Gauge = GA OR AWG?
 

I just got my kenwood system from circuit city and i have everything all ready to set up but now im hearing the speaker wires have to be the right gauge or it might blow the conectors? I looked at the wires that came with the system and on it says 22AWG. Does that mean 22 gauge? I also purchased generic speakers wires from my local electronic store and on the wire it says 18GA. Does that mean the 18 gauge wires wont be the best for 22awg wires? Someone please shed some light as I cant wait to hear DTS AND 5.1? Im planning to go to circuit city and getting a 50 ft spool of monster speaker wire is it really necessary? IS there a harm of using generic brand 18GA speaker wires on a digital system when the wires that came with the system are 22AWG?

I'll start the ball rolling here:

1) the wire that came with your system will work with your system

2) AWG = Gauge

3) Monster cable isn't really necessary

4) As long as 18GA wire fits into the holes you're putting it in, there's no harm.

Wire guage is another inverse numbering system, so:

18 awg > 22 awg

That is fine. Larger wire (as long as it fits) will not harm you. I believe most people around here run ~14-16 awg for fronts. You can buy this by the foot at Home Depot for a ton less than Monster, but is just as good.

And yes, ga is the same as awg for these purposes.

Thanks for the info guys. I just need another 30 feet for my right surround speaker and my woofer as I have the system in my small room *yes i know* everything else the wires that came with it are long enough. So basically in GAUGE terms the smaller the gauge the better it is right? Weird why kenwoood would pack me 22 awg wires since that wouldnt be the best quality. One last question the sub woofer uses the same speaker wires right cause to me a stereo newbie since it seems to output so much bass and oomph does it need seperate wires or just use the sames ones thanks!

just got this from another thread

I also heard that you hook up passive subwoofers with speaker cable and that you hook up active subwoofers with a subwoofer cable. Is this true?
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Yes


is the woofer that came with the kenwood htb-205 passive ? How do I tell? Do I need to buy woofer wires just to set up the woofer or just use the regular 18 awg speaker wires?

I guess the sub depends on what type you are using. For example I run an RCA type cable to my sub. The sub has an internal amplifier and thus is active.

If your receiver is powering your sub via "Speaker B" or some other method I woulds still run 16-18 awg.

In awg, smaller guage is thicker, not necessarily better. But in most cases (apples to apples comparison) the larger the wire, the less resistance the wire has, the better signal the speaker receives.

Does the sub have an electrical cord coming out you plug into the wall? Then it is active I believe.

The owners manual will explan the sub hook up.

I would not go larger then 18 ga for the HTP system.

the generic speaker wires are red tinted and silver colored is there a +/- to these wires or its just whatever i choose it to be?

AWG = American Wire Gauge
The lower the number, the thicker & heavier the wire.

Make sure that it is 99.99% copper (Cu element #29 *63.55* boiling point is 2567 º C) for all you chemistry majors. Don't go with the the 1/2 Al and 1/2 Cu.