Frank Dresser wrote:
"Tony Meloche" wrote in message
...


"High definition" speaker wire is jargonese for "heavy". Monster
Cable is excellent, but much heavier than it needs to be. Some of the
best audio engineers, while lauding Monster Cable, have also written
that the difference in performance between Monster Cable (12 gauge, if
memory serves) and 14 gauge wire is purely for late-night debates, not
anything truly hearable or usually, even measurable (to a significant
degree).



I'm not sold on the necessity of heavy cables for speakers. The largest
resistance on the speaker system isn't the cables but the speaker voice
coil. A typical 8 ohm radio speaker will have a voice coil resistance of
about 6 ohms. Even thin wires will have much smaller resistances in the
milliohm range. I really can't imagine how going from cables with milliohms
resistances to microohm resistance will make a difference in a circuit which
a resistance of a few ohms.

I'd guess the resistance of the voice coil changes more with temperature
than the amount of resistance change you'd get from going from 14 gauge
wires to 20 gauge wires.


The "conventional wisdom" (interpet as you wish) is that the thinner
the speaker wire, the higher the resistance of the wire itself. With
strong, bass-heavy passages at fairly high volume (I listen to a lot of
organ music CD's recorded in European cathedrals) a portion of the
amplifier power coming down that wire is dissipated as heat. Thin
speaker wire also changes the damping factor - not for the better, again
according to "CW", though it's debateable if it changes it to a severe
enough level to make any real difference.

I have always used 14 gauge speaker wire, but if it disappeared from
the face of the earth tomorrow, I would shrug and use 16 gauge wire
without a care in the world. 18 gauge wire I consider acceptable if the
run isn't too long, but I, personally, would never use anything thinner
than that from a 100W amp to my speakers of (nominal) 6 ohm impedance.
And 50 feet of 18 gauge zip at my local hardware store is about $6.50
50 feet of 14 gauge speaker cable I can get for $15. For a one time
$8.50 price difference, I think the 14 gauge is well worth it. 12 gauge
wire, though, is a waste of money, IMO.

Tony

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