Revel speaker wire gauge recommendations

[Jbrunwa]

Ok, per this I should run 9 gauge wire to my surround speakers as it will likely be a little over 34 ft run. Has anyone measured the actual sound degradation of using smaller gauge wire? I suppose I could do this with REW of expected length with some spare wire.

 

[monkeyboy]

I don't think sound degradation is an issue, it's more about voltage drop based on the amount of current you'll be pushing around....

 

[Jbrunwa]

I don't think sound degradation is an issue, it's more about voltage drop based on the amount of current you'll be pushing around....

Yeah, I thought there will be a small drop in efficiency due to slightly higher impedance, so maybe a level increase in half a dB to compensate. The reference to degraded quality of sound is from the Revel doc, which is kind of what I question. I was too lazy to do the arithmetic to calculatethe efficiency loss, but was concerned about the Revel statement.

 

[DonH56]

I would just use decent copper (not CCA) 10 AWG.

The issue Revel addresses is not just voltage drop, it is that the crossover expects to see near 0 ohms driving impedance, and above a certain level the higher driving impedance will cause things like frequency response changes and perhaps higher distortion due to back-EMF and such. That is an issue with most any speaker, and an issue for some designs that have been "voiced" using a particular amplifier if your amplifier is different. Most SS designs are close enough in output impedance to not matter. But compare the frequency response of a typical speaker (Revel or otherwise) using a SS amp vs. a SET and the difference is probably audible and certainly measurable.

 

[Jbrunwa]

I would just use decent copper (not CCA) 10 AWG.

The issue Revel addresses is not just voltage drop, it is that the crossover expects to see near 0 ohms driving impedance, and above a certain level the higher driving impedance will cause things like frequency response changes and perhaps higher distortion due to back-EMF and such. That is an issue with most any speaker, and an issue for some designs that have been "voiced" using a particular amplifier if your amplifier is different. Most SS designs are close enough in output impedance to not matter. But compare the frequency response of a typical speaker (Revel or otherwise) using a SS amp vs. a SET and the difference is probably audible and certainly measurable.

Thanks. I do recall a thread where @amirm measured resistance of different speaker wires and thought he said that he reported Canare 4s11 run up to 100 ft. in practice although that isn’t plenum rated. I can’t seem to find it now though.

 

[digitalfrost]

Benchmark has a nice excel file at the end of this article that you can use to calculate the effects yourself: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-damping-factor-isnt-much-of-a-factor

Personal comments: The thing is this, if you include a series resistor in front of the speaker (i.e. a long wire), you will weaken the electrical component of the speaker chassis (Qe), so you will get less control of the cone, and thus more output around its resonance frequency (Fs). (See for example: http://speakerdesignworks.com/Electrical_Factors.html)

Now for surround channels that are high-passed anyway, it might not matter that much. However, I'd try to keep the total attenuation below ideally 0.2dB or maximum 0.5dB. That said, listening distance also plays a role, and if you can control the volume of the surround channels, you might even compensate for the attenuation.

 

[Jbrunwa]

Benchmark has a nice excel file at the end of this article that you can use to calculate the effects yourself: https://benchmarkmedia.com/blogs/application_notes/audio-myth-damping-factor-isnt-much-of-a-factor

Personal comments: The thing is this, if you include a series resistor in front of the speaker (i.e. a long wire), you will weaken the electrical component of the speaker chassis (Qe), so you will get less control of the cone, and thus more output around its resonance frequency (Fs). (See for example: http://speakerdesignworks.com/Electrical_Factors.html)

Now for surround channels that are high-passed anyway, it might not matter that much. However, I'd try to keep the total attenuation below ideally 0.2dB or maximum 0.5dB. That said, listening distance also plays a role, and if you can control the volume of the surround channels, you might even compensate for the attenuation.

Thanks, this is very helpful information and a nice resource

 

[tvrgeek]

Rears? I would run 18. It just does not matter.