what size speaker wire??????

ratking20

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 20, 2010
Messages
193
i have 2 pair of alpine 6.5 coaxials and plan on running new speaker wire. what size speaker wire should i run. i am not planning on running an amp. not right now at least?
 

LippCJ7

Vice Admiral
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Sep 20, 2010
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5,431
Re: what size speaker wire??????

16 gauge is fine for your application, if you choose to run an amp then you may want to go bigger at that point...
 

ChampionShip

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Mar 18, 2010
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202
Re: what size speaker wire??????

16 gauge is fine for your application, if you choose to run an amp then you may want to go bigger at that point...

What he said, but it if you have a heavier guage laying around (18 or so) you can use it- basically you can't really overkill speaker wires (within reason).
 

Xesvuli420

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Sep 20, 2009
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Re: what size speaker wire??????

What he said, but it if you have a heavier guage laying around (18 or so) you can use it- basically you can't really overkill speaker wires (within reason).

18ga is actually bigger. The larger the wire, the smaller the gauge... Just like with earrings!

However both of those guys are correct. Its NOT going to matter. Use 20ga, 18ga, 16ga, 14ga. Powering 6.5s wont even overload even the smaller 20ga. As a average, 16ga is the norm. You can run 6.5s, 6x9s, 10s, 12s, 15s, etc! Amp'd or not! The only time gauge is a concern is when your choosing your Pos and Neg leads that supply your Amp. Then you would want to go "Big"

As a comparison, in my car, I have a 1000watt Alpine amp powering 2 Infinity 12s with 16ga SPEAKER wire. In my boat, I have no amp, with 2 6x9s, and 2 6.5s, both coming strait from the radio with 16ga SPEAKER wire. Actually the only time I've seen smaller wire used was with stock vehicle speakers. I've personally seen both 20ga, and 18ga used.

Do yourself a favor, get a roll of 16 gauge speaker wire from ebay, walmart, where ever, and wire til your little heart is content. If you ever wire any other speakers, you can use the same wire no matter if its Amp'd or not, or for small, med, or friggin huge speakers.

As a note... Although it will work fine, I suggest using actual speaker wire. Any type wire will work, but speaker wire does supposedly have its advantages (although very few), PLUS it looks better being clear and all.

Good luck!
 

ratking20

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jul 20, 2010
Messages
193
Re: what size speaker wire??????

is buying marine speaker wire a waste of money?
 

Xesvuli420

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Sep 20, 2009
Messages
144
Re: what size speaker wire??????

depends on how anal you are. In a perfect world, yes buy marine EVERYTHING. will it make a difference, no not really. Personally I use regular everything. Regular hydralic fluid, regular oil, regular car radio. regular wires, etc. If I have a choice I dont fork out the extra cash to get marine products. Is it because I'm cheap, lord no, its because if it has the word marine on it, normally its more than half the price extra. 9 times out of 10, Marine grade is not worth the cost. In your situation, I wouldn't think twice about regular speaker wire... I didn't even know they made a Marine grade wire lol

But if you do buy the marine wire, you may also like this...
http://mediahora.wordpress.com/2008/01/10/dvd-rewinder/
Its a real product, sold everyday. Of course I'm joking in saying you may like it, but my point is sometimes stuff is bought thats not really needed.
 

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: what size speaker wire??????

What he said, but it if you have a heavier guage laying around (18 or so) you can use it- basically you can't really overkill speaker wires (within reason).

18ga is actually bigger.
Bass ackwards. the higher the number, the smaller the wire. INO, 18 gauge or even 20 gauge would be fine.

is buying marine speaker wire a waste of money?
If you boat in salt water and/or the wire will be exposed, marine-grade wire would be a good idea. Otherwise it's not really necessary in this application, IMO. My boat has the original 20 gauge regular speaker wire, and it is in great shape after 23 years except where a previous owner hacked the wiring and didn't seal it properly. I used regular 18 gauge speaker wire when I changed the stereo and added additional speakers, but I used the original wiring (after fixing the hacks) for the new speakers in the original spots.
 

Cruzomatic

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Aug 30, 2005
Messages
78
Re: what size speaker wire??????

I used marine grade 16ga wire for my boat/speaker install. Got it from Amazon. Works pefect thus far.
 
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