#18AWG anywhere inside a cabinet.
Including tweeters.
FWIW I wind my own voice coils so I face this reality check every day: my woofers (actually Guitar/Bass speakers) use 15 meters of 0.20mm diameter so AWG32 😲 round copper enamelled wire for a DCR of around 6.5-7 ohm, corresponding to 8 ohm nominal impedance.
So even if I used 32awg wire, given its average length inside a cabinet would be around 1 meter (2 x 50 cm wires, one per terminal), it would only add 1/15th of the DCR already present there or 7%
But of course any wire used is way thicker than that, just for practical reasons, so ....
AWG 18 - 20 -22?
Already way more than enough.
Use as thick as practical but nothing tearing crimped terminals away, too thick to fit on terminals, etc.
Jm2c
Including tweeters.
FWIW I wind my own voice coils so I face this reality check every day: my woofers (actually Guitar/Bass speakers) use 15 meters of 0.20mm diameter so AWG32 😲 round copper enamelled wire for a DCR of around 6.5-7 ohm, corresponding to 8 ohm nominal impedance.
So even if I used 32awg wire, given its average length inside a cabinet would be around 1 meter (2 x 50 cm wires, one per terminal), it would only add 1/15th of the DCR already present there or 7%
But of course any wire used is way thicker than that, just for practical reasons, so ....
AWG 18 - 20 -22?
Already way more than enough.
Use as thick as practical but nothing tearing crimped terminals away, too thick to fit on terminals, etc.
Jm2c
16 AWG between crossover and drive units remains unchanged.
What about using 11 to 12 AWG for the crossover input?
Thanks 🙏
Not necessary, just use 16awg if that's what you have. You're building speakers, not a Space Shuttle. 😉
jeff
Well, here in europe, in wall cable in house is almost always solid core. As well for power as for data. Don't think you can find anything else. Multi strand is only allowed to connect movable appliances.
And when you talk about "skin depth", there is no difference between solid core and multi core UNLESS you are using Litz wire where each strand is insulated form the other strands. And I have never seen Litz used for anything else than HF circuits in old radios.
Yeah they tried aluminum for house wiring here back in the late 60's & early 70's. Obviously, it didn't last long. I've seen a couple of houses in this neighborhood completely gutted right back to the studs to get rid of the aluminum wire.
jeff
jeff
I use what I've got in my salvage bins.
What I salvage are old general purpose power leads, so anything from 0.75mm<2 wire to 1.5mm<2 and 2.5mm<2 wire but I now tend to use lighter /smaller stuff for tweeters because it takes less heat to solder or to use the tiny telecom crimp fittings but while it may not be needed I do tend to use bigger wire from the input terminal to the crossover board "Just Because" and use the thicker wire for woofers and subwoofers and the smaller gauges for the midrange and again "Just Because" but the thinner wire is harder to strip than the bigger stuff and the small gauge wire is more fragile when stripping
What I salvage are old general purpose power leads, so anything from 0.75mm<2 wire to 1.5mm<2 and 2.5mm<2 wire but I now tend to use lighter /smaller stuff for tweeters because it takes less heat to solder or to use the tiny telecom crimp fittings but while it may not be needed I do tend to use bigger wire from the input terminal to the crossover board "Just Because" and use the thicker wire for woofers and subwoofers and the smaller gauges for the midrange and again "Just Because" but the thinner wire is harder to strip than the bigger stuff and the small gauge wire is more fragile when stripping
I would be a bit more careful with sweeping comments on US building codes and practices, they are state and/ or local, not federal. To my knowledge the NEC still does not specifically outlaw alu wiring in houses but this may very well be amended in some jurisdictions like fi Chicago or NY City.
I used to practice architecture in California and have personally lived in a house with alu wiring in Los Angeles built less than 50 years ago.
Here’s an example of a current local code permitting the use of alu wiring;
https://www.codepublishing.com/CA/LakeElsinore/html/LakeElsinore15/LakeElsinore1538.html
And yes, alu wiring sucks, corrodes badly next to the ocean and gets hot.
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Yes. If it is for small speakers, I also use 1.5mm2 / 16AWG too :
It is for larger speakers ( 8", 10", 12") that I shift for 2.5mm2 / 14AWG
T
So what wire size would you choose between the input of passive crossover and binding posts? 16 AWG or 11awg or 9 awg?
I'm updating and modifying an old Tannoy 3 ways speaker and the stock wire are 6 x Van Den Hul 16 AWG between crossover and drive units.
Therefore, I stick with something similar to that.
Well if it is a modest enclosure (my 222L = 7" Woofer), let's say 1.5mm2 / 16AWG. If it's for a large one (my 375L = 12" Woofer), I'll choose 2.5mm2 / 14AWG.
I'll second JMFahey about the practical aspect, which is as important :
T
If y'all are really worried about this rudimentary problem that hasn't been a real issue for decades...why don't you just do the mathematics?
Therein one will find all the answers.
Too large is wasteful and unnecessary...too small is wasteful and inadequate.
Mike
Therein one will find all the answers.
Too large is wasteful and unnecessary...too small is wasteful and inadequate.
Mike
There seem to be two issues being considered. Some of us think about the resistance, but since it can be corrected anyway it’s not so big of an issue.
The other is current rating of the cable, which is rarely an issue either (if in doubt, scope your speaker terminals while you listen, it’s quite educational). But in any case, smaller speakers can use more than larger ones since they are often less efficient.
The other is current rating of the cable, which is rarely an issue either (if in doubt, scope your speaker terminals while you listen, it’s quite educational). But in any case, smaller speakers can use more than larger ones since they are often less efficient.