Hey Coach!

[Jeff T]

Hey, do you happen to know what guage speaker wire you ran to your wetsounds? 12? 14?

[Coach]

I don't have a clue. It is a bit thicker than standard stereo wire you would run in your house.

[dogbert]

Normal is 16, upgrade would be 14. 12 is overkill and would be a pain to run. That's like running copper wire for your electrical outlets at home.

[Jeff T]

Thanks Dogbert. The rep from wetsounds told me 12-14, so I just assumed that would be standard.

Would the signal be a better quality with 14 vs. 16?

[Tequilasun]

Thanks Dogbert. The rep from wetsounds told me 12-14, so I just assumed that would be standard.

Would the signal be a better quality with 14 vs. 16?

Marginally, the real difference comes in much longer runs of the wire than what you will be doing.


BTW, when you get those Wetsounds installed, can I come down and have a listen? I'll bring beer!

[Jeff T]

Marginally, the real difference comes in much longer runs of the wire than what you will be doing.


BTW, when you get those Wetsounds installed, can I come down and have a listen? I'll bring beer!

Absolutely!! I don't have what coach has though...just one set of pro80s. Can't afford anything more yet. If it isn't enough, I may try to supplement with a set of the 60s when they come out later this summer.

I'm hoping the boat arrives this week. If so, I'll install this weekend and be on the lake next week. Keeping fingers crossed...

[spharis]

What is the RMS of your Wetsounds, and about how many feet of wire will it take?

[Jeff T]

200 watts, but I plan to run 200-250. I should need somewhere around 30 feet of wire for each tower speaker.

Should I run 16 gauge to the cabin speakers?

[spharis]

I would go with 12-14 for that wattage. At 30 ft for that many amps (about 20A of power), you are going to have some pretty good voltage drop. I have a chart somewhere if I can find it; I'll post it if I do.

[Jeff T]

So, do you think that 14 gauge is fine, or should I go with 12? What do you think about the deck speakers?

[spharis]

14 should be OK....30 ft is really long though. I will see if I cna find my chart I always use and you can reference that.

For cabin speakers, you can do the same. Wire size is a function of the amperage of the signal.

[spharis]

Here it is and I added it to my photobucket album this time. I would go 12AWG for use average of about 50% volume.

[spharis]

And another, matches pretty close.

[Jeff T]

I hate to bring up a dead thread...but how hard do you think it will be to run 12 gauge through the tower? I don't plan on dropping the tower often, but I'm pretty sure it will happen eventually.

I just don't know how big of a deal it is to have 12 gauge vs 14 for the tower speakers.

I also worry about drilling a massive hole in the tower.

[da.bell]

I hate to bring up a dead thread...but how hard do you think it will be to run 12 gauge through the tower? I don't plan on dropping the tower often, but I'm pretty sure it will happen eventually.

I just don't know how big of a deal it is to have 12 gauge vs 14 for the tower speakers.

I also worry about drilling a massive hole in the tower.

You know what if funny with this, I am talking with someone about purchasing amps, subs, and speakers.... So, this will be interesting...