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What gauge of speaker wire between Harman Kardon HK-3490 receiver and Polk Audio Rti-A3 speakers

post #1 of 2
6/28/11 at 4:24pm
Thread Starter 

The Polks have 8 ohm impedence and cable distances will only be 6 feet and 10 feet, different due to room placement of course.  I know gauges are like 12, 14, 16, or 18 I think.  Other question is whether I should buy banana plugs or not.  On the speakers you can use them if you remove a plug otherwise they just say to strip wire and insert into a hole.  I would think on the HK receiver having banana plugs would be easier.  Big question though is which gauge and any preference as to who's wire?  I am on very tight budget and was just going to buy a 25 foot roll with good reviews on Amazon.com

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post #2 of 2
6/28/11 at 4:51pm

I would definitely go with banana plugs.  I believe you'll find them extremely convenient when compared to bare wire. I don't know how much of a sound improvement they offer, but I'd swear by them if you ever need to move the speakers, switch gear, or have to pull your receiver out for whatever reason.

 

As for the wire gauge, you should be totally fine with 16 if you're only going a couple feet.  You don't really need to go to a thicker gauge unless your run is 20 feet or more.  A while back I experimented with different gauges for my run, which is about 6 feet on each side, and didn't hear any difference between 16 and 12.  I ended up using the 12 only because I had it.  

 

Check out this explainer on Audioholics.  Halfway through the article they have a table that tells you the optimal gauge to use for specific distances. 

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/speaker-cable-gauge

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