What the right gauge speaker wire?

If I'm running an older Sherwood receiver(no HDMI in/outputs) with 100 watt output, which I never come near, what gauge speaker wire should I be using at a minimum. What is the ideal size?
Also is there a way to mimic the Bose 3-2-1 system by positioning all the surround sound speakers up front?

If I'm running an older Sherwood receiver(no HDMI in/outputs) with 100 watt output, which I never come near, what gauge speaker wire should I be using at a minimum. What is the ideal size?
Also is there a way to mimic the Bose 3-2-1 system by positioning all the surround sound speakers up front?

What distance are you looking to run the wires??? I used 12 gauge for my setup.. I believe for 25ft or longer runs you should use 12g, if your runs are shorter 14 or 16 would be suffice.. Monoprice.com has great prices on wire..

If I'm running an older Sherwood receiver(no HDMI in/outputs) with 100 watt output, which I never come near, what gauge speaker wire should I be using at a minimum. What is the ideal size?
Also is there a way to mimic the Bose 3-2-1 system by positioning all the surround sound speakers up front?

Rather than Bose (pseduo, witch doctor) sound, a true Dolby surround receiver with 3 front speakers, front, center and left, would sound much better if the speakers are matched (as they should be).

Check this out as well - http://www.highdefforum.com/746822-post1.html

I agree with both posts. And as L2W stated, stay far away from anything that even smacks of Bose. And, www.monoprice.com is absolutely the best source for speaker wire, cables, etc. Fantastic prices and FAST shipping. :)

The following guide should help with gauge according to wire length -

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1859/screenshot0022o.png (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/screenshot0022o.png/)

stay far away from anything that even smacks of Bose.

Why stay away from Bose. I have their QC3 headphones and love them.

L2W,

By matched do you mean the ohms? Do the speakers need to match the receiver?

L2W,

By matched do you mean the ohms? Do the speakers need to match the receiver?

No I mean the speakers (3 front) need to be matched in timbre and tone so they should be made by the same manufacturer and a matched set. If not you will have difficulty in hearing dialog.

Why stay away from Bose. I have their QC3 headphones and love them.

They're headphones may be OK but there are others that are better that cost less.

No I mean the speakers (3 front) need to be matched in timbre and tone so they should be made by the same manufacturer and a matched set. If not you will have difficulty in hearing dialog.

The front speakers are a matched set but the rears aren't. Is that as critical?

The front speakers are a matched set but the rears aren't. Is that as critical?

No, the rears usually do not exactly match the front set in most setups anyway and it's not as critcal that they do.

My setup utilizes the same brand as the fronts but are bipole/dipole type.

You do want to match impedance (ohms) for all speakers though. All 8 ohm, for example.

No, the rears usually do not exactly match the front set in most setups anyway and it's not as critcal that they do.

My setup utilizes the same brand as the fronts but are bipole/dipole type.

You do want to match impedance (ohms) for all speakers though. All 8 ohm, for example.

Exactly..

yep monoprice.com is the best place to get almost all of your cables. Picked up a 100ft roll of 14ga for only $10...local RadioCrap had a 100ft roll for almost $50

Why stay away from Bose. I have their QC3 headphones and love them.

If you spent the money on the QC3's,,,,have you ever checked out any sennheiser headphones? Might make ya think twixt about the bose. the sennheiser hd595's be about $100 bucks less than the qc's but,,,are just dripping sweet with sound!!!!

This is great information! Thanks!

The following guide should help with gauge according to wire length -

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/1859/screenshot0022o.png (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/screenshot0022o.png/)

Sweet Chart. I think it will come in handy for sure. I use a lot of 14/2 thinking I am soing the right things for my customers. But it is hard when my competitors are quoting all 16/2. Which is way cheaper. I never send over a quote without educating my customers about wire. If I don't I would never when a bid!

Sweet Chart. I think it will come in handy for sure. I use a lot of 14/2 thinking I am soing the right things for my customers. But it is hard when my competitors are quoting all 16/2. Which is way cheaper. I never send over a quote without educating my customers about wire. If I don't I would never when a bid!

I hope the chart helps in the future...:D

FYI - the wire can be solid or stranded, it doesn't really matter. I have used 14/3 and 12/3 (red, white, black, copper) romex for long attic runs then split it (black, white to one speaker, red, copper to the other) to run to each speaker and it works very well...