Does Speaker Wire Size Affect Sound Quality?

The length of speaker wire size has some effect on the sound quality. The shorter your speaker wire size, the better your sound quality. On the other hand, you can say that your speaker’s sound quality is also affected by how thick your speaker wire is as well as the material. 

Before you start making buying decisions for your audio system, it is suggested that you get the best wires for your system. Your criteria for buying wires should be best quality delivery, high performance, and price affordability. 

What is in speaker wire? 

The function of speaker wires is to facilitate the speaker’s flow of electrical signals. You are the medium through the receiver and speaker. Like any other wire, the thickness and other materials are vital in making the electrical load affordable.  

As we know, speakers amplify the sound of the source device. No matter what sort of source device you’re using, whether a musical instrument, a guitar, or any common electric home theatre appliance. Wires make the sound output better in general. 

Do speaker wires Make a Significant Difference?

It is commonly understood that the function of a wire is to connect your source device to the speaker successfully. 

Let’s say you connect your guitar to your speaker. The wire is supposed to send the signals through itself and amplify the volume produced by the source device. 

To ensure maximum song quality production, you should aim for minimum electrical resistance in the speaker wire.  

Does speaker wire size affect sound quality? 

Not using speaker wires that are thicker in width or shorter in size can greatly impact your quality of sound. It would be best to be sure that your wire is the right size and thickness. 

• A wire length of 50 plus feet should possess high resistance. It tends to cause a small volume of power drop. Especially if you try to maximize the power level of the amplifier, it can also end up producing a damping factor. However, this issue is not likely to occur.  
• Having lengthy wires could also produce capacitance in the system. It means that you will have a slightly affected frequency compared to normal responsive speakers. Perhaps in most cases, it can be said that the responsiveness of a speaker depends upon individual wires.  
• Power also tends to be a major factor. It means that having a higher power means more amplification through the system. Having a lower impedance of four to two ohms in a speaker could mean an increased current. Compared to the ones with a higher impedance of 8 Ohms or more.  

Unfortunately, even if you have all the knowledge regarding the technology. You won’t be able to decide based on the length of your wire. 

There is no standard of what length of wires would produce the desired sound. However, the American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard is dependable when it comes to resistance per foot for standard wires!

What is gauge speaker wire best for sound?

18 Gauge: 

Speakers to be used in cars or at home. Producing up to 2 50W RMS power with a length of 25 ft.  

16 Gauge:

Moderate-level subwoofer with a capacity of under 255W. Able to run in long terms for cars and home stereos.  

14 Gauge:

Longer than 100ft. in size. Used for higher power applications as a two or 4-ohm subwoofer.  

When to Use Thicker Speaker Wire? 

We must say that the electrical resistance of a wire is inversely proportional to its thickness. It indicates that if we ignore the length of the speaker wire. Its thickness has a greater impact on the production of sound too. It affects how the electrical current is transmitted to the speaker. Therefore, it is a major factor in sound output and its quality.  

The inverse relation between the resistance and the thickness shows that if one variable increases, the other decreases. Hence, we can say the thicker the wire, the list resistance.

So if you’re aiming to have less resistance in this speaker, you must get a thicker wire. And keeping all other variables equal, the thicker speaker wire tends to create a better quality for your system.

When to Use Thinner Speaker Wire?

If you think that using a thin wire would impact your sound quality, it doesn’t work that way. It is likely that your system will produce the same sound as before. However, you may waste power and lose the volume of your speaker. 

People tend to use about 18 AWG wires for speaker systems in any typical scenario. This goes up to 50 watts for four ohms and 100 Watts for 8 ohms.  

How good is copper-covered aluminum speaker wire? 

Copper is by far the most prevalent wire material. This is because it conducts electrical current well and is inexpensive. It has a low level of electrical resistance. 

There is, however, one limitation to Copper. It oxidizes quickly. Metals interact with oxygen and turn into a new material during the oxidation process. Rust is another name for oxidation.   

When metals are exposed to air, they oxidize spontaneously over time. Copper material reduces the speaker wire’s ability to carry electrical current.   

This indicates that oxidation is a process that we should aim to prevent for speaker wire wires. We aim to insulate the metal wires as much as possible. This implies that having a good speaker wire will help you cover up wires properly.  

Does expensive speaker wire make any difference? 

The Copper clad aluminum (CCA) wire has gained popularity in the last few years. It serves as an alternative for copper since its prices went up last year. One of the minor things you should keep in mind while mining your wire from any shop is that no company would want you to know of these aspects.  

CCA wire has a core of aluminum while it is covered with copper plating. If we compare it to pure copper wire, it looks the same. This is what misleads customers to buy the wrong material. 

Aluminum tends to be light in weight and saves up a great deal of cost. At first, you’ll think that it is a great replacement for copper wire. However, it has a great difference in cost, which affects your price for the product. 

Final Thoughts 

Sound quality is affected by speaker wire length. The shorter the speaker wire, the better the sound quality. The thickness of the speaker wire also affects sound quality, the thicker the speaker wire, the better the sound quality. Both are due to the law of physics, which governs electrical current and resistance.   

The wire material has an impact on sound quality. Copper is the most frequent of them. A speaker wire with simple and secure termination connections that may connect readily to any electrical device is also recommended.