Tip # 27: Speaker Cables - Does Gauge Matter?

[Fiftyfifty]

The Pros & Cons​

Where thicker cables help:
• Lower resistance over longer runs
• Better suited for low-impedance speakers or speakers with impedance dips
• Helps preserve amplifier control and damping, especially with certain amp–speaker combinations

Where they may not be necessary:
• Less flexible and harder to route
• They tend to be more expensive
• In short runs with easy speaker loads, the benefits are often negligible

Do they affect tone?:
Cable gauge isn’t really a tone control. Its primary role is electrical. Many listeners do notice tonal changes when changing cable gauge, and when that happens, it’s usually because the added or reduced resistance is compensating for some other imbalance in the setup.

Do share your thoughts

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[yogibear]

I am all in for thicker cables as long as they are flexible and if they are OFC, it's an icing on the cake. I tend to use the same cables inside the speaker cabinets as well for complete wiring of the passive networks and drivers.

Ofcourse all this, while maintaining the sanity wrt thickness and not getting maniac about it.

 

[Hari Iyer]

Since 2020 i have been using mil spec silver plated copper wire as my speaker cable. They are assembled as 12awg + 12awg + 14awg lightly twisted for one leg. Termination is with cardas spades. The net Guage is 9awg. Wire # m22759/11/12

In-between these 5 years I have tried Belden 12awgx2 and Eurocable 12awgx2 but they did not last for more than an hour. I have yet to come across a speaker cable that can outperform the mil spec cables.