Speaker wire gauge (thickness)

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Anyone ever hear that higher frequency drivers should be wired with thinner wire because high frequencies actually play better through thin wire?

It sounds bizarre to me, but the local shop owner was telling me this today. The shop wired my CDT midbass with 12-gauge and my tweeter with 16 (on purpose).

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[Bake 10+ year member]

That has to be among the stupidest statements I have ever heard in car audio. And I have been doing this for a long time

 

[Hoot 10+ year member]

Sounds dumb to me, too. Called it the "skin effect." Anyone ever heard of that?

 

[KaeZoo 10+ year member]

It's one of those actual Physics concepts that should never ever be explained to a Marketing person. It's not something that will make a difference to an audio signal.

 

[DIPayton 10+ year member]

sounds dumb to me... but I don't think it will make a big difference for you.

 

[Lakota 5,000+ posts]

I don't believe it. There's less resistance with a larger guage of wire so I don't get why smaller would be better for higher frequencies.

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Anyone ever hear that higher frequency drivers should be wired with thinner wire because high frequencies actually play better through thin wire?

What they are probably referring to is something called Skin Effect, which is an actual physics concept and something that occurs in higher frequencies.......like 100khz. Nothing that affects the audible bandwidth, and not something you need to worry about in audio.

 

[iagrdshaka 5,000+ posts]

omg that shop is retarded

 

[JoseMCeee 10+ year member]

well wiring regular speakers with anything bigger than 16 is kinda over kill anyways. But there would be no difference if you wired it with it bigger. Its just pointless. Shops are so ghey with their theories and bs. Money makes people fake.

 

[thch 10+ year member]

so skin effect? larger wire still have larger surface area, less skin effect, less resistance, less inductance. if wire were to matter, i'd say smaller wire would be worse.

i think i'll add this to my "shop litmus test". a test i've made up that is designed to see how many myths a shop will push.

 

[PV Audio 5,000+ posts]

dude you are fine. what he said is true, but those frequencies you can't even hear. go back and smack him for me.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

wow what people will say nowadays.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

its all true....

 

[thch 10+ year member]

its all true....

so skin effect? larger wire still have larger surface area, less skin effect, less resistance, less inductance. if wire were to matter, i'd say smaller wire would be worse.

i'm saying false.

 

[flakko 5,000+ posts]

its okay dont worry, i have 16 gauge goin to my subs