Term: Speaker Cable

Available in various gauges or wire thickness, designated by “AWG” followed by a number e.g., AWG12 is 12-gauge speaker cable. The lower the number, the thicker the cable and the less resistance there is to the passage of amplified audio signals (AWG12 is thick; AWG18 is fairly thin) from you’re A/V receiver or amplifier. All speaker cable is 99.9% oxygen-free copper. You’ll need one 2-conductor cable for each speaker in your home theater system, except the subwoofer.

A 5.1-channel system will require five separate speaker cables plus a single coaxial cable for the subwoofer (see Coaxial, above); a 7.1-channel system, seven cables plus a single coaxial sub cable. Choose the speaker cable gauge by the length of the cable run from the receiver/amplifier to the speaker. For runs up to 20 feet, 14-gauge is fine. Use 12-gauge speaker wire for long runs up to 60 feet. Good generic speaker cable can be purchased in bulk. Speaker cable does not impart musical qualities to the movement of electrons. All copper cables of sufficiently thick gauge sound identical.

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