Speaker Audiophile Explained

By Dan Mason

AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, a standard system of measurement of cross-sectional area of a wire. This is used to determine how much current the wire can handle. AWG caused much confusion for consumers, as standards can be a bit difficult to understand. It is more than 12 AWG 14 AWG or vice versa? Why one cable was thicker than the others even though they had identical AWG? AWG is a good indicator of quality? Are AWG problem, and if so, how?

These are all good questions, and we’ll get there soon. First, let’s briefly touch on how to actually AWG calculated.

AWG how is it calculated ?

If the cable is a solid circular wire, the AWG is easy to calculate. Take the area (pi x radius squared) to obtain cross-sectional area, and look up the AWG diagram (example below) to work outside the AWG. If the cable has a few strands, similar operations conducted to work out the cross-sectional area of each strand, which then simply multiplied by the number of strings to get a total AWG. But be careful when comparing this figure as an AWG is not linear. For each additional 3 AWG, it is half of the cross-sectional area. So 9 AWG is about half of the 6 AWG, the other half of the 3 AWG. So is the quadruple thickness of 3 AWG AWG 9. Click Here ! or …
How AWG affect the electrical properties?

You must have seen now that the smaller the AWG, the larger cable. Larger cable will have less DC resistance, which translates into less power loss. For applications to home theater, this is certainly true so far. A rule of thumb is that for smaller speakers, cables of about 17 AWG is sufficient, whereas for larger speakers anything up to 12 AWG or more will give good results.

Why are some of the same AWG wires look different in thickness?

Two factors dominate here. First, only the internal conductor AWG account. Therefore, the cable producers can easily increase the thickness of the plastic jacket to make the cable look more thick. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because until the point of reducing the increase in the thickness of the jacket properties other unwanted. Just make sure that you are not comparing them with the vision.

Another factor why the same two AWG cable may look different in thickness are designed the way an internal strands. Some wires have more strands of thin, while the other strand thicker. Depending on the size and placement of these strands, the cable can be made to look thinner or thicker than they are.

AWG is a good indicator of quality?

In short, no. AWG large (small cable) may be too small for a particular application (for example, you may not use 24 AWG cable to run the front speakers). However, AWG is a measure of quantity, not quality. You must ensure that all your speaker cables at least the purity OFC.

AWG Is it important? How so?

AWG must be important. You need to ensure that the cable you use is sufficient to handle the power you will put through them. In addition, if you do long term, then the thickness will be even more necessary. However, some people are stuck too much in the AWG and forget the fact that once a sufficient thickness is achieved, other factors that come into play. This then becomes more important to “audiophile” feature to solve, such as using high quality materials such as silver conductor or improved design.

Conclusion

Wire gauge clear indicator of good fundamentals of how a cable is sufficient for your application. However, that does not mean the assessment on the quality, or specifications to view exclusively. As a general rule, after approximately 11-12 AWG, the thickness becomes much less of the factor, while for most of the hi-fi applications will be a minimum 18-19 AWG cable to be used.