What gauge for speaker wire??

What gauge speaker wire do I need?

• I am looking to run some speaker cable through my unfinished basement. I will need 35 ft long cables for a couple of Technics SB-A10 speakers. What gauge of cable will I need? How is the gauge calculated? How much noise should I expect with a 35 ft long cable? Impedance: 8 ohm Input power: 200 W Crossover frequency: 3000 Hz–6000 Hz Output sound pressure level: 91 dB/W (at/a 1 m) Woofer cone type: 25 cm (10") Midrange cone type, ferrofluid: 10 cm (4") Tweeter, cone type, ferrofluid: 5.5 cm (2 - 1/8") Dimensions (W x H x D): 360 x 733 x 265

• Answer:

  The most important aspect of speaker wire is resistance. There is a ton of junk-science and stupid audiophile marketing claims that will try to confuse you and make you spend absurd amounts of money, but don't be fooled. Wikipedia actually has a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_wire#Resistance on it: Resistance is by far the most important specification of speaker wire. Low-resistance speaker wire allows more of the amplifier's power to energize the loudspeaker's voice coil. The shorter the cable and the greater the conductor's cross-sectional area, the lower its resistance. Depending on the hearing ability of the listener, this resistance begins to have an audible effect when the resistance exceeds 5% of the speaker's impedance. They also have a chart: for 35' at 8Ω, you're good with 18 or 16AWG. All you need is basic stranded cable. Don't pay extra for fancy brands, or "oxygen-free" or "hand woven by the dalai lama" or whatever (unless you have the money to burn and really way to, I guess) as there's really no difference -- you can use lamp cord, if you want. In proper tests, the best audiophiles http://consumerist.com/2008/03/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables.html -- and if you can, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-end_audio_cable#Quality_debate (sorry, a bit OT from your question, but people that believe in this nonsense really piss me off). For in-wall applications, you should get wire rated for in-walls - which basically boils down to fumes that the wire gives off in a fire. There's a good article on http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/understanding-in-wall-speaker-video-and-audio-cable-ratings. In short, in a 1-2 family dwelling, any cable with the following ratings is suitable for in-wall: CM, CMP, CMR, CMG, CL2*, CL3*.