"Bob Engelhardt" wrote in message
...
Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:
I'm no EE, but I can't help but feel that the monster cable craze is
*somewhat* over rated.

I am an EE (well, technically I am, but I've never practiced it) and
I've never understood this craze with speaker wire size. There are only
a couple of fundamental parameters that apply: resistance, capacitance,
and inductance.

Resistance: if you deliver 100 watts (an enormance amount) to an 8 ohm
speaker, 3.5 amps will flow. Wire resistance has 2 effects: heating and
voltage drop. In 16 ga wire, the current density will be about
1ma/circ-mill. I.e., heating will be minimal. 200 feet of 16 ga wire
(100 feet each way) has a resistance of .8 ohms. Carrying 3.5 amps the
wire will have a voltage drop of 2.8 v. Putting it another way, the
wire will consume 10 watts (10%). I'm not sure how this is relevant
since voltage/power drop is just compensated for by cranking up the
volume. So 16 ga wire should more than meet the resistance requirement.

I wouldn't think that the capacitance and inductance of the wire could
be anything but negligible. And I can't see how the wire size would
have a significant effect on them even if they aren't negligible.

There is another consideration: that of the wire acting as an antenna.
This wouldn't effect the loudspeaker, but could feedback to the
amplifier. Again, I would think that wire size would not be a
consideration for this effect.

I fully intend to run stranded 10 gage THHN wires to my speaker
locations ...

Use 14 ga: it will be a lot cheaper, it will be a lot easier, and it
will be way more that necessary.

But don't take my word for it - I'm sure that this has been debated
endlessly on the "hi-fi" NG's - Google is your friend.

Bob


Thanks, Bob. I appreciate your candor and excellent information.

Unfortunately, I'm one of those guys that thinks if a little power is good,
more is better. I currently run a McIntosh 2300, rated at 300
watts/channel, and will meet specs pulling over 400. I, on occasion,
drive it that hard. I have three sets of speakers (two sets of JBL S8R's
and a Paragon) and I haven't exactly abandoned my desire for a larger
amplifier, thinking I may go to a 600 watt/channel model. Yeah, I'm
nuts. g

One of my speaker sets will be a great distance from the amplifier. As the
crow flies, perhaps only 60 feet, but as the wire runs, it's likely to be
about 120. I figure using #10 wire isn't a bad idea, considering the
amperage involved is considerable, and the run long. Please feel free to
correct me if I'm wrong. My only claim to this stuff is my love for the
gear and music, I certainly am not knowledgeable.

Considering the additional information I've provided, would you still
recommend using the #14 wire? I can't help but feel the line loss could be
minimized with the #10.

Harold