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Djcrunk
04-19-2012, 08:58 AM
How does gauge relate to length of cable? 25', 50',...etc? Thank you

kipperj
04-19-2012, 09:40 AM
It doesn't. Gauge has to do with the diameter or "thickness" of the cable, not the length.

DTR
04-19-2012, 09:49 AM
....But you will require a bigger gauge for longer runs. I seem to remember seeing a table or something related to this. No doubt one of the knowledgable speaker heads will chime in before I can find it

jayhwk
04-19-2012, 09:50 AM
The two are not directly related. However, when specifying what kind of cable to buy, you need to take both into account since larger gauge (larger gauge = thinner cable) cable has more resistance. If you use too thin a cable for a long run, you'll be wasting a lot of amplifier power trying to "push" the signal through the small cable. There may also be a degradation in sound quality.

The longer the cable, the smaller the gauge you need (note: smaller gauge = larger cable). I use 16 gauge only for cables less than 10 feet. 14 gauge is fine for 25', but I've standardized on 12 gauge for everything between 10 and 100 feet. If I had runs > 100 feet, I'd use 10 gauge. I personally use type SJ cable that I bought online by the reel. It's much cheaper than buying premade cables.

I also keep my amp racks as close to the speakers as possible. That way, I don't have to buy as much expensive speaker cable and worry about signal loss when I can buy cheap microphone cable and run it almost as long as I want from the mixer to the amplifiers.

Bill Fitzmaurice
04-19-2012, 09:59 AM
....But you will require a bigger gauge for longer runs. I seem to remember seeing a table or something related to this. No doubt one of the knowledgable speaker heads will chime in before I can find it
http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/speakerwireselectorassistant.swf

No matter what it says don't go over 50 feet. When you do capacitance and inductance become an issue, and larger gauge doesn't fix it.

Djcrunk
04-19-2012, 12:12 PM
thank you guys, this is very helpful.

Al Poulin
04-19-2012, 12:17 PM
Here is some good reading :

http://www.yorkville.com/default.asp?p1=6&p2=17&p_id=26

Scroll down and you will find "The speaker system - Cable issues" which features a chart that indicates power loss from a given length and gauge of a speaker wire.

Al