Are you unsure about choosing the right gauge wire for your car audio speaker?
Then this car audio speaker wire gauge guide will help you.
Table of Contents
What does gauge mean in relation to wire (AWG)?
Wire differs in thickness and capabilities. Different sized wires have different capabilities and should be used for specific jobs.
Wire has been sorted into different categories according to its thickness. The different sizes are known as gauges.
This generally refers to the diameter of the wire. The smaller the gauge, the thicker the wire will be.
The most common wiring system standard is the American Wire Gauge Standard (AWG). AWG has been in use since 1857 and is used worldwide to regulate the capabilities and thickness of a wire.
The British Standard Wire Gauge System (SWG) is also well-known internationally, but over the years, the AWG has become the standard of choice.
When you buy wire, it is important to make sure that it has an AWG measuring. Unfortunately, some producers don’t follow the AWG standard.
This can be a problem. If a producer doesn’t follow the AWG there is a chance that you could buy a 3 gauge wire and actually be buying a 6 gauge wire inside a 3 gauge jacket.
So make sure that the wire has an AWG measuring. This way you will definitely know what you are buying.
Speaker cable types
Conductivity
There are a variety of speaker cable types that you can choose from. Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) is definitely the best option.
The copper in the OFC cables is a great conductor of electricity. You can be assured of excellent audio sound in car audio systems because OFC cables deliver maximum energy to speakers and amplifiers.
This cable works particularly well inside the engine bay, where it can be exposed to heat and damp. The small amount of tin in OFC cables helps to reduce corrosion of the cable in the long run.
Strand Count
The strand count of a wire refers to the number of individual strands that are interwoven together. These are all woven together to make a single conductor.
Two major benefits of using wire with individual strands over a solid wire are:
- Durability. Wires with individual strands are stronger and longer lasting than solid wires. Thanks to their numerous different strands, if one strand breaks you won’t experience a big loss in power transmission.On the other hand, if even a single wire in a solid wire gets busted, the power handling can decrease significantly.
- Flexibility. If you use a wire with individual strands instead of a solid wire, you will find it to be more flexible.This is very helpful because the wire can be curved and bent to your desire when installing it. Solid wires are very difficult to bend in any direction and can be difficult to install.
Speaker wire gauge chart
In most cases: 18, 16, or 14 gauge OFC will be plenty for car speakers.
| Wire Gauge | 2 Ohm Load | 4 Ohm Load | 6 Ohm Load | 8 Ohm Load |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 AWG | 3 feet | 6 feet | 9 feet | 12 feet |
| 20 AWG | 5 feet | 10 feet | 15 feet | 20 feet |
| 18 AWG | 8 feet | 16 feet | 24 feet | 32 feet |
| 16 AWG | 12 feet | 24 feet | 36 feet | 48 feet |
| 14 AWG | 20 feet | 40 feet | 60 feet | 80 feet |
What gauge speaker wire for subwoofer
Using the wrong speaker wire is a sure way to dampen your subwoofer’s performance. It could cause humming and lead to a lengthy process of troubleshooting.
This is why it is very important to use the correct gauge wire for your subwoofer. As mentioned already, subwoofers typically use lower gauge wire.
The most common speaker wire gauges for subwoofers are 16, 14, and 12. These dual conductor wires carry positive and negative polarity and are by far the best to use for crisp, clear sound.
When choosing a gauge, it is better to round up than to round down in size. Using an 18 gauge wire when you need a 14 gauge wire will result in poor performance from your subwoofer.
Running a slightly bigger wire than what you need will not affect the performance of your subwoofer. Using an excessively large gauge wire, however, can be a waste of money.
FAQ
Does speaker wire affect sound quality?
Yes and no. For low wattage systems – No. But the resistance that the speaker will offer to the current flowing through the cable and the distance it needs to travel are two very important things to keep in mind.
The better quality wire the more power can pass through and provide cleaner sound.
Is lower gauge speaker wire better?
No, lower gauge speaker wire is not necessarily better. It is better to use thicker wires over long distances, but the distance covered for a car’s audio system is relatively short.
A 16 gauge wire should work just fine for distances up to 100 ft. Lower gauge speaker wire will not offer better audio sound.
Can you run a speaker wire next to a car’s power wire?
Yes, you can run a speaker wire next to a car’s power wire. The idea that you can’t run a speaker wire next to a car’s power wire is a myth and untrue.
Having a central ground point for all your wires is more important. By grounding them all at one specific point you prevent any noise disturbance.
How many watts can stock speaker wire handle?
Stock speaker wire can handle up to 75W. This is sufficient for general use, but if you are looking for more wattage, you will need to replace your wire with a thicker gauge.
I’m struggling to decide whether any difference to use 12 or 16gauge speaker wire, to run from 4channel amp to front door speakers. Will be running about 75watts, 4ohm. About 15′ or so runs. I already have 16gauge going to the rear door speakers.
Thinking maybe not much difference at that power level or worth it to run 12gauge. Like if it was 20ft+ or 100w+
Hi Andrew!
16 gauge OFC would work just fine.
I got a 1600 watt amp wiring kit. How big is my power wire ???
Wire size is usually 4ga.
Hi Andrew,
I am installing ans amplifier 125 watts rms per channel on 4 Ohm load speakers for all doors (4) on Toyota Highlander 2012. I was planning on using 16 Gage. Is this a good option or sure I go on a lower Gage wire?
thank you
Hi Ricardo,
16ga is fine.
Hey im trying to hook up a 2400 watt amp with 3 subs.
What gauge wire should i use?
I can only find amp install kits going up too just 1200 watts.
Hi Wayne,
Run 0 gauge power/ground; 10 gauge to the subs. I would definitely recommend big 3 upgrade.
I know RMS power is the wattage a speaker can handle without any distortion for long periods of time but is this power rating the same at all frequencies? Is a frequency sweep done to a speaker and then an average RMS power is calculated or is this the power the speaker can handle at any frequency it’s rated at?
The manufacturers running a test signal which is some type of pink noise.
Hi, I have 2 subs pushing around 600rms both. I just have a “spare” 8 gauge ofc wire. Can I use it for my sub to amp cable wire?
Hi Ronyy,
Yes, you can use 8 gauge as speaker wire.
I have a sundown x15. Is okay to run 16g speaker wire to my terminal an my amp is 3k?
I’d go with 8-12ga.
I wired my x15 dual 4ohm.
POS-pos-positive on amp… then neg-neg-negative on amp. What is the final impedance?
2 Ohm load.
Andrew-
I am installing a 15″ kicker subwoofer supplied by a 500watt Rockford Fosgate amp. I am having trouble considering what gauge speaker wire I should run from the amp to the sub.
What is your recommendation?
Hi Nathan,
14ga will be just fine.
Hi,
I’m running a Rockford Fosgate 8002 2 channel amp.
Hooking up 2 12″ Fosgate P2 400watt DVC wired to 4 ohms bridged to the amp.
Is 16 guage speaker wire sufficient ?
Thank you
Hi Trav,
For speakers yes, if you make 1 run per subwoofer.
Hello,
I am running 4 new speakers (components in the front) of my Honda CRV 2005, with my amp in the back sending 75 Watts rms to 100 watt max speakers. I originally planned on hooking into factory wiring but now I think I’m going to run my own. I already have an 18 gauge nine wire half installed but since I’m going through the trouble of running my own wire should I go out and buy 14 gauge OFC to “do it right”? Thanks for your thoughts, I can’t decide.
Hello Bradley,
For that amount of power, 18ga would be sufficient for a 20ft or under. Personally, I don’t run anything smaller than 16ga. That way if you upgrade in the future, you won’t have to run new wiring.
I’m running 2 kickers that can each handle 750 RMS on a Skar 1500 watt amp, I want to wire the subs to 1 ohm, what size speaker wire do you recommend for the wiring of the subs to the amp?
Hi Manuel,
12 gauge speaker wire is more than adequate for running 750 RMS to a subwoofer.
I have 2 12 inch JL Audio 12TW3’s. With a JL Audio RD1000/1 RD Series 1-channel 1000w Monoblock Class D Subwoofer Amplifier, 1000 W x 1 @ 2 Ω / 600 W x 1 @ 4 Ω – 14.4V., with a kicker amplifier kit with 8awg/60amps/600 watts., is this going to be sufficient ?
Thanks!
Hi Lamar,
No, 4 AWG power/ground wire.
I am running a JL RD400/4 with 4 JL door speakers getting 75 watts rms at 4 Ohms per channel. I was planning on utilizing the stock speaker wires(18 gauge), would this be fine or should I replace existing wire with 16 gauge? I don’t know how much length I will be running, but I would assume my longest wire will be about 20ft. Thank you.
Hi Julio,
I would upgrade to at least 16AWG.