Does the gauge of the speaker wire matter?

CableGiant offers in-wall speaker wire in 12, 14, and 14 gauge options. A speaker cable's overall thickness is measured by the gauge. The lower the gauge number means the thicker the speaker wire. The thicker the gauge of cable means less interference and less resistance for a premium sound quality. Basically the thicker the speaker wire means you have a bigger pipe to deliver the sound signal. We recommend that for home audio you do not use any speaker wire smaller than 16 gauge. The 16 gauge speaker wire is the most common cable used but many professional installers use 14 gauge and 12 gauge speaker wire for longer cable runs, higher amperage audio speakers, or for subwoofers.

How long can I run speaker cable before I have an issue?

The longer the speaker wire runs you have the thicker the gauge of cable you will need. As you’re your signal runs over the cable there is resistance. So your signal weakens as it travels from your speaker to your amplifier. There are many factors that affect your signal such as the quality or gauge of the speaker cable being used, types of speakers, and types of amplifiers being used. As a rule of thumb CableGiant recommends that with an 8 ohm load any speaker runs between 20 to 80 feet you should run 16 gauge speaker cable, any runs between 80 and 200 feet you should run 14 gauge cable, and any cable runs over 200 feet you should use 12 gauge speaker wire. Again, it all depends on the equipment being used. But for your standard Home Theater system you cannot lose if you stick with 14 or 16 gauge speaker wire.

Are there certifications for speaker cables?

When you're running wire inside your walls, it's important that you use speaker wire that's approved for in-wall runs. This cable's CL3 certification means it passed safety tests administered by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL). The UL looks at heat generated from current flowing through wire, how quickly the cable will catch and spread fire when exposed to flame, and the wire's susceptibility to damage from external stresses. The bottom line is that if your speaker wire does not have any certifications most likely it is not manufactures by a quality company.

Does the strand count matter in speaker wire?

CableGiant has the audio cable with 41, 65, and 105 strand count options. The higher number of strands used to produce the gauge of the cable the better sound you will have. Speaker cable typically consists of many small wires twisted together. Because electrons flow along the surface area of the copper wire, more surface area means less signal loss. And more strands means more surface area. If you cut open a speaker cable you can actually count the number of small strands that make up that gauge of cable. We recommend not using any audio cable that has less than a 41 strand count. Many companies try to sell speaker cable with the less amount of strands possible because it costs less to manufacture. The lower the strand means less surface area and less flexibility during installation.

What is Oxygen Free Copper vs. Standard Copper Speaker Wire?

There are numerous materials used to build speaker cables from copper to oxygen-free copper (OFC) to silver. There is not a significant difference in sound quality between speaker cables made with Oxygen-free copper and speaker cables made with standard copper. The difference is oxygen-free copper prevents corrosion which over time will deteriorate the cable and eventually lower conductivity. So the better the materials used to build the speaker wire the longer you will have great quality sound performance.