Larger speaker wire?

[Tucson Thump]

For some reason electronics is akin to tax law ... I read the words but the grasp isn't quite there.

Over the years I've seem some pretty thin wire used for hooking up speakers to the jacks. I've been wondering what wire gauge might be best if rewiring single speakers or cabinets.

I suspect there is a law of diminishing returns at some point but my audio speaker wire is much larger than my guitar speaker wire. For a 2x12 speaker cabinet does it make a difference whether it is wired in series or parallel?

Does a difference in speaker ohm rating make any difference?

 

[veinbuster]

I wouldn’t change the gauge of wire I was using based on how I wired the speakers, or what the speaker ohm rating was.

I like fat, solid wire.

 

[Tucson Thump]

I wouldn’t change the gauge of wire I was using based on how I wired the speakers, or what the speaker ohm rating was.

I like fat, solid wire.

House wiring size?

 

[veinbuster]

House wiring size?

That is what I used the last time I wired speakers.

Being honest, I did have about half a spool left after wiring the basement. It’s a bit stiff, but I like how it works. If I was going out to buy wire I might go a gauge or two lighter because it is easier to fit to connectors.

For what it is worth, I ran both speakers to the outside of the box and made two harnesses. One I could connect to run series and one to run parallel. Sometimes I ran the speakers separately - sort of stereo.

 

[Boogie]

That is what I used the last time I wired speakers.

Being honest, I did have about half a spool left after wiring the basement. It’s a bit stiff, but I like how it works. If I was going out to buy wire I might go a gauge or two lighter because it is easier to fit to connectors.

For what it is worth, I ran both speakers to the outside of the box and made two harnesses. One I could connect to run series and one to run parallel. Sometimes I ran the speakers separately - sort of stereo.

If you don’t want to deal with the rigidity of the solid conductor cable, use standard zip cord (lamp cord) and life gets easier. If it’s inside a box that no one will ever see, honestly, who cares as long as it can handle the power requirement? My speaker patch cables were once esoteric Monster Cable speaker cables with a ridiculous gauge (14 and 12, I think) that I soldered really good connectors onto. They’ve withstood 30+ years of gigging. But I’ve also made some innovative adapters to convert any extension power cord into a speaker cable that has served me well in several emergencies. Should have patented the design.

 

[elvis]

Depends on the wire length. I would angle for something less than 0.1 Ohm so it's not much relative to the cabinet impedance.

https://www.cirris.com/learning-center/calculators/133-wire-resistance-calculator-table

I recommend braided rather than solid as solid breaks down quickly if you're bending it. Inside a cab solid is fine.

 

[elvis]

Historically I've used lamp cord with excellent results.

 

[Tony M.]

16 gauge lamp cord will carry up to1625 watts RMS.
That should be more than sufficient for most guitar amplifiers.

Be careful to not put any knots in it though.
The sharp turns will slow the electrons down.

 

[Tucson Thump]

16 gauge lamp cord will carry up to1625 watts RMS.
That should be more than sufficient for most guitar amplifiers.

Be careful to not put any knots in it though.
The sharp turns will slow the electrons down.

What? Lamp cord doesn't act like vacuum cleaner hose?

 

[elvis]

To be clear, the wire does not carry power (Watts), it carries current.

The only issue you would want to choose cable for is low resistance so that it doesn't change the speaker impedance or response significantly.

If the cable is low resistance compared to the speaker, it will be capable of carrying plenty of current.

The only time you might worry about power in a cable is very high current over a long cable run. That would mean the cable could heat up. For example, 1 Ohm cable impedance and 100Amps is 100 Watts dissipated in the CABLE. That's probably not a good thing.

But a 100W amp into 4 Ohms speaker impedance is only 25Amps. A 1 Ohm cable reduces that to 20Amps (5 Ohms total). And that means 20W dissipated in the CABLE. Still not great, but you'd never want a 1Ohm cable anyway. A 0.1 Ohm cable would have 25A in the same situation, but only 2.5W dissipated in the cable. The other 97.5W would be dissipated in the speaker.

I think the concept of how much power a cable can carry is based on how much current it can carry at 117VAC. So 14 gauge wire is rated for 15A at 117VAC. Again, this depends on the length and therefore resistance of the wire.

 

[WeFixFlats]

I've used Mojotone Part Number: Z4112983 to replace the factory stock cabinet wiring in my 2x12 PRS cabinet...

https://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/...-Series-or-Parallel-with-Switchcraft-J11-Jack

 

[László]

I like fat, solid wire.

I do, too.