Braided cables utilize multiple individually insulated conductors (usually 22-26AWG) twisted in a pattern that helps to reduce series mutual inductance but usually at the expense of increased capacitance. Remember anytime you bring conductors closer together, the inductance gets reduced but capacitance goes up. I do appreciate these type of cable designs if they aren't overly blown out of proportion with high capacitance needing a zobel network termination to prevent amplifier oscillation for long runs. Braided cables are a fine choice provided that you aren't sacrificing resistance for the design. Some of my favorite braided cables are the mid priced cables like the 8PR or 8TC from Kimber Kable. However, some of their more expensive cables like the Bifocals exhibit lots of capacitance and are not something I'd recommend for very long runs especially because they are quite cost prohibitive and NOT worth the expense for no sonic benefit, in my opinion.

Unlike pure copper wire, copper-clad aluminum uses an aluminum wire core with a thin copper plating. From the outside, it misleadingly looks the same because of the plating. You might assume that you can buy any speaker wire and enjoy the best sound output. However, that’s not the case. There’s so much you need to know about speaker wire. Essentially, the role of a speaker wire is to connect a receiver to a speaker or an amplifier to a speaker. A speaker wire works by carrying an audio signal in the form of an electric current from a sound source to a speaker. Solid core wire isn’t easy to deal with in situations where you’ll need to go around curves like around car seats or tight spaces. How much wire do you need?

2. GearIt 14 Gauge

Remembering that a speaker's wattage level indicates how much power it can safely handle from an amplifier. As a result, you should never exceed a speaker's maximum wattage range. Happy Tuesday, Antony. I’m sorry to see that for some reason you feel like it’s incorrect. It’s not wrong and certainly not misleading; I’ve gone to great lengths to make it more accurate and practical than other wire size guidelines out there based on hard data. You may have heard of the skin effect in some conductors which becomes more of an issue at higher frequencies but that’s well above the 20 to 20kHz audio range so it’s not something to worry about. Stranded speaker wire design Use 16-Gauge wire whenever possible, especially for shorter speaker lines under 50 feet or high impedance. Thinner cables, such as 18-gauge, are also an option, but they are more frequently used for low-powered appliances than speakers. Common Speaker Wire Gauge to Speaker Wattage Pairings Using a typical and reasonable example, we can use 16AWG stranded copper wire with 19 strands of 29AWG wire (“19/29”). Resistance per meter is rated at 0.0147Ω/m. [1]

For shorter speaker wire runs, 16-gauge wire is generally sufficient. For longer runs, 14-gauge or even 12-gauge wire may be needed to reduce resistance and maintain signal quality. It’s a good compromise between price and power handling as it’s usually affordable and easy to find. How to find the correct size wire for ANY length or speaker system All speaker wire sold is stranded, meaning it’s made up of a bundle of 16-60 or more very fine copper conductors. Solid wire, however, has only one conductor. In terms of audio, it’s fine and the sound quality is the same. Aluminum offers a lighter weight and lower cost than copper, so at first it may seem like a great way to replace the more expensive copper options. However, there’s a problem.inductance, AC resistance due to skin effect (to a much smaller extent), will further increase these You can use a smaller wire AWG gauge if you utilize your amp or stereo's output at over 50% to 60% power. You shouldn't spend much on home theatre surround sound and center channel speakers because they have modest power requirements. Why Stranded Speaker Wire Is Better Than Solid