2. cables
  3. 172494-166451

Can one use assymetric wire gauge for speaker cable construction?

Hello,

I am trying to build a DIY speaker cable, but while doing so I have one question that needs to be answered. I am using a cable which is essentialy made up of multuple individually insulated cables of smaller gauge.

So can I use more strands for the positive wire & lesser strands for negative wire, essentially an asymmetric gauge design. But length of both positive & negative wires will be same (and between left & right channel).

 

Can someone please help me answer this question?

 

Regards,

Saurabh

audio_phool

Showing 1 response by erik_squires

erik_squires
16,892 posts
 

Yes... but why?

 

You can bundle together into a single conductor multiple differeng gauges into  a single larger effective gauge.  You can also use 2 different effective gauges for + and - to some degree.

 

You must ensure each conductor has a safe minimum gauge for the current carrying, and this depends on the length as well as the power and speaker impedance.  You could often use 16 gauge for small HT type speakers, but I'd recommend 14 as a minimum. So long as your two conductors are at least 14 gauge you should be OK.

More to discover