Speaker wire re-sizeing

[pimpblacksante]

Hey guys I have a 236 with wetsounds pro 485's speakers on it. It was originally wired up for the defocons. Now I have the pro 485's and a 1800watt amp and it is still on the stock 16guage? wire. I have been told thicker wire will give me a big performance increase with this setup.....is this true? If so which guage wiring should I go with and how hard is it going to be to re wire the tower wires?


Thanks

[78LS2]

RE: Speaker wire re-sizeing

step up to some nice 14 gauge at least, 12 if you want to do it right. You are pushing good speakers with a nice clean amp, don't choke them with cheap / small dia wire.

rewire should be easy, as you can use the stock wires to pull the new wire through.

[pimpblacksante]

Sweet. I just ordered 50ft of 12guage wire. Didnt know how much to get so I figured if I had extra I will re do my sub wires too. Sweet! Im excited now. Now i will see if I can get my 3 noise violations in one day record bumped up to 5, haha.

[Quinner]

Look at the factory holes and grommets to be sure the 12ga will pass thru w/o a problem. You may need to drill the holes out bigger and use larger grommets. You may also need some new wire loom or shrinkwrap.

[jwhposon]

I am curious. I had Wetsounds Pro 80's installed on my SAN 2004 and I wonder if a "rookie" who just likes great loud music would will notice the difference if upgrading the wires?

[Andrew]

i'm assuming that the wetsounds are 485 watts? i don't think that 12g will make much of a difference, but u may see a better result with 14g.....
i'm a little "influenced" right now, but i don't think that 485 calls for that big of a wire. i think u'll see just as much gain out of 14g.........

[pimpblacksante]

i'm assuming that the wetsounds are 485 watts? i don't think that 12g will make much of a difference, but u may see a better result with 14g.....
i'm a little "influenced" right now, but i don't think that 485 calls for that big of a wire. i think u'll see just as much gain out of 14g..........

Actually these speakers are getting 300watts rms and some ungodly number peak. My amp right now is an 1800watt MTX, so I dont think 12g is too big of a wire (or so I have been told)

Look at the factory holes and grommets to be sure the 12ga will pass thru w/o a problem. You may need to drill the holes out bigger and use larger grommets. You may also need some new wire loom or shrinkwrap.

I went and looked at the holes and grommets and the factory wiring is way too small for the holes and grommets as it is...12g will fit in there just perfect, maybe even a little loose. I will just have to put speaker wire guard for aesthetic purposes where the wires are seen on the out side...

[Andrew]

now that i've reread my last post, it sounds kinda screwy...... i meant to say that u will notice a difference with a 14g wire compared to the current wire, but probably won't see a difference between the 14 and 12......

[jwhposon]

Thanks for the re-read because I was confused and felt stupid - smile.

[Mikeski]

I rarely find that changing wire makes a big difference. The actual rms power carried in an audio signal is a small fraction of the rated power of an amplifier. Finely stranded wire tends to carry high frequencies a little better (search eddy currents if you are curious). 16 ga is definately smaller than I would use but I would not expect to be able to hear an audible difference when you change to larger wire. The cable manufacturers have done a wonderful job of brainwashing the people that read audiophile magazines.