Speaker Wire Size?

[Nimitz]

Hey guys I took off the back of the cab I picked up and it has 18 gauge wires going from the jackplate to the top two speakers then they are bridged down to the lower speakers with 16 gauge wire.

Is this normal?

18 gauge seems a little small?

The speakers are 16 ohm V30's and the Jackplate configuration is 4 or 16 ohm mono or 8 ohm stereo.

I Googled around for a while, but thought hey, I know where there are many experts JCFONLINE BABY!!!


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Side note: Did you get my PM Ron?

[vklobucar]

Marshall has been using that gauge for decades and it works just fine!

[Nimitz]

Marshall has been using that gauge for decades and it works just fine!

Thanks man good to know!!!

[warlok]

Hmm.. I thought that would have the mic eliminator jack. My R212CS has it..

[Nimitz]

Seems to be pretty old... I don't know mid to late 90's?

What year is yours?

[Chief_CrazyTalk]

Yeah I was shocked to see how small the speaker wiring gauge was in my Marshall cabinets. And here I was using these huge speaker cables. I remembered hearing years ago that Steve Stevens had his cabinets rewired with heavier gauge wiring and now I see why, lol. I'm sure the stock wiring works fine, but I hardwired the cabs with much heavier electrical wiring. I can't say I hear a difference but something about those little wires bugged me.

[CowboyFromHell]

From what I can recall about Ohm's Law, going with a larger wire guage should lower the resistance, allow more power to make it to the speaker itself, as well as making things a lil easier on your amp. Maybe the small factory wiring does work just fine, but we all know the factories don't always do what's best. 18 Guage wiring is pretty much what every manufacturer uses across the board (probably because it's a reasonable compromise that will work and since it's the most common wire guage out there, it's also the cheapest), be it the cabinets we use, the internal wiring inside our home stereo speakers, etc. Even if it's not audible to your ears, the idea of making things a lil easier on your amp and ensuring that all the power your amp send out actually makes it to the speaker just seems like a no-brainer to me. Especially when the relatively low cost is considered.

[tonemonster]

Marshall has been using that gauge for decades and it works just fine!

I took the back off my Marshall 4x12 this summer and found that. HOLY SHIT! I thought I was going to have a heart attack! that is some skinny ass wire.