Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions What gauge speaker wire do I need?

I am considering purchasing the M60's, QS8's or QS4's, center 150 or 100 and a sub. I would like to order the speaker wire at the same time. Which gauge do I need and should I order the axiom speaker wire or monster speaker wire? Do I need separate speaker wire for a sub?

I use this for the sub:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=181-644

I have monster navajo white (got it cheap) on the fronts and center (16ga at 10' each) I have RCA brand 14ga on the surrounds - 35' runs.

Most any cable is good - look around at PartsExpress or go to Home Depot.

12 or 14 guage wire will be sufficient.

Check this link as well:
http://home.earthlink.net/~rogerr7/wire.htm

hope this helps

^billy

Don't buy monster cable. Although they make a decent product, it's not worth the extra money they charge to cover their uge advertising budget.

The gauge of wire you need is dependent upon both the length of the wire, and the Ohm-rating of the speaker. How far away from your amp/receiver are your speakers going to be?

This page has a handy chart that tells you the minimum gauge required to carry the full signal over a given distance for a given load (ohm-rating). For example, since your M60s are 8-ohm speakers, you can safely use 18-gauge wire up to 30 feet. Most people like to err on the side of caution and step up to 16 or 14-guage though.

I'd recommend buying regular "zip wire" in at MOST 14-guage for your entire setup. (12-gauge is pretty thick and can be hard to work with.) Home Depot carries this wire in bulk and will cut to length. Alternatively, you can order a 100' spool of 14-gauge Sound Kind wire for about $35 from here.

As far as your subwoofer is concerned, you won't need speaker wire for it. To connect it to your receiver, you will need a coaxial cable with RCA connectors. Something like this will be perfect, and at a great price!

I agree with PMB about Monster, except for one of their products, which I think does something good for the sound - Monster super flat mini speaker wire. Just sounds great to me.

you couldn't resist, could ya?

I tried, really, but then parabulia struck, and I said it!

With how much you like to stir s***, ever considered a career as a honeydipper - the guys who empty outhouses?

Bren R.

Ah, my point exactly, Bren! You appear most comfortable marching in step with those who agree with you. If someone presents a contrary opinion, you recommend cleaning outhouses for a living. To answer your question, no, I have never considered that line of work. How's it working out for you?

In reply to:

---

You appear most comfortable marching in step with those who agree with you.

---

That definately gave me a big smile - the idea of me being a conformist in any sense of the word is... moderately amusing. I have Pastor Martin Niemoeller's "They first came for the communists" posted in my office - hardly the mark of a man marching in lock-step. I post here because I agree with popular opinion here, not the other way around. What I don't do is intentionally take a diameterically opposed position in order to draw attention to myself. I'll also neither blindly follow popular opinion, nor intentionally buck it (say by extolling unbelievable virtues in, perhaps, tube amplification) in order to seem exotic and part of an elite (l33t?) group.

I have the distinct feeling some day you'll argue black is white and be killed at a zebra crossing (to borrow from the late Douglas Adams).

Bren R.

chris-

pmbuko gives good advice, and links.

i have always been told that 14-16 gauge is good for lengths under 40 ft.. and 12 gauge for anything 40ft and over. i have nothing to back that up, other than 19 years of living with a retired Air Force radio ops guy..(my dad)

trust in pmbukos links, they have good info..

bigjohn