What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers?

Posted by Quiet Earth on April 1, 2007 at 09:11:36

For the sake of arguement, let's say that you have a non bi-wire speaker that is fairly efficient and an easy load. 95dB@1W/1M, and 8ohms nominal.
Let's also say that you have a small amplifier (9 watts/ch), and a short run of speaker wire (5 feet per side).
Your expectations are to get a reasonable volume level in a small room (13'x20'), with bass probably somewhere in the 40Hz region. The only thing that you DON"T want to do is choke the amplifier.

What is the smallest speaker wire guage that you would feel comfortable using so that you are not choking the amplifier? I'm thinking 22AWG would be plenty for this example.

The reason why I ask is, I'm thinking about making my own speaker cables (with expensive wire) and I'm trying to figure out how small of an AWG is big enough. I'm not trying to cheap out. I just don't want to do the overkill thing for the sake of overkill.

Perhaps enough can be enough, and less could be more.

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Topic - What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers? - Quiet Earth 09:11:36 04/01/07 (21)

I used one strand of a CAT5 cable to drive a sub. - GTF 16:43:46 04/02/07 (0)

It depends on how many amperes the cable handles. - cheap-Jack 13:16:34 04/02/07 (0)

Well Then - Cappy 21:57:24 04/01/07 (1)

That's OK. Par for the course. - Quiet Earth 22:47:29 04/01/07 (0)

Re: What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers? - rwiley 17:31:39 04/01/07 (2)

That's a good idea - Quiet Earth 22:26:18 04/01/07 (1)

Re: That's a good idea - rwiley 10:44:32 04/02/07 (0)

14. Also the largest gauge. - Al Sekela 16:17:25 04/01/07 (3)

Re: 14. Also the largest gauge. - JimBop 16:47:41 04/01/07 (2)

Also, try stores that sell military surplus electronics. - Al Sekela 11:26:26 04/02/07 (0)

Here - Cpk 11:05:30 04/02/07 (0)

Don't know its "gauge" but the Mapleshade... - EBerlin 15:55:13 04/01/07 (0)

Re: What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers? - Dawnrazor 15:23:59 04/01/07 (1)

Another vote to experiment first. - Quiet Earth 22:58:28 04/01/07 (0)

There's a school of thought that small-gage wire is better-sounding overall; I've linked the thread. - jeffreybehr 12:00:45 04/01/07 (3)

Thank you for that link. It was helpful. - Quiet Earth 22:43:48 04/01/07 (2)

Well, it may LOOK complicated, but from an amp's perspective, it's not. - jeffreybehr 09:50:31 04/02/07 (1)

less complicated without a crossover and bandwidth limited too - Quiet Earth 11:29:45 04/02/07 (0)

Re: What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers? - Cappy 11:02:20 04/01/07 (0)

Small gauge wire for speaker cables - Metralla 10:55:19 04/01/07 (1)

Re: Small gauge wire for speaker cables - some young guy 14:23:08 04/02/07 (0)

What's the smallest wire AWG that you feel confident using for speakers?

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