Is 16/2 gauge good enough for surround speakers?

[miamicanes]

The title says it all... is AWG16 wire good enough to feed surround speakers approximately 40-60 wire-feet away from the amp? Or am I likely to really, REALLY regret not having spent roughly twice as much on AWG14 wire? Power-wise, let's just say the most the speaker at the other end will EVER conceivably see is 150W(RMS), and really isn't likely to see more than 50W(RMS).

Oh, I almost forgot... if the wire oxidizes and turns green (say, 5-10 years down the line), is it ruined? Or is it mainly just an aesthetic matter involving the outermost few atoms of the copper wire that's literally just "skin deep" and won't affect its ability to conduct electricity (as long as the contacts at both ends and wire they make contact with are kept oxidization-free)?

 

[euphline]

For my runs of 40-60 feet, I'm quite happy with AWG 16.

-jbn

 

[BrettS]

Oh, I almost forgot... if the wire oxidizes and turns green (say, 5-10 years down the line), is it ruined? Or is it mainly just an aesthetic matter involving the outermost few atoms of the copper wire that's literally just "skin deep" and won't affect its ability to conduct electricity (as long as the contacts at both ends and wire they make contact with are kept oxidization-free)?

The wire shouldn't oxidize within the insulation... the worst you should see is the exposed part of the wire oxidizing. In that case, I'd suggest cutting off the half inch or so that's oxidized and starting with new unoxidized wire. If the wire is oxidizing within the insulation then you either have really cheap wire or something was compromised during the manufacture. In either case I'd suggest replacing that wire.

HTH,
Brett

 

[beelzerob]

I dare you to go ask this question over in the avsforums.

 

[gatchel]

16 will work but most guys in the industry that I know say 12 is ideal.

 

[miamicanes]

Well, I ended up compromising. I decided to return the AWG16 clear-insulation speaker wire I bought from Lowe's, and instead buy in-wall 16/4 to run to the potential future rear-channel speaker, and in-wall 14/2 to run to the left and right surrounds. On the overwhelming likelihood I go with a single rear channel speaker (if any), I can use one pair for + and one pair for -... but if I end up with a dipole-type speaker, I'll have enough wires in the wall to do 7.1 with discrete left and right.

I thought long and hard about the in-wall vs regular, and decided, "screw it. It's a $5 difference, and I'm never going to be touching these cables inside the wall again."

I got a bit of a pleasant surprise while pulling my huge bundle of wires (you can see them emerging from the lower half of the stairway's faux pillaster and temporarily hanging from tie wraps screwed into the wall in yesterday's pics). By some miracle, I actually had a clear, unobstructed path along the room's entire perimeter alongside the wall and just above the ceiling drywall. I went through hell yesterday pulling the wires for the future ceiling fan (I had to pull them through one hole to the wall, then pull them through another hole to the spot above the existing switchbox where they'll terminate), but today was fairly straightforward. Tedious (a bundle of 6 cat5, a 16/4, and a 14/2 is about 2/3 the diameter of your wrist), but straightfowrard. So I won't be putting wire inside the actual crown moulding after all. Now I just have to be careful not to accidentally shoot any nails through them when putting up the crown. I just wish I could get Home Depot or Lowe's to make an angle cut on a bunch of 2x4s so I could carefully attach it to the furring strips, then freely shoot 1-1/2" nails into the crown knowing there's solid wood almost immediately behind it, so the short nails will be more than adequate. I know table saws are only $100, but I really don't want to have to try and store one forever after this project is over, and refuse to spend almost as much as it would cost to buy one to rent one for a single day.

 

[miamicanes]

Some progress pics, slightly before midnight on Friday night...

Pic from stairs. Wiring 97% done. I'm finally starting to feel like I have the project under control again.


Closeup of cable bundle. Yes, I really DID pull this fistful of cables through 2" holes in the ceiling