Only 18 gauge internal wire in speaker?

[psonic]

I had my Boston CR9 speaker apart to to a small repair and noticed all the internal wire is 18 gauge, is this normal for a $400 speaker? I am just wondering if there would be benefit to upgrading this...

[skeptic]

No advantage whatsoever.

First of all, the short length of wire in your speaker cabinet won't have any audible effect because the decrease in resistance offered by heavier gage wire will be miniscule. Secondly, the one component which draws any appreciable amount of current, the woofer, has at least one choke (inductor) in series with it and that is made from many turns of wire that is of smaller gage than the 18 gage internal wiring. Audiophiles get alarmed about items that have no effect on performance but jar their sense of perfection such as the resistance of fuses or connectors. Companies cater to and profit from this uninformed obsession. However, if it really really really bothers you and you are handy with a soldering iron, it won't cost much to change it out.

[yakkosmurf]

In fact, if you are handy with a soldering iron, you might be able to put your paranoid tendencies to rest. Why not replace the 18 gauge wire with something you think would be better. Then let a friend listen to the before and after. I don't think either of you will hear a difference. And if you do "hear" a difference, then you've just improved the speakers you always loved. Nothing wrong with that. If they sound worse, then put the other wire segment back in.

[JSE]

to rip people off. I can see it now. Custom internal speaker cables to upgrade your speakers. Make those $1k speakers sound like $10k speakers for only $1500 with Nuclear Dynamic's Sound String Boomers. Oh, and they will replace your MDF, wood, whatever cabinets with clear acrylic so everyone can see those cables.

Oh yea..........

JSE

[trollgirl]

Years ago, I acquired a pair of JBL L-16's at a police auction. I replaced the tweets with some other brand and had one woofer reconed. They sounded OK. Later, I had a look at the internal wiring, and I did not like what I saw. I ripped out the wire terminals, and soldered lengths of heavy-gauge zip cord directly to the crossover. The same wire was used to connect to the drivers, and soldered. WOW did they sound good after that!

Laz

[Norm Strong]

It's a common error to treat the flow of electricity as analogous to the flow of water in a pipe; the smaller the pipe, the less water it can carry. A lot of the flowing water analogy works quite well, but it's not true that current through a wire is governed by the smallest piece of wire in the circuit, even though the flow of water through a pipe is a function of the smallest orfice in its path--which, of course, is why a faucet works!

In an electrical circuit, the effect of wire is proportional to its length. Since the length of the #18 wires in the speaker is short, it's effect on the cable resistance is correspondingly small. A one foot length of #18 wire is equivalent to 4 feet of #12. If you put a 1" piece of #24 wire in series with a #12 speaker cable, it will be equivalent to increasing the cable length by 8" . Practically nothing.

[F1]

......
In an electrical circuit, the effect of wire is proportional to its length. Since the length of the #18 wires in the speaker is short, it's effect on the cable resistance is correspondingly small. A one foot length of #18 wire is equivalent to 4 feet of #12. If you put a 1" piece of #24 wire in series with a #12 speaker cable, it will be equivalent to increasing the cable length by 8" . Practically nothing.

Just want to add in the formula if applicable:
Resistance = (Constant 'Rho' X Length)/Cross-section Area

[JSE]

Expensive cable ($$$) + Any speaker = No difference (nada) + No money ($$$)

Sorry, just been in a smartass mood lately.

Merry Christmas! (PC) Happy Holidays!

JSE

[yakkosmurf]

Expensive cable ($$$) + Any speaker = No difference (nada) + No money ($$$)

Sorry, just been in a smartass mood lately.

Merry Christmas! (PC) Happy Holidays!

JSE
I would have agreed with you until a few years ago. My friend spent $800 on a set of speaker cables to go with his new NHT VT-2s. We picked up the speakers, but the stop was going to take a few hours to get the ends attached to the speaker cables. So, we went home and hooked up the new speakers using the old 12 gauge Monster cable speaker wire from the previous setup.

The new speakers sounded nice. A third friend joined us and enjoyed the music as well. When the speaker wire was done, the guy ran back to the shop leaving me and the other friend to listen and talk about what a waste spending that much on speaker wire was. Then, he returned and hooked up the new Audioquest cables. Holy crap, what a difference. It was if someone had removed a thick towel from the top of the speakers. The exact same recording was so much clearer sounding than it was a few minutes ago. It wasn't just me that noticed the difference. My fellow skeptic was even more impressed.

I don't know if I can afford $800 speaker cables for my fronts, but I'll never go with generic Monster Cable again. That's just my experience.