Can you use ordinary power wire as speaker wire???

Question

i've got some 8 gauge power wire that was used for an amplifier.

and i was just wondering if i can use that power wire on my subwoofers.

the reason i want to use it is because i have 2 1000watt RMS subwoofers. and i am sending them the full 1000watts RMS to each one.

but i only have 14 gauge speaker wire. so obviously i need somethin a little more beefy.

so would the 8 gauge power cable do. or am i going to need to buy myself some thicker "speaker" wire

Answer 1

Yea you could use it. To everyone else who answered differently, read up on ohms law. The audio signal coming out of the amplifier is AC not DC, and copper is copper duh. For example with 8awg speaker wire running 2000w RMS @ 1 ohm with a 5ft run of speaker wire you will not notice any audible loss in power. ( less than 0.05dB)

Answer 2

Power Wire

Answer 3

How To Use Speaker Wire

Answer 4

Yes you can use power wire as speaker wire. Ive done this plenty of times. Copper is Copper. However JL audio makes 8 gauge speaker wire.

Answer 5

If you are asking this question, you need to take your car to a certified shop. Wire is wire, it contains a conductor, and it will work. The larger the guage, the lower the overall drop in power due to loss. In 99 percent of cases, 14ga-12ga is fine for speaker wire unless you are running it for very long distances or huge amounts of power, well above 1000w. For 1000w RMS at five feet for a four ohm woofer, you are looking at .05db of loss for 14ga wire (.4 volts loss at FULL power). This is not at all noticeable, even to a microphone. Remember that music is dynamic, it has peaks. It's not 1000w 100% of the time unless you drive around listening to nothing but sine waves. I would suggest using larger guage if you are using lower impedences, longer distances, etc. While it will not hurt to use the 14ga, I wouldn't go out and BUY bigger power wire. So in short, take your car to a shop and let them do it. I bet you don't know how to set your gains with a meter either.

Answer 6

1000watts RMS is a lot of power. I would suggest going to 4 guage wire at least. If your amp is truly cranking out that much power than the 8 guage will melt on the first song.

Answer 7

You should use 8 AWG (which could take you to 2000 watts).

8 AWG has a resistance of 0.00206 ohm/meter.
14 AWG has a resistance of 0.00829

In answer to your direct question: yes, wire is wire you can use ordinary lamp cord for speaker wire. Your application will need the thicker wire of 8 AWG.

Answer 8

Yes, 8 gage.....that's some heavy stuff, rated for 30 amps... you wont be pulling 30 amps of current from your amp.... you could even use 14-16 Gage and get away with it. All those thick wires are unnecessary because they are for heavy current, not wattage..... and all wires have the same resistance....copper.... ect....unless you use some bad metal like tin or steel.... 99% of all wires are copper.

Answer 9

well in my opinion that wired should be sufficient as subs do not require a wide range of frequency, as do mid and tweeters. The quality of your wire is more important for the frequency transmission. Is this a multy strand wire and is it copper. Should be both....Lets

Answer 10

Well those power wires have a high strand count for automotive use which should work just fine for your subwoofers.