Speaker Cable Issue

[Briguy90]

I am looking to replace some speaker cable for my summer gig. We have some practical speaker lines that fun around 100ft from the amps to the stage. We are using home speaker cable probably 14/18Awg. I am looking for recommendations for speaker cable and wondering if updating to a lower gauge (12awg) will give us a cleaner sound for such low end speakers. Our budget is very small, looking to spend around $80 for a good sized spool. I am used to using GLS Audio Cable, but I am afraid that may be to expensive.

Speakers:
JBL Control 28
JBL Control 25

Biggest Questions:
1. Will a lower gauge cable (12 awg) really give me a better sound quality for the speakers we are using?
2. Do you have a recommendation for a high end cable for a decent price? Black jacket or cable preferable.
3. Does a Jacket needed for insolation?

 

[JD]

If you are running #18 then you are having a lot of loss going on. This means the amps have to push harder and do not have as much headroom as wattage is being turned into heat as compared to cone movement. Also, amplifiers correct speaker cone movement by reading the voltage the voice coil is producing and creating an error correction. This is know as "damping factor" as it reduces cone over-throw and therefore damps the cone motion. So, you will get more output and less distortion by using heavy gauge wire. If you are only running the system at a small fraction of it's capacity, the difference may not be noticeable. If you are running it near capacity, the difference may be dramatic.
Problem- good quality wire is not cheap. HOWEVER, "good quality" usually has to do with flexibility and durability. If your speakers are not being moved around and you need a cheap way of doing this, you could simply pick up a roll of 12 awg Romex at home depot. As much as audiophiles will fuss about "the perfect wire", I would challenge them to a blind A-B test on Romex compared to some of the $4 per foot speaker lines I have seen advertised.

 

[BillESC]

12-2 speaker should run you under $ .60 per foot.

 

[TJCornish]

I am looking to replace some speaker cable for my summer gig. We have some practical speaker lines that fun around 100ft from the amps to the stage. We are using home speaker cable probably 14/18Awg. I am looking for recommendations for speaker cable and wondering if updating to a lower gauge (12awg) will give us a cleaner sound for such low end speakers. Our budget is very small, looking to spend around $80 for a good sized spool. I am used to using GLS Audio Cable, but I am afraid that may be to expensive.

Speakers:
JBL Control 28
JBL Control 25

Biggest Questions:
1. Will a lower gauge cable (12 awg) really give me a better sound quality for the speakers we are using?
2. Do you have a recommendation for a high end cable for a decent price? Black jacket or cable preferable.
3. Does a Jacket needed for insolation?

What is the problem you're actually having now? Even 200' round trip of #18 wire is 1.25Ω, so with an 8Ω load, you're only wasting about 13% of your power, compared to about a 4% loss for #12. For speakers as small as you're using, that shouldn't be material. If it's #14 you're only losing about 6%.

Damping factor is a red herring. It mattered back in the tube amp days, but doesn't today - especially for something as incidental as effects speakers. Touring systems routinely run a couple thousand watts 100'+ on #12 wire with minimal, if any perceptible loss of quality.

If you're actually having a sound quality problem, having someone out to do some tuning work on your system will be a better use of your money, and/or replacing your speakers, which are fairly low-end.

RE speaker wire type - copper is copper in this situation, but the wire type probably matters for your building code. Depending on installation method and location, it should either be THHN in conduit, plenum-rated wire if it passes through a plenum space, or at least installation-grade stranded wire. SO cord and zip cord are probably not acceptable.

 

[Dionysus]

I am wondering exactly what problems you are having, and also what amplifier you are using (not listed). Amplifier selection being much more important with given speakers over wiring. Chances are the bulk of your problems are not in the wire (minus not being "twisted" as this helps reject interference, which of course is less of a problem with amplified signals, but it does still exist).

That said I never use less than #12 AWG wire for speaker likes when I can help it, for the typical reasons. Then again sometimes you NEED #12, and its just better to have nothing smaller for speaker wire.

 

[AlexDonkle]

Damping factor is a red herring. It mattered back in the tube amp days, but doesn't today - especially for something as incidental as effects speakers. Touring systems routinely run a couple thousand watts 100'+ on #12 wire with minimal, if any perceptible loss of quality.

Audio amplifier's damping power doesn't really matter today, but for loudspeaker wire gauge it certainly still applies for subs and/or larger low frequency drivers. 100' with #12 is still a Damping Factor above 20 which that meets the typical guidelines, and loudspeaker wattage doesn't affect DF, so I'm not 100% certain of what point you're making.

For the OP's smaller loudspeakers though, I agree it won't make a huge difference in this case.

 

[TJCornish]

Audio amplifier's damping power doesn't really matter today, but for loudspeaker wire gauge it certainly still applies for subs and/or larger low frequency drivers. 100' with #12 is still a Damping Factor above 20 which that meets the typical guidelines, and loudspeaker wattage doesn't affect DF, so I'm not 100% certain of what point you're making.

For the OP's smaller loudspeakers though, I agree it won't make a huge difference in this case.

Lots of people quote the damping factor of 20 as being the standard, but no one knows where that number came from or who picked it, or what law of the universe gets grievously violated if it drops slightly lower.

I'm aware that damping factor does not relate to the power of the circuit, but speaker gauge does. My point is that virtually all large concert systems use #12 wire or even #13 because it works fine, and runs of 100' or more are common, even for 4-ohm or even 2-ohm loads, and load impedance definitely affects the damping factor calculation.

In a new install I agree that #12 is the right choice because of the small cost difference. As a retro-fit for this application, it has about the same value as polishing junction box covers. The OP has not specified what processing he has or what the perceived problem is, but surely his money is better spent on something that will actually be an audible improvement.

 

[rwhealey]

Are these speakers and the wire supposed to be portable, or they installed?

Both models you listed have 70V versions. Are you sure that the system is not intended to be 70V? The 18GA makes a bit more sense if it is (though I still wouldn't go that small).