where can I get 6 gauge speaker wire?

[InfinityBeats]

I recently installed a nice set up, but my brother said I need to use 6 awg (gauge) speaker wire for the subs

So I'm not sure where I can buy it, whether online or in store (my preferred choice).

My setup is as follows:

2 6.5" power acoustic kickers

(Attached to crossovers with 2" power acoustic tweeters)

2 6x9 5 way Kenwoods

All the above is hooked up to my 1000W autotek 4 channel amp

And

2 12" infinity reference series subs hooked up to my 1600W audiobahn mono amp

So I'm trying to find 6 gauge speaker wire for the subs to the mono amp. Any ideas for online places to buy? Or local places in Arizona.

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[Dub7sonoma Premium Member]

You will be fine with 12 or 14 gauge, maybe even 16 gauge

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

6 awg would be power/ground.

Not sure what you mean by "1600 watt Audiobahn", but the A8000 series was pretty popular. Only uses a pair of 30A fuses. Probably not going to do much more than 500w rms. 12 awg would be fine.

 

[los33 10+ year member]

If your trying to go as big as possible 8 awg will be the only largest available that will or should fit good enough in any amp.

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

6 gauge is power wire, not speaker wire. You are not throwing 2000-4000 watts at each sub, no reason to buy that big of a wire for such purpose.

 

[InfinityBeats]

It is the audiobahn A8000t model. And it has 800 rms at 2 ohms.

 

I guess my other question would be, would it be useful to use thicker wire for speaker wire?

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

It is the audiobahn A8000t model. And it has 800 rms at 2 ohms. 

I guess my other question would be, would it be useful to use thicker wire for speaker wire?

nope. severe diminishing returns. Power wire, its best to make it as big as possible. Speaker wire, you are just wasting money getting anything bigger then 12 gauge for 800 rms.

 

[Umbra]

It is the audiobahn A8000t model. And it has 800 rms at 2 ohms. 

I guess my other question would be, would it be useful to use thicker wire for speaker wire?

No.

16 gauge is good up to 12ft at two ohms. I doubt your subs are 12ft from your amp, regardless of the vehicle.

Here's a table for reference. The formatting might be iffy.

Wire size 2 Ω load 4 Ω load 6 Ω load 8 Ω load

22 AWG (0.326 mm2) 3 ft (0.9 m) 6 ft (1.8 m) 9 ft (2.7 m) 12 ft (3.6 m)

20 AWG (0.518 mm2) 5 ft (1.5 m) 10 ft (3 m) 15 ft (4.5 m) 20 ft (6 m)

18 AWG (0.823 mm2) 8 ft (2.4 m) 16 ft (4.9 m) 24 ft (7.3 m) 32 ft (9.7 m)

16 AWG (1.31 mm2) 12 ft (3.6 m) 24 ft (7.3 m) 36 ft (11 m) 48 ft (15 m)

14 AWG (2.08 mm2) 20 ft (6.1 m) 40 ft (12 m) 60 ft (18 m)* 80 ft (24 m)*

12 AWG (3.31 mm2) 30 ft (9.1 m) 60 ft (18 m)* 90 ft (27 m)* 120 ft (36 m)*

10 AWG (5.26 mm2) 50 ft (15 m) 100 ft (30 m)* 150 ft (46 m)* 200 ft (61 m)*

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

How can a chart like that even exist w/o accounting for amplifier power - specifically current?

22 awg, at 800w and 2 ohms - would be passing 20A and dropping 1.9v at 3'. You wouldn't want to use 22 awg for anything but stock HU power.

Nothing smaller than 16 awg for that amp. Even with only 500w at 2 ohms you'd still have up to 15A which is a lot for 16 awg. However, given the dynamic nature of audio power, it should work fine.

Going larger than 16 wouldn't help anything, but certainly wouldn't hurt.

I just ran 12 awg for my component speakers, but it was cheap, and since I was taking the time to do it I figured...why not?

 

[Umbra]

How can a chart like that even exist w/o accounting for amplifier power - specifically current?
22 awg, at 800w and 2 ohms - would be passing 20A and dropping 1.9v at 3'. You wouldn't want to use 22 awg for anything but stock HU power.

Nothing smaller than 16 awg for that amp. Even with only 500w at 2 ohms you'd still have up to 15A which is a lot for 16 awg. However, given the dynamic nature of audio power, it should work fine.

Going larger than 16 wouldn't help anything, but certainly wouldn't hurt.

I just ran 12 awg for my component speakers, but it was cheap, and since I was taking the time to do it I figured...why not?

You're right. I realized I failed to clarify what the chart actually detailed, but CA went down for a bit last night and I said "screw it" and went to bed. The chart lists the maximum length you can use before the impedance of the copper wire exceeds 5% of the impedance of the load. Basically it's a chart saying if you go over this length, the signal will begin to degrade the farther you go. This doesn't begin to touch upon power handling. But the general concensus in this thread is that 16 gauge is fine. 14 or 12 couldn't hurt, but isn't necessary.