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12 Gauge wire on Woofers & 14 Gauge on K-402 Horns?


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I just use #14 for both(bi amp+active), 402 and MWM cabinets, but I only have probably less than 20' wire length in any direction, just bare wire on the ends.  

With the efficiency, your not putting that much electricity through the wires really, but nothing wrong with #12 either.

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My preference is bare wire with tinned ends, if the wire is too thick to fit into any terminal just strip a bit of wire off the end so it fits and tin. Any loss will be very minimal if at all.

 

If you absolutely need to use a terminal solder method is always best.

 

 

 

 

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I don't like screw on terminals but when I elect to use them I put a dab of thread lock (fingernail polish will work) just on the last couple of thread so as to not prevent good metal to metal contact. If I don't them I find the connection will loosen over time. I think it is a) my live in ghost or b)  I need to either teach the electron to flow in a different direction or c) get left hand thread terminals B) .  

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Here's a nice article.  Not too technical but it reinforces a lot of what has been discussed here.  The AVS.com editors also support PWK's affinity for lamp cord.

 

Quote

 

For most household installations with 8-ohm speakers and relatively short cable runs—like yours—16 or 14 AWG is fine. If you need especially long cables—over 50 feet—or if the speakers are low-impedance (say, 4 ohms), go with 14 or even 12 AWG.

 

http://www.avsforum.com/ask-editors-speaker-wire-gauge-matter/

 

 

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DC can travel relatively quite far with out a significant drop, relatively speaking. Have known of much longer runs for satellite apps.

Audio, may as well, as to your application use the larger. Lower operating temp. for one thing, and could make a diff., in certain situations. Starting to stretch a little here.

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19 minutes ago, Ljk said:

Rebuilding the crossover on my chorus speakers, the wires from the xover to speakers are a small gauge. Would it help to go to a large gauge wirer?

 

Unless the factory wire has been replaced the answer is no.

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It looks tidier if the wire goes neatly into the fitting on the speaker, but it's not essential.  On my JubScala IIs, I'm using 8 gauge Karma Kable for the woofers and 10 gauge Karma Kable for the tweeters.  The 8 gauge cable is too bulky to fit between the bass cabinet and the HF cabinet and reach the woofer connectors, so I added a 1-foot-long piece of 12 gauge cable to make the connection.  The bit of extra resistance that adds is insignificant, since the total length of the speaker cables is about 16 feet per side.

 

The K-69 treble drivers have push-type connectors that probably accept only 14 or 12 gauge cable, so I separated the strands into two.  I passed half of the strands through the holes in the connectors and wrapped the other half around the connector.  Then I twisted some single-strand stainless steel wire around the connector to secure it in place.  It may look a little bit untidy, but all the electrons from the music are able to get to the speaker, and nobody has commented or even apparently noticed anything odd about the connections.

 

As for the rest of the speaker cables in my 6.1 system, the front centre, rear centre, and side surround speakers are all fed through 12 gauge cable.  To me, 12 gauge is a minimum size for good dynamics.  Generally speaking, if you go up or down two sizes, like from 16 to 12, or from 14 to 18, the difference on transient peak sounds will be easy to hear.  Bigger cable = more realistic peaks.  This effect is reduced a bit with very high-sensitivity speakers like the Klipsch models.

 

The main left and right speakers are the most important, so I gave them the biggest cables.  The centres and surrounds are less important, so they got the minimum 12 gauge cables.

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On ‎5‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 0:49 PM, jason str said:

That reminded me of when Mopar used left handed lug nut threads on the left side of their vehicles thinking right handed threads would loosen over time. :unsure2:

 

That made sense, but the word did not get around to every mechanic, so quite a few left-side studs and lug nuts got ruined when mechanics spun them off with air wrenches.

 

"Dammit, these nuts are on tight!  Ah, there they go.  Hmm, the threads don't look so good."

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22 minutes ago, Islander said:

that probably accept only 14 or 12 gauge cable, so I separated the strands into two.  I passed half of the strands through the holes in the connectors and wrapped the other half around the connector.  Then I twisted some single-strand stainless steel wire around the connector to secure it in place. 

 

If it there was no need for overkill then none of us would have a reason for posting here.  :D

 

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On my first pair of LA Scalas( back in 1981)... I rewired them with 12 gauge Monster Cable, and was very pleased as to how much better they appeared to sound.

Sent from my SM-T550 using Tapatalk

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  • 1 month later...

I used Monster Cable for my 1987 LS-FB La Scalas which I sold about 1992. I didn't notice a bit of difference between the Monster Cable and 3rd world Asian lamp cord that I had been using when I first bought them. I gave the Monster Cable to the La Scala's new owners who were overjoyed with receiving it. It had a thick clear insulation which showed how the copper inside had turned green, and I was happy to get it out of the house.

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On 5/11/2017 at 3:49 PM, jason str said:

That reminded me of when Mopar used left handed lug nut threads on the left side of their vehicles thinking right handed threads would loosen over time. :unsure2:

 

My father's '63 Olds had that.  I damn near sheared off a lug before figuring it out.  The "left" side being the driver's, or port, side.

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1 hour ago, DizRotus said:

If reverse thread lugs on the driver's (left or port) side were ever a good idea, why is there not now an epidemic of the wheels falling off the left sides of cars due to loose lug nuts?

 

Thread direction plays no role in this if true.

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