what does "gauge" in speaker wire mean?
 

As the topic says... what does the "gauge" mean? I see 16, 18, 12 gauge speaker wires. What does the number mean, and is a bigger number better or a smaller one? Thanks!

It's the size, the smaller the number the bigger the wire.

Ripped from HTF Primer .

Understanding AWG and specifications
This chart relates the area of the copper part (not insulation) to it's gauge:
mm2 - AWG Size
0.5 mm2 = 20 gauge wire
0.8 = 18
1.0 = 16
2.0 = 14
3.0 = 12
5.0 = 10
8.0 = 8
13.0 = 6
19.0 = 4
32.0 = 2
52.0 = 0

Not sure, but the whole gauge thing may have started in guns, as in "12-gauge" shotgun. It's the number of round things that fill up a standard hole (as in 12 pellets to fill the barrel cross-section). In the gun analogy, it was probably 12 standard pellets to get to the barrel size. Thats why as you get bigger, the gauge get smaller. as in one 1 AWG wire should be close in size to twelve 12 AWG wires.

Generally speaking lower gauge is better, some exceptions, but its a good rule of thumb.