speaker wire for subwoofer

[roon_VR]

hey all,

I was just wondering, what size speaker wire should i use for my Alpine type R subwoofer? I'm only using regular flimsy speaker wire at the moment and I wanted to know if upgrading the speaker wire will make any difference?

[StoneX]

Nah, you're not likely to hear any difference. But 1-2m of 16ga or so is quite cheap, i'd do it just for peace of mind.

[the_duke]

Thats right, like stonx said. Its just one of those piece of mind things. Also looks good. But yeah , Its up to you mate.

[r_i_d_a_h]

im pretty sure thicker guage wire autally serves a real purpose other than, 'piece of mind' or 'looks good'

[StoneX]

It does serve other purposes when the smaller size isn't adequate. In this case, the smaller sized wire probably is adequate.

[r_i_d_a_h]

wel i guess it all depends on how much watts your amp id pumping out to your subwoofer

[Cobez]

If you drop into Autobarn, you can get the really thick speaker cable for about $3 a metre. I ended up buying about 10 metres. Never know when you will need extra. It's really thick chunky stuff too. Can't remember the gauge of it off the top of my head though.

[the_duke]

Actually we don't have enough information to really help this guy.

He hasn't given us his subs rated RMS power (500WMRS if it is a current model type r)
What his amp can handle?

and what cabling size he has got now?

For 500WMRS anything bigger than 18 Ga would be sufficient. There would be no audible difference the bigger he goes from there. 500WRMS isn't alot of power.

Cheers

[StoneX]

His equipment is in his signature

[the_duke]

Thanks mate, So it is. haha

Well i wouldn't bother about anything larger than 18 Ga.

Im running 1500WMRS into my sub and running 12ga cabling. but 18 would be adequate for 500wrms

[roon_VR]

Thanks guys really appreciate your help.

[kopper69]

im pretty sure thicker guage wire autally serves a real purpose other than, 'piece of mind' or 'looks good'

Only if its needed. Otherwise it just helps to reduce the size of your bank balance. The wire should only be short - a meter, two max - So it doesnt need to be as thick as the power wire for the sub. Should only cost a couple of $, you probably wont notice a difference unless you really crank it. Most store bought sub boxes only come with speaker wire inside. If Im not mistaken speakers and I assume subs run at something like 30V? (at high volumes anyway?) Some of the audio guys might be able to answer that for me, so you dont need to do your calculations for 12V?

[commsirac]

500W into/at 4 Ohms = ~ 11A rms continous. Not a huge current. Agree with ^, anything better than 18 gauge should work well with no problems. Sometimes chunkier wire has some advantages for the car, not the least of which being that the insulation ends up thicker too....just making it more durable......but harder to run under, through things.