps

08-24-2001, 01:38 AM	#7
ufcrusher Admiral Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Boca Raton, FL: By way of: Poway, CA; Gainesville, Fl; Penn Valley, Pa. Posts: 5,680	The guage is the width of the wire itself with the smaller the number corresponding to a thicker wire. Depending on what you are trying to do, the distance you are running, the quality of your speakers, etc. Basically, this deals with impedance again and the guage of the wire should be increased (as in going from a 16 to a 12) with the distance. The rule of thumb in the industry is that you never want to use any wire that is smaller than a 16 guage. If you are running 25 feet or less you can get away with a 16 guage. If you are running up to approximately 50 feet you can go with a 14 or 12 guage (usually its a 12 since 14 is hard to find unless you are going with in wall wire). After that you are going to 8 guage or even larger. Truthfully, the cost of running the wire would be so high that you could buy another stereo to set up closer to the speakers. That deals with solely the distance and the resulting impedance in the wire. Then you get into other factors such as your speakers. THe larger the speaker, the more power you want to feed them, thus you want to use a thicker wire. I always told people to think of filling a swimming pool, would you rather use a garden hose or a firemans hose. Certain high end speakers are even bi-wired which separates the high, mids, and low signals for better clarity. When looking at wire you need to see if it is timewound, how pure the material is, whether it is shielded, the guage, what you are powering, the type of receiver, speakers, etc. Once you have an idea of what you are trying to do, you can figure out your wires. For example my main speakers are run on 8 guage wire with bananas, but they are only 10 feet away from my reciver. I have my rears and secondary mains on 16 and 14 guage respectively,but they are about 30 feet of wire away. I have set up for customers outdoor speakers with 100 plus feet of wire and used a 14 guage which seemed to work fine. Not what I recommended, but they were happy with the sound and ok with straining their receiver. Hope that helps __________________ Welcome my son, welcome to the machine...Where have you been? It's alright we know where you've been....