Needing straightforward answer to cable gauge question.

[Noose]

Running a 450 watt amp into a 15 and a 4 X 10. Is there an audible difference between using 12 gauge speaker cables or 16 gauge cables assuming all things are equal and the cables in question are less than 10 feet?

[BassmanPaul]

I use the largest gauge I can find but that's just me. You'll be fine with 16 gauge.

[Noose]

I appreciate the input and I dont mean this to sound disrespectful, but I want to stress again, that I am looking for a straightforward answer. Is there an audible difference between the two?

[Blues Bass 2]

No , you can't hear it . About 30 years ago Julian Hirsh , an audio engineer and collumist for Stereo Reveiw magazine did a blind test of different gauge speaker with a panel of "golden ear" testers and the only consistant gauge they could detect a difference was when they got down to 18 and even more 20 gauge . With the short lengths we use for our bass rigs the resistance is very low anyway . I have never been able to hear much difference from any of them but I do use 12 gauge with my rig .

[Jazzdogg]

The short answer is, under the conditions you've described, there will be no audible difference.

A chart is attached - sorry, but I don't remember the source.

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by Noose

Is there an audible difference between using 12 gauge speaker cables or 16 gauge cables assuming all things are equal and the cables in question are less than 10 feet?

No.
http://www.bcae1.com/images/swfs/spe...rassistant.swf

[Iceman500]

I doubt you will hear any difference. The resistance of the cable is almost none the difference on the cable gauge is mostly to prevent damage to the cables, and power dissipation. If you keep your cable short you will have virtually zero dissipation.

If you were running a 10,000W amp with 2 ohm speaker and longer cables you might choose the 16 gauge.