Is there such a thing? I once had some heavy gage speaker wire, I think it was 10GA, that an electrician friend gave to me. It would not fit into my 1978 JBL L100 speakers or receiver as bare wire.
Is bigger better assuming you can transition into your components?
L
Al Holland
Posted on
Most will agree that bigger is better, especially with longer length wires. 10GA is rather large. 12GA or 14GA should be all that you need. If you really want to use the 10GA then you may be able to terminate it with spade or banana connectors if you speakers will accomodate these.
John K.
Posted on
Jeff, bigger is significantly better only up to a certain point; after that it becomes a waste of money and effort in handling the thicker cable. This article and table by a well-respected veteran audio professional explains the factors involved.
If a wire is too big to easily fit a binding post, enough of the strands at the stripped 1/2" end can simply be trimmed off to make it fit(e.g. the 10ga wire end could have been trimmed down to about 16ga size). The smaller 1/2" end doesn't significantly increase the resistance of the entire cable length.
Also keep in mind that there's more to it than the gauge (thickness) of the wire. Lower frequencies transmit throughout the wire. Higher frequencies tend to ride on the outside of the wire. That's why speaker wire is made of a number of thin strands (not to mention it's more flexible). So don't just go out and buy 10 gauge electrical wire.