Wiring

[BigED]

If I run 12 gauge wire from my amp to the crossover, then 16 gauge wire from the crossover to each speaker, did I defeat the purpose of using 12 gauge wire in the first place?

ie: if water through a pipe runs like this...

thick pipe ---> thin pipe ---> thick pipe

then there was no purpose of the thick pipe (the water will only go as fast as the thin pipe will allow and it might as well all be thin)

Is this true for wire? or does wire not work this way?

If you run
thick wire ---> thin wire ---> thick wire, then is the entire link only as good as the thin wire?

Then if the connectors that connect the wire to the amp are thinner than the wire doesn't that screw it up too?


OR does it work like this.....

Energy (Lost as Heat) and signal quality are constantly degrading as it goes through wire, therefore a link made of 90% thick wire and 10% thin is better than 100% thin.

Also, I have gold plated connecting screws on my amp. Is there a point in buying gold plated connecting ends for the wire? What does it do? If you say the connection is better, than what about the connection between the wire and the connecter end - the wire isn't gold.

as in....
Gold Amp Screw ---> Gold Connector on Wire ---> Wire(Not Gold plated) ---What would be the point. (I'm not cheap - I just don't have any gold plated connectors and don't want to have to go to the store if it won't make a difference.

[Justin96Bird]

it is true for wire, but speakers really don't need all that huge wire like car stereo shops sell, it's a marketing gimick and also for looks. Unless you just really want your system to look uniform i wouldn't worry about it.

[Brian Dieckman]

:rolleyes: Those shops will do anything to sell speaker wire. "it's oxygen free, 5000 strand superconducting copper alloy, and if you shine a light on it, there's less resistance"

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Use the minimum size to do the job with the voltage you expect to get from your amps. For a pair of seperates, I use 14ga matrixed (full range, that is not crossed over) and 16ga zones (seperated, that is not matrixed) up to 200 watts, depending on the distance I need to run.

P.S. gold plated speaker wire connectors will only help if you have corosion problems.

-Brian