AnalOg Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Can someone explain to me how you decide what gauge cabling to use when coupling speakers to a system. Is it a spec thing or a matter of flavor. how does it affect the sound technically? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 It's a spec thing, and the variations in resistance, capacitance, and inductance -- give you a flavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 10:17:41 AM rf3iicrazy wrote: Can someone explain to me how you decide what gauge cabling to use when coupling speakers to a system. Is it a spec thing or a matter of flavor. how does it affect the sound technically? Tom ---------------- Hi Tom: Personally I use ten (10) or twelve (12) gauge. For the technical end, the usual is the thinner the cable the higher resistance. Thus the thought the lower the resistance the more power delivered. Sort of a car with dual exhaust or single exhaust. But there can be exceptions to every rule, though this has stood in the test of time. dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironwoods Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Here's an artcle for a reasonable DIY wiring solution. http://hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/ultralink-CL414-cable-5-2003.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Dodger, " For the technical end, the usual is the thinner the cable the higher resistance. Thus the thought the lower the resistance the more power delivered." The flipside is that the thicker the cable the more capacitance it tends to have. Too much can roll of the high end or cause stability problems for some amplifiers. Running 2 gauge wiring probably wouldn't be a good idea for example. And of course both resistance/capacitance will vary depending on the length of the cables. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyKubicki Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 Well for a capacitance/resitance explaination you can check this out. I do have the M1 coupleing my KHorns to my amp, but I have not done an A/B with any other types of cable, so I don't know how they would fare. I can say they sound good to my ears! Edit: I dunno where the link went, but here it is: http://www.alphacore.com/mispeaker.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnalOg Posted October 23, 2003 Author Share Posted October 23, 2003 Thanks for the responses. The reason for the question is in light of the Scott 299 coupled with the Def. Techs. I posted my findings last week regarding going to the 4 ohm tap making for a much better presentation. The speaker cable I presently have attached is 16 guage Rat Shak stuff. Would I be doing justice to the system by going to a larger gauge? Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dodger Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 ---------------- On 10/23/2003 2:26:08 PM sfogg wrote: Dodger, " For the technical end, the usual is the thinner the cable the higher resistance. Thus the thought the lower the resistance the more power delivered." The flipside is that the thicker the cable the more capacitance it tends to have. Too much can roll of the high end or cause stability problems for some amplifiers. Running 2 gauge wiring probably wouldn't be a good idea for example. And of course both resistance/capacitance will vary depending on the length of the cables. Shawn ---------------- Hello: As noted above, I fully agree and should have continued on with theory of capacitance. I look at it as the gauges I run, going no lower than ten (10) gauge, using twleve (12) in some and in one case, fourteen (14) gauge speaker cable. When I do purchase the cables I utilize, I note not only the resitance, but stated capaitance and when running the length, I do check with a multimeter for both. I appreciate the clarification and my chance to agree. Win dodger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jef Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Hello, I have never understood the capacitance argument. The capacitance is greater because the 2 wires a physicaly larger. Capacitance is also heavily influeced by the distance between the 2 wires. As far as I can see you only have to separate the wire in 2 seperate pieces, keep them some distance (inches) from each other and the capacitance argument is gone - along with it's effects on high frequencies when using long cables. BTW mr Klipsch had some Dope from Hope articles on the subject. VOL17 no 1 to be more precise. In the test he measured #18 zip cord with a lenght of 40 feet with no audible differences to larger diameter wires. the only aspect I really noticed with cables over the years is the termination. Plain copper wire of sufficient diameter performs perfectly but copper oxydates over time. If you have a solid termination (screw type) the copper on the contact place remains ok untill you have to loosen the terminal. You can avoud this problem by terminating the cable with spades - which are often coated with a thin layer or gold, which doesn't oxidate. You can also opt for cables with 'oxygen free copper' Both solutions are inexpensive. Best regards ... Jef 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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