Installer is using 22AWG wire for ceiling speakers

[johnnynine]

This is not for my home theater but for 8 whole home audio speakers around the house.

It "looks like" my installer is using 22 gauge twisted pair wire to the 8 in ceiling speakers. The longest run is probably under 100 feet.

I'm not an audiophile so count big expensive monster cables out for me. But 22 gauge seems small for any audio cable to me???

I beg of you to please not get into a discussion on why I should use the biggest best wire for everything... I'm just concerned that 22 gauge may not be enough for my "good" Klipsch in ceiling speakers.

Thanks,
Johnny

 

[Rupp]

I too am not an Audiophile and that wire should be just fine for a good quality whole house audio system.

 

[TCassio]

Is this 4 pair wire. If so, you can use 4 wires for pos, and 4 wires for neg. This will quadruple the 22 gauge. I don't know what that adds up to.

 

[rocco]

Hi, Johnny:

What is the maximum wattage of each Klipsch speaker?
What is the impedance (4, 8, 16 ohm?) of each Klipsch speaker?

100 feet of 22 awg will add 3.3 ohms to the circuit. If the speakers are 4 ohms, that would be a significant mismatch, and close to half your sound will be lost to the wire. If the speakers are 16 ohm, it won't be a big deal, unless you expect to put a lot of power into them.

If they are powered speakers, you don't have to worry.

 

[johnnynine]

Is this 4 pair wire. If so, you can use 4 wires for pos, and 4 wires for neg. This will quadruple the 22 gauge. I don't know what that adds up to.

I'm not sure. The cable shows:

NEW GENERATION® BY BELDEN-N 5500UG CM 75C 2C22 (UL) E108998 C(UL) ROHS 9770339 FEET

I'm not really sure what all that means, but I looked up the 5500UG and thought it said it was 2 x 22awg, but I could be wrong.

 

[johnnynine]

Hi, Johnny:

What is the maximum wattage of each Klipsch speaker?
What is the impedance (4, 8, 16 ohm?) of each Klipsch speaker?

100 feet of 22 awg will add 3.3 ohms to the circuit. If the speakers are 4 ohms, that would be a significant mismatch, and close to half your sound will be lost to the wire. If the speakers are 16 ohm, it won't be a big deal, unless you expect to put a lot of power into them.

If they are powered speakers, you don't have to worry.

They are 8 ohms, 50 watts (200 watts peak). I believe the internal speaker's wiring is 18 gauge.

 

[Steve]

I am not an audiophile either and I've always thought to use either 18ga for 'basic' stuff or 16ga for a little better beefier stuff. But 18ga would be the minimum I would use, especially for music. Heck, I've got 18ga zipcord only 5 feet to a cheapy Elk speaker.

 

[IVB]

Ditto. 22g is ok if you're biwiring, but if that's the only wire, i'd be skittish. You might grow better ears, and upgraditis yourself to nicer speakers, but if you don't got the infrastructure in place, it'd be a waste.

God knows that's the path I went down.

 

[pkoslow]

Johnny,

22ga seems a bit "skinny" to me too!

16ga is the norm for whole house audio up to around 80-100ft runs and then it makes sense to step up to 14ga.

Cheers,
Paul

 

[rocco]

The Belden 5500UG is 22 awg, 2 conductor, used for "Alarm, Security and Audio". According to the data sheet:

Max. Recommended Current 2.8 Amps per conductor @ 25°C

Which is enough for about 63 watts into 8 ohms.

 

[dublin00]

Your certain that your installer thinks your installing speakers for high quality music? Belden lists that as Security & Alarm cable.

I'm asking because the only time I've seen 22ga used for speakers is for intercom/paging/music systems which use high voltage & high impedenace speakers. What color is the cable jacket? Is it green?

To be honest I've never seen a new home wired for whole house audio with 22ga wire. 18ga-16ga/4 CL2 is pretty standard and pretty cheap. You can find that kind of wire for sale a HomeDepot & Lowes which tells you how common it is.

 

[johnnynine]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I'll double check tomorrow, but it sure looked like that was the case. I was in a rush and things weren't quite finished yet so I could be mistaken.

 

[johnnynine]

Shew! They had not yet ran the speaker wire and the wire that i saw hanging from the speaker frame was for security. I checked it out today and they had ran the real speaker wire.

It looks like it is 4x16awg: NEW GENERATION® BY BELDEN-M 5202UE CMR 75C 4C16 (UL) E108998 OR C(UL) CMG 2102 2103 S04 ROHS 0298398 FEET

I'm not sure what all the means, but I assume 4C16 means 4 wires @ 16 gauge each.

Thanks for all the comments. I feel releaved now.

 

[TCassio]

Be sure to check to make sure that the speaker wire is not run alongside any electrical wire. The speaker wire should be at least 3" from electrical wires, and if the cross they should cross at 90 degree angles.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Glad you got it fixed.

Normally you should use at least 18 guage for that but normally I would recommend 14 or 16.