Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater QS8 Wire length to gauge question

I know the rule of thumb is to use 12 gauge for runs over 50 feet; however, does that apply to rear effect speakers like the 6ohm Qs8's? I don't want to have to undo all of my speaker wire when I get the Qs8's. They will run 52 feet of wire for each, and I currently have the Monster XP Navajo White 16ga. speaker wire. Will that work for rears, or will I notice a difference buying the Axiom 12 ga. stuff? Thanks.

Well, according to this ubiquitous Wire Table, for the 6 ohm QS8s, you should be using at least 14 gauge. It's not that it will sound better, it's that you don't want to cause a problem for your receiver. I don't know enough to say this is an absolute. Hopefully, those with more knowledge will provide more insight.

I'm using 14ga runs of 30' - 40' for my QS8s. They sound great and I'm driving them problem-free with a Denon 3803. Got the wire for $.23/ft from Home Depot's bulk wire derpartment.

If you're concerned about the gauge of your Monster cables, you can just start referring to the rest of your components as "Monster this" and "Monster that". Then, your Monster cables will feel threatened and puff up to 3x their original size!

I did basically what Ray did. About 35' of 14g I got at Lowes. Sounds great too.

DK, theory would call for a thicker wire for runs of that length. Wire having slightly too high a resistance doesn't bother the amps and any lowering of sound level can be compensated in calibration. The interaction with the swings in impedance of the speakers would cause slight matching swings in frequency response in the speakers, but this might not be noticeable with the material reproduced by the surrounds. My view would be to not go through the bother of making the change.

DK

If your amp has 5 discrete amplifier sections, one for each channel, then you should treat the rears the same as if they are mains. Another thing you need to assess is the volume at which you play video etc. If your wire is too small then you end up pushing your amp which may cause it to overload and trip frequently. Think about it as trying to move the same volume of water through a drinking straw and a vaccuum cleaner hose.

Sean