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Post by hcsunshine90 on Jun 8, 2014 11:35:10 GMT -5
as it is now, I have (8 foot lengths of) 14 gauge speaker wire running from my UPA-1's to my speakers. the speakers rate at 5 ohms average and 4 ohm minimum. also they rate at 85db sensitive. it sounds good to me now, but was just wondering if I should go thicker, with say a 10 gauge wire for some reason. I found a 20 ft. roll of 10 gauge 100% OFC wire for $20 on amazon by a company named caliber. is this a good brand of wire, or does anyone recommend a certain other brand?
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Post by creimes on Jun 8, 2014 11:55:54 GMT -5
I just ordered 30ft of the BJC White 10 gauge cable, it's 99 cents a foot and you can actually get it terminated with your choice of ends and I would recommend the locking Banana ends if you do. Here is the linkScroll down the page and you can see where you can order rwa cable and down farther where you can order terminated cable as well. Another good option if you have dual binding posts on your speakers is the bi-wire cable they have, it is dual 14 gauge and you would get it terminated for 2 banana's at the amp end and 4 banana's at the speaker end, but if your speakers have only 2 binding posts go with the 10 gauge cable in white of grey. Chad |
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Post by Shaker on Jun 8, 2014 14:08:46 GMT -5
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LCSeminole
Global Moderator 
Res firma mitescere nescit.
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Post by LCSeminole on Jun 8, 2014 16:22:25 GMT -5
Your current speaker wire meets the requirements on a length/guage basis as is. If you are bound and determined to go with a 10 gauge wire, Chad's recommendation above is the same amount as your Amazon link, per foot and the Belden 10 AWG 5T00UP speaker wire works quite well with GLS locking bananas. www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=locking |
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Post by Dark Ranger on Jun 8, 2014 17:19:35 GMT -5
At 8 feet in length, 14 gauge is more than adequate for speaker cables. However, I can understand the desire for larger cables and there's a nice feeling that goes along with fat speaker cables.  The recommendations above are great. Blue Jeans Cable has some excellent stuff and I recommend them for great products at reasonable prices. I've bought quite a few things there. In my two primary systems, I'm using Ultralink's 14-gauge 4-conductor cable (similar to Canare 4S11). Creating two pairs of two yields 11.2 gauge, which is about right for my 20-50 foot runs at the nominal impedance values. My Zone 2 setup uses Emotiva's XSS 10-gauge speaker cables only because I had them in storage and it saved me from buying something else. As far as connectors go, bare wire always works, but bananas are pretty nifty for making a reliable connection that can be easily removed when needed. |
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Post by hcsunshine90 on Jun 8, 2014 17:22:29 GMT -5
I read the audioholics link and it seems that the 14 gauge wire that I have now is doing the job. also I read on the blue jeans cable page about high conductivity being important. the larger the wire, the lower the resistance, and the higher the conductivity. (interesting) for now, I will keep the 14 gauge wire that I have.
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LCSeminole
Global Moderator
Res firma mitescere nescit.
Posts: 20,850
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Post by LCSeminole on Jun 8, 2014 18:35:00 GMT -5
I read the audioholics link and it seems that the 14 gauge wire that I have now is doing the job. also I read on the blue jeans cable page about high conductivity being important. the larger the wire, the lower the resistance, and the higher the conductivity. (interesting) for now, I will keep the 14 gauge wire that I have. I believe this to be the smart move as I doubt you'll hear any appreciable difference if at all.  |
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Post by garbulky on Jun 8, 2014 18:54:04 GMT -5
I moved from 18 guage to 12 valve and finally to 8 guage (each) bi wire cables equalling to something lower than 8 guage per channel - think close to garden hose thickness! I won't lie, the best sound I've got has so far been the bi wire cables. But also the difference was very small - if there was any. There was a slightly better coherency and dynamics. I think there was but the difference was of the kind where I could have been mistaken. And between 18 guage and 12 guage there was even less of a difference. So I think it's not a pressing urgency to change what you have.
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Post by repeetavx on Jun 8, 2014 20:15:38 GMT -5
I agee. You may or may not hear a difference going to a bigger speaker cable, but you should definitely hear a difference if you biwire.
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Post by deltadube on Jun 8, 2014 20:36:30 GMT -5
I agee. You may or may not hear a difference going to a bigger speaker cable, but you should definitely hear a difference if you biwire. did you mean if you buy wire? but really nothing like having nice big looking fat cables around... its not just about the sound .. its a statement of power.. I like Bob's cables best!  |
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Post by deltadube on Jun 8, 2014 20:43:32 GMT -5
At 8 feet in length, 14 gauge is more than adequate for speaker cables. However, I can understand the desire for larger cables and there's a nice feeling that goes along with fat speaker cables. The recommendations above are great. Blue Jeans Cable has some excellent stuff and I recommend them for great products at reasonable prices. I've bought quite a few things there. In my two primary systems, I'm using Ultralink's 14-gauge 4-conductor cable (similar to Canare 4S11). Creating two pairs of two yields 11.2 gauge, which is about right for my 20-50 foot runs at the nominal impedance values. My Zone 2 setup uses Emotiva's XSS 10-gauge speaker cables only because I had them in storage and it saved me from buying something else. As far as connectors go, bare wire always works, but bananas are pretty nifty for making a reliable connection that can be easily removed when needed. Hi DR how goes it.. ive read some articles that you should use 10awg wire when you cross the 30ft mark! but its not to bad if you don't use 2 ohm www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm Bob's bi wire for xpa 1s  |
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Post by USNRet on Jun 8, 2014 20:53:54 GMT -5
as it is now, I have (8 foot lengths of) 14 gauge speaker wire running from my UPA-1's to my speakers. the speakers rate at 5 ohms average and 4 ohm minimum. also they rate at 85db sensitive. it sounds good to me now, but was just wondering if I should go thicker, with say a 10 gauge wire for some reason. I found a 20 ft. roll of 10 gauge 100% OFC wire for $20 on amazon by a company named caliber. is this a good brand of wire, or does anyone recommend a certain other brand? The answer is no. I use Home Depot lamp cord on my system and have tried several different boutique wires (including $$$$$$ wires) with no change in sound. I have 102dB speakers and XPA-5 amp on the HT side and 60 watt tubes on the 2 channel. If you want to buy the wires for looks help yourself but there will be no sonic difference. Put your money in source: if using CD then buy XRCDs, if using vinyl buy nicely mastered 180 or 200 gram albums, if it's HT or MP3s it doesn't matter. |
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Post by hcsunshine90 on Jun 8, 2014 21:56:18 GMT -5
yeah USNRet, I've heard in a lot of places and many times that you don't need thicker wire. my stereo salesman used to give out 12 and 8 gauge wire when you bought a pair of speakers. his technician would say, you can give him the 12 gauge, it don't matter if you go bigger, and the boss would say, oh just give him the 8 just to be sure. enjoy the tunes...
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Post by hcsunshine90 on Jun 8, 2014 22:03:27 GMT -5
though, I did have a grin on my face when he gave me the 8 instead of the 12 gauge one time when I bought a pair of speakers off him. there IS something cool about having the fat wires. (I no longer have the system that the 8 gauge wire was used in, hence now I'm using the 14 and don't see a problem with it.)
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Post by airwolf77 on Jun 8, 2014 23:45:29 GMT -5
I totally agree the fat cables are just "nice". Gives you the reassurance that ALL the power available is getting from the amp to the speaker. I'm guilty of running 10 gauge from my XPR2 to my mains, and to my subs. But if you think about logic...(nasty word in audiophile land) then 14 gauge is really the most you should ever need in runs under 50 or so feet. If 14 gauge copper is good enough to run a 15 amp circuit through your house powering up to 12 outlets or lights (and likely power most people's entire home theater) then 14 gauge is very likely more than adequate for a singe speaker. I know, logic is just no fun....
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Post by deltadube on Jun 9, 2014 0:29:10 GMT -5
I totally agree the fat cables are just "nice". Gives you the reassurance that ALL the power available is getting from the amp to the speaker. I'm guilty of running 10 gauge from my XPR2 to my mains, and to my subs. But if you think about logic...(nasty word in audiophile land) then 14 gauge is really the most you should ever need in runs under 50 or so feet. If 14 gauge copper is good enough to run a 15 amp circuit through your house powering up to 12 outlets or lights (and likely power most people's entire home theater) then 14 gauge is very likely more than adequate for a singe speaker. I know, logic is just no fun.... im sure glade your not wiring up my house... I believe the code here is 43 feet limit on 14/2 awg.. and 4 outlets max.. 14 awg speaker wire should not be used over about 18ft imho.. cheers. |
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Post by novisnick on Jun 9, 2014 0:30:13 GMT -5
I totally agree the fat cables are just "nice". Gives you the reassurance that ALL the power available is getting from the amp to the speaker. I'm guilty of running 10 gauge from my XPR2 to my mains, and to my subs. But if you think about logic...(nasty word in audiophile land) then 14 gauge is really the most you should ever need in runs under 50 or so feet. If 14 gauge copper is good enough to run a 15 amp circuit through your house powering up to 12 outlets or lights (and likely power most people's entire home theater) then 14 gauge is very likely more than adequate for a singe speaker. I know, logic is just no fun.... Captain Kirk, not Science Officer Sock,,,,,,,is the audiophile!,,,,,,,he,,,,,,he,,,,,,he,,,,,, |
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Post by Dark Ranger on Jun 9, 2014 1:07:03 GMT -5
Hi DR how goes it.. ive read some articles that you should use 10awg wire when you cross the 30ft mark! but its not to bad if you don't use 2 ohm www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htmHi Bob There's typically no harm in using larger diameter/gauge cabling. We guys subscribe to the notion of "bigger is better." But 10 AWG might not be needed for some 30-50 foot runs. It depends on the cables capacitance, inductance, and resistance, as well as the attached load (speaker). In my case, I'm twisting the four 14 AWG wires together to make two pairs, each containing two wires. So the pair ends up more like 11.2 gauge. Plus the speakers I'm driving with the 50-foot runs don't drop lower than 4.7 ohms. No worries.  |
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Post by deltadube on Jun 9, 2014 1:27:31 GMT -5
Hi DR how goes it.. ive read some articles that you should use 10awg wire when you cross the 30ft mark! but its not to bad if you don't use 2 ohm www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htmHi Bob There's typically no harm in using larger diameter/gauge cabling. We guys subscribe to the notion of "bigger is better." But 10 AWG might not be needed for some 30-50 foot runs. It depends on the cables capacitance, inductance, and resistance, as well as the attached load (speaker). In my case, I'm twisting the four 14 AWG wires together to make two pairs, each containing two wires. So the pair ends up more like 11.2 gauge. Plus the speakers I'm driving with the 50-foot runs don't drop lower than 4.7 ohms. No worries. well just to be safe DR... Bob's cables makes the 12 awg quad stuff into 2 conductor about 9awg cable .... then using double runs on the xpa 1 mono blocks gives you about a 7.25 awg with 1500 fine strands of ofc copper..  |
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Post by cd on Jun 9, 2014 6:25:27 GMT -5
Listen to USNRet, invest your money in top-quality source materials. You will *absolutely* hear an improvement by doing so. Fat speaker cable are for poseurs...
CD
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