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Cable thickness

535 views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  hetfield80 
#1 ·
Just moved from an old HTIB to an AVR+speakers (5.1). The question is around wiring - more specifically, around wire thickness.
I already have wires laid behind the walls from the old HTIB. Those leading to the front & center are 1.5 mm.sq. (AWG 16). Those leading to the rear speakers are thinner (no labeling, but I would estimate AWG 18, so around 1 sq.mm.).
The AVR can put out 125W per channel and the speakers are rated for 150W continuous (50-300W variable) output. Speakers are 8 Ohm and the AVR recommends 6-16 Ohm.
The cable length to the front speakers is ~15 meters (50 feet), the rears are much closer (3-4m / 10-12 feet).

The big question is: can I use the existing cables (particularly for the front/center, I could redo the wiring for the rears) without fear of frying either the AVR or the speakers (or melting the wires)? As you can tell, I am a total newbie when it comes to this.

Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I hate coming back and admitting my mistakes. Got a closer look at the installed cables and they are AWG 22.
It appears that I had extended the longer wires as I couldn't get them to the desired length and as such ended up thinking they are thicker. Today I wanted to do the install and figured out at source that the wires are actually thinner.

Still safe to wire with AWG 22 (8 Ohm / 100W speakers, 125W per channel from the AVR, maximum length is about 50 feet/15 meters)?
 
#8 ·
Dang, 22 ga. is telephone wire. I like 14 ga. also. If You start using bigger stuff you may have trouble getting it to fit many connectors.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the reply. Back to the shop I guess.
The secondary trouble is that the twist connectors on the AVR seem to have a hard time taking 2.5 sq.mm. wire (closest US equivalent to that would be AWG 13). I think I will go for 1.5 sq.mm (between AWG 15 and AWG 16) and be done with it.
 
#14 ·
So - happy to report the complex task of removing the plastic covers, setting banana plugs on the 2.5 sq. mm. and inserting the wires into the newly-discovered holes has been successfully completed on time and within budget.
The receiver speaker tuning does report a "phase error" on FL speaker for unknown reasons; it does sound fine and I checked the wiring to ensure it is not cross-linked, so I will just leave it as it is.
Next / last project item: remove the wall panels, remove the old 22 AWG cables, lay the 13 AWG ones, install panels back. Happy Sunday!
 
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