Speaker wire

 

UTP
Unregistered guest
I am about to hook up my subs to my amp, but right now I dont have good speaker wire, I have 18 gauge speaker wire, is that good or no to hook up my subs to my amp?
 

jonze
Unregistered guest
good for now. lol.
 

UTP
Unregistered guest
What gauge should I use?
 

Joey Y
Unregistered guest
at least 14gauge. I prefer 12 myself.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Invictuz

Seattle, Wa Usa

Post Number: 32
Registered: Jan-05
12 gauge is ideal, particularly if you have a quality high watt amp...14 gauge will work if using a smaller amp with a shorter distance between amp and subs.
 

Silver Member
Username: Fishy

Tamarac, FL USA

Post Number: 656
Registered: Sep-04
18 gauge won't hurt nothin. It'll just reduce power output slightly. You won't even notice the difference(except in your mind) if you go 12 gauge.

I you want to get technical check this chart:

http://www.tweeter.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1843714&cp=1124288.1124550.11 24487&page=2&doVSearch=no&pageBucket=0&sublevel=2&parentPage=family

18 gauge wire has a lil under 4 times the resistance per length as 12 gauge. If you have say 5 ft of speaker wire you'll have about 25 milliohms(.025 ohms) more resistance with the 18 gauge which doesn't translate to an audible SPL loss unless you're running a poopload of power. If you've got 500 watts on a 4 ohm sub you're in effect only losing about 1 watt. I don't think too many people here(even Jonathan) could tell the difference between 499 and 500 watt amps(tho Isaac might if they were PPI's). :P

I run 12 gauge mainly because it looks better.

:-)

-Fishy
 

Silver Member
Username: Fishy

Tamarac, FL USA

Post Number: 657
Registered: Sep-04
[edit]duh "I you want to get technical..." should read "If you want..."
 

Silver Member
Username: Fishy

Tamarac, FL USA

Post Number: 658
Registered: Sep-04
[edit]double duh

My calculations were for 5 feet of speaker total(2.5 ft actually). You'd lose about 2 watts with 5 ft if anyone cares.

:-)

-Fishy
 

UTP
Unregistered guest
Aight then, I gonna buy some 12 gauge then.
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