16ga or 18ga, speaker wire?

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

im gonna be amping all 4 channels with 40w each. it'll be approxmiately 15-17ft long from the trunk connected to the HU harness.

should i go with 16ga or 18ga?

*price isnt an issue for me at this point, im willing to spend more if neccesary*

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[Jdizzle 10+ year member]

well i run all 12 gauge wire to my alpines and memphis's even my tweeters....

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I'd go for the happy middle and run 14awg.

 

[vladd 10+ year member]

i say if price isn't an issue, go 12, why not?

 

[bjfish11 5,000+ posts]

get ya some of this, its bad, i got a little to check it out.

http://knukonceptz.com/productDetail.cfm?prodID=KAR08BLS

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

wouldnt 8/12ga be overkill for only 40wrms?

im looking for 14, but its rare to find 14ga in variety colors. (was thinking about going white/grey/green/purple to match up the HU harness)

 

[DiamondFanatic 10+ year member]

I'd go for the happy middle and run 14awg.

I agree on the 14 guage, I have no idea why you would run 12 guage when you only have 40 watts going to each channel. As far as color coding, I color code my wire with tape to tell which speaker is which .

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

How are you amping the speakers if they're hooked up to the head unit's wiring harness?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

And please don't say internal amplifier...

 

[Dozy_production 10+ year member]

have 18 gauge to my 100 watt a speaker. nothing is melting yet.

 

[M@nJo 10+ year member]

How are you amping the speakers if they're hooked up to the head unit's wiring harness?
//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

And please don't say internal amplifier...

im gonna snip off the speaker wires behind the HU and crimp on the speaker wire thats comming from the external amp instead.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

That works, but you might be able to notice a difference in interference rejection by running new wire through the doors.

I wouldn't trust the stock wiring too much, I doubt it's over 18awg.