Basic Connections and Wiring

Power and audio signal cables are the most common sources of sound system failure. Well-made and carefully maintained cables are essential to the reliability of the entire system. If long speaker cables are required, make sure the wire is of sufficient size to transfer all of the avail- able amplifier power to the speakers rather than absorbing power itself. As a rule of thumb, the larger the wire the better (larger wire has smaller "gauge numbers").

Below, we have listed the smallest wires (the highest num- bered gauges) recommended for best results. To make it simple, we'll assume you are operating under worst case conditions with 4 ohm loads. 8 ohm operation will improve results with the same wire.

Larger diameter (small gauge number) wire is expensive and long cables made from it are heavy. Rather than run- ning long speaker cables, it is better to locate power ampli- fiers near speakers and run a line-level signal cable over the long distance to the amplifier. This approach eliminates most of the signal loss due to speaker cable resistance so the speakers are fed all of the amplifier's power without the need for heavy cables. This can actually save money in many instances.

Always use stranded wire for three reasons:

1)It is more flexible and less prone to metal fatigue breakage.

2)If an end is nicked while insulation is being stripped for connection, only one or two strands will break and not the entire wire.

3)There is some evidence, though disputed, that higher frequency audio signals flow along the outside of each conductor (skin effect): if this is so, the more strands, the lower the effective cable resistance to high frequencies.

In cases where speakers and power amplifiers are located far away from the signal source (a mixer or a preamp), bal- anced line" signal cables are a wise choice.

SPEAKER WIRE GAGING TABLES

SPEAKER WIRE GAUGE

CROSS REFERENCE TABLE

SPEAKER WIRE LENGTH

100'-UP

(30.5 m-UP)

50'-100'

(15.25-30.5 m)

*25'-50'

(7.60-15.25 m)

10'-25'

(3.05-7.60 m)

0'-10'

(0.00-3.05 m)

10	12	14

12	14	16

14	*16	18

16	18	18

18	18	18

4Ω *8Ω 16Ω

	AWG	CROSS SECTION
		[mm2]
18		0.83

16		1.32

14		2.10

12		3.32

	10	5.27

SPEAKER IMPEDANCE [z]

*Example - The length of the speaker wire required is between 25-50 feet (7.60-15.25 meters) and the speaker impedance is 8 ohms. The minimum recommended speaker wire gauge is 16.