iwirehouses
Senior Member
Drill through the hatch? That sounds like a pretty good idea. Then just fill the hole with caulking. Is this commonly done for grounding electrode conductors's and such?
iwire said:I have hooked up the show power for dozens of shows and been backstage at quite a few other large shows, I can not recall seeing speaker wiring larger than 14 AWG and I bet the size had more to do with long term durability for the repeated set up and break down.
dbuckley said:you just don't put this power level down cables of small CSA as you don't want to lose half the power in cable heat.
I thought this thread was about an outdoor speaker at a residential property?
I would imagine a 500 foot spool of #14 would demonstrate this immediately in an a/b comparison.
Dont skimp of conductor size for speakers.
I don't know. Looks like a pretty nice system to me, Bob.iwire said:I guess my home system will never measure up.
iwire said:In a typical residential system or in a concert system?
On the other hand, in my HT system, I use bi-wired #14 runs to the main speakers, supplied from a 300w/ch stereo amp, and #12 runs to the center, sides, and rears, from a 200w/ch 5-channel amp.dbuckley said:My outdoor speakers are all fed using weedy wire (1mm, about #17), but they are (a) not great speakers, (b) either have short cable runs or (c) use 100V line so cable length becomes effectively irrelevant.
I think my 1984 model Curtis-Mathis console television has one 4" built-in speaker.LarryFine said:On the other hand, in my HT system, I use bi-wired #14 runs to the main speakers, supplied from a 300w/ch stereo amp, and #12 runs to the center, sides, and rears, from a 200w/ch 5-channel amp.
The two 15" subs, built into the main speakers, each contain 300w amps. That's a total of 2200w. I ran a 50a, 240/120v 4-space, 8-circuit panel to the equipment stack.
LarryFine said:On the other hand, in my HT system, I use bi-wired #14 runs to the main speakers, supplied from a 300w/ch stereo amp, and #12 runs to the center, sides, and rears, from a 200w/ch 5-channel amp.
Bob, he mentioned "damping factor" which is influenced by cable resistance. There are all sort of numbers bantered around, but most modern solid state amps will have an output impedance (Z) below 0.05 ohm (think of it as an equivalent series resistance with an ideal voltage source). Ideally, the source Z driving the speaker will be less than 1/100 of the speaker Z, so an 8 ohm speaker would follow the commands of the signal better with a source Z including cable of 0.1 ohm. That leaves about 0.05 for the cable. What happens if it is 0.8, or even 8 ohms? First there is power loss in the cable, but with just reasonable wire, that isn't significant. However, with small wire, the speaker is told to move BACK by signal going to zero ... the cone flaps in the wind if the amp can't control it.iwire said:Beyond the loss of volume that small cables may introduce (is that a real problem in a home system?) what do you see as the benefit to larger cables?
I will remain in doubt unless someone can show me that the current of a speaker requires a large cable.
Jim W in Tampa said:Audio is still an AC system with varying frequency.Ohms law still applies and voltage drop is still an issue.
At my club my longest run is about 100 feet.The lost from voltage drop is almost nothing.I do agree that i could have used #18 and a increase in volume would offset it's loss.When we raise volume (voltage) we increase distortion as well.How much of a concern this is would be up to the end user.I want the best i can afford.I just happened to have plenty of 12-2 stranded available for free.Now if i was going to need to buy it then i might think of going smaller.When i find the time i will do a test at about 20 cycles and another at 20,000.Will find some number 18 to see if it was worth it.iwire said:Yes that is correct, have you attempted a VD calculation?
The current is so low you will not find much voltage drop.
But if you feel better using the 'Tim Allen' approach that more is always better knock yourself out. :smile: