# Speaker wire gauge



## Zero Gauge (May 29, 2012)

What gauge should I use for speaker wire? I bought a Rockford Fosgate 0 gauge amp kit but it comes with 16 gauge speaker wire. I'm assuming I would need at least 12 gauge, or maybe even 8 gauge. My system includes a RF T1500bdcp on a 12" AA Havoc. Big 3 in 0 gauge, stock 160 amp alt and stock 70 ah battery. I'm using RF 0 gauge everywhere else. And that stuff is expensive! Appreciate any feedback.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

16 gauge is sufficient for 6' runs,12 is teoretically better then 16, do that if you must.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

for mids/tweets, 16ga is fine. for 1500watts on a sub, I might go 12ga. you are only going to run about 3ft to the sub. there wont be much loss.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

If your amp and speaker's distance are >10000M, then you will be needing 8AWG wire.... Else, 18AWG also already overkill....


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## D-Bass (Apr 27, 2012)

figure you're sending 25-40amps of current 3-5feet. 12ga should be fine.
I have two of the same amps, and I run two 8ga+ and two 8ga(-) for speaker outputs, from each amp. Do I need to, No. But why the hell not. I've got spools of it sitting here.


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## Richv72 (May 11, 2012)

Biggest 2 conductor i could find was the 10 gauge, so thats what i went with.


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

16 gauge is perfect for 99%. 12 gauge for sub duty.


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## Richv72 (May 11, 2012)

I would also say if you are ripping out your interior to run wire, it may be a good idea to run some spares in case you decide to upgrade. I will be running plenty of extra because i do not want to pull the interior out 2 times.


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## nabman (Nov 6, 2011)

For home theater use where the runs could be long the use of 14 or 12 gauge makes sense but for the wire lengths we use in a car, 16 AWG should be fine. 
Specifically with a 4 ohm load a 16 gauge wire is sufficient for runs less than 24 feet. 
I can't post links yet so I'll truncate the link address ...
See : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_wire
The amount of current 16AWG wire can handle is well over 100A (and much more for short bursts) - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge
And that is far more power than the amps we use can put out! (W = I^2.R = 100*100*4 = 40000W)

For peace of mind you could go thicker, but it will only make the install harder especially if you are routing wires into the doors.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

kyheng said:


> If your amp and speaker's distance are >10000M, then you will be needing 8AWG wire.... Else, 18AWG also already overkill....


This...



D-Bass said:


> figure you're sending 25-40amps of current 3-5feet. 12ga should be fine.
> I have two of the same amps, and I run two 8ga+ and two 8ga(-) for speaker outputs, from each amp. Do I need to, No. But why the hell not. I've got spools of it sitting here.


Um no... 












Richv72 said:


> Biggest 2 conductor i could find was the 10 gauge, so thats what i went with.


So you spent a lot of extra money for no reason is what you are telling us? 



nick650 said:


> 16 gauge is perfect for 99%. 12 gauge for sub duty.


This..


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## Richv72 (May 11, 2012)

For 1 sub on a 1500 watt amp it would be like 1500w/13v= 113 amps. 
so accordng to aarons chart 12 guage and possibly 10 guage to be safe.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

..........


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## WRX2010 (Jun 11, 2011)

:dead_horse:

If it's only 3 feet, then go get some solid copper tubing and use that if you are worried. 

Using 8 awg for speaker wire is overkill imo. do you regularly listen to your system cranked to 100 all the time? If so, you probably need to get some ear protection, but then it would sound too muffled and would require a retune. I am guessing your amp will not be sending all 1500 watts to your sub most of the time.


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## EriCCirE (Apr 14, 2010)

How about some cca speaker wire?:laugh:


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## nabman (Nov 6, 2011)

Richv72 said:


> For 1 sub on a 1500 watt amp it would be like 1500w/13v= 113 amps.
> so accordng to aarons chart 12 guage and possibly 10 guage to be safe.


With a 4 ohm coil, shouldn't the calculation be Sqrt(1500/4) = 20A? Even with a 1ohm impedance and 1600W it's only 40A.
I'm using the formula W = I^2.R where W is power in watts, I is current flow in amperes and R is resistance in ohms.


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## mitchyz250f (May 14, 2005)

Check out these calculators that can be found on:WIRE

Wire is expensive and you should only buy what you need.


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Amp outputs to speakers are AC and not DC..... So that chart does not works on this matter.....


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## legend94 (Mar 15, 2006)

Richv72 said:


> I would also say if you are ripping out your interior to run wire, it may be a good idea to run some spares in case you decide to upgrade. I will be running plenty of extra because i do not want to pull the interior out 2 times.


best point on this thread other than the :dead_horse:


if you dont need that 16 gauge wire send it my way, my sub has never know the difference


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## Richv72 (May 11, 2012)

nabman said:


> With a 4 ohm coil, shouldn't the calculation be Sqrt(1500/4) = 20A? Even with a 1ohm impedance and 1600W it's only 40A.
> I'm using the formula W = I^2.R where W is power in watts, I is current flow in amperes and R is resistance in ohms.


Good point i was thinking about just the amp output.


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