Difference between 22 gauge and 16 gauge wire?

[amk09]

Hey guys.

I just hooked up my car subwoofer to the surround sound system in my room for the heck of it, and dang its loud! I used the same 22 gauge wire that was connected to the stock subwoofer, and voila, it worked.

I was wondering how much of a difference it would make if I went to the store and got some 16 gauge wire, to maybe push a little more power to the sub?

Is this safe to do? I'm not sure if it will cause any problems, since all the stock wire that came with my surround sound system was 22 gauge.

I fear that I might cause my receiver to fry if I use the improper wire. But on the other hand, if switching to 16 gauge is no big deal, then I would like to do so.

Thanks ahead of time for any help or advice!!!

 

[anwaypasible]

OP u can read in, cos the math will show u.

"say you have 200 strands of 0.5 ohm wire in the cord.
that equals 100 ohms
but
a 400 strand cord with 0.25 ohm wire will also equal 100 ohms "
this is what has anwaypasible said... which is not correct, im afriad, cos wires are strands in parallel..

OP if u can do the math im sure you will understand, that thicker wires are better, assuming other vaiables are kept the same.

...............................................................................................

"a 400 strand cord with 0.25 ohm wire will also equal 100 ohms " false.

1/R(Total)= 1/0.25 X 400

1/R(total)=1600

therfore...R=0.000625 ohms.

................................................................................................

"say you have 200 strands of 0.5 ohm wire in the cord.
that equals 100 ohms " which it doesnt....

using teh same equation for parallel resistors ...1/R(total)=1/R + 1/R + 1/R ...and so on...

the ohms for the wire above is 0.0025 ohms..

...................................................................................................

this is all an example, a real speaker wire can be far much lower, - so the math shows that the thicker the 'ideal' wire the lower its resistance. (u only need to look at THIS post to understand this)

this post made me feel stupid again, and for that THANKS.
i didnt even begin to think about series and parallel.
the same concept of speaker connectivity is relative here.
two 4 ohm speakers wired in parallel is 2 ohms .. the resistance is lower!
and
two 4 ohm speakers wired in series is 8 ohms .. the resistance is higher!

god, i wonder if that is a matter of dyslexia or simple forgetfulness.

what i said was backwards, because i was thinking if you add a single strand of resistance, adding another strand of resistance should make the resistance double.
like if you were trying to push a bag of dirt on a cart, adding another bag of dirt onto the cart would make pushing twice as hard.

hehe, it is my focus, respect, and appreciation that needed an adjustment.

nobody else thinks we have been had for a cool science experiment?
there has got to be other people who think the same way, about adding another bag of soil would make the work required to push the cart double.
this thread should set things straight.

so does this mean we have to learn to appreciate the atomic structure is prevented from working in series to keep the resistance growing lower with each additional strand?
and would this mean we need to pay closer attention to the wire we buy to say, if the atomic structure wasnt prevented from working from series.. the cord would measure with a higher resistance?
i mean, if one company made certain there was no atomic structure problems (or anomolies) then that cord would be higher grade when compared to a manufacturer that didnt take the care and attention to structure the atoms.. and is this where your research ends?

because i think, yes getting the atomic structure right to keep the wires in parrallel.. even the atoms in the needed sequence themselves, is necessary to get the highest quality results.
but
using different atoms.. maybe translating to using different metals or materials.. would also provide a conclusion that the wire is higher quality.
when different materials have a transparent sound signature, it would resolve the quest for a premium speaker wire.
whether those different atoms are placed inside copper or some other metal.. i again dont know.
didnt go to college, and didnt read a book.
but it is good that somebody has shed some light on the situation, because there are hundreds of people who buy premium speaker cords (if not thousands).

i wasnt totally wrong, when i said the bigger cord would open up a wider path for more current to transfer.. and the more current can allow for better harmonics.
however, transients are smaller than harmonics to the ear.. making me think the cable needs to be, hate to say it but, less resistance again.
funny, because if transients are the first thing that goes when the wire is too small.. wouldnt that lead to transients being a current hog more than harmonics?
or is it..
transients are the easiest to transport across a wire, and harmonics suffer.

megamer has provided the will power to make me want to benchmark a little bit.
for instance, adding more wire between my speakers and receiver to try and obtain some better sound quality.
doesnt that mean we can now take 4 or 5 different wires from a box full of cords that have sound signature.. then try to create the perfect 'custom' sound signature with each cord being added together!?

if anybody has a wire that is too warm, and another wire that is too bright.. adding them together should equal less resistance then, AND create a more neutral sound with added current to the speaker.

it is fascinating and i'm glad it put me in my place.. because there are many other things of lesser prosperity that can create awe and demand attention.

this proves me right about another discussion i was in, about speaker voice coils and how they are not created equal.
those people laughed me out of the forum when i said one wrap of copper could talk to another wrap of copper.
based on this thread, it is the atomic structure that provides such a thing to be possible.
i only wonder if the atomic structure is wrapped around the entire girth of the wire or if only half.. because then, the voice coil wire wouldnt be allowed to be rotated any degree once set perfect in the loading machine.
or
if the loading machine has an eyeball to twist the atomic structure so that it lays on the voice coil former perfectly regardless of how the wire was loaded into the refill bin.
makes me never ever wanting to unwrap a working voice coil !!
i already knew in my heart that you cant just replace a voice coil with another one of the same size and expect the exact same results (or even anything resembling what it was before).

see, when speaker designers are that involved.. to know the atomic structure of the entire voice coil when it is assembled.. there is a certain key combination needed to unlock hidden 'spots' of the voice coil to unlock higher quality performance.
my virtual thinking of rationale takes me places.. thanks again megamer

 

[MEgamer]

nobody but me is interested in the difference between resistance and impedance?
i know if i have a 9 volt battery and connect a light bulb, the bulb burns bright.
more bulbs and they burn less.
even more bulbs and they dont burn at all.

i think hair dryers are hotter because they have less resistance.. to say, a resistance that is calibrated with the amount of voltage coming from the outlet to determine the amount of desired heat.
now if a nasa material were to use some electrons or whatever atom to bounce around, those atoms could be selectively chosen to move at a high rate of speed without much electricity required.
that would be the equivalent of 1500 watts of heat by using less voltage to aquire the atomic movement.
and that it is the atomic movement that is causing the heat build up.

i certainly couldnt differentiate electron and electricity, as i dont know where to begin.
some kind of packet sniffing would need to take place.. but i wouldnt know how the hardware is setup.
wondering if there would be a blank canvas to start, or if there is some type of material that is electrically conductive.
makes one wonder if an electron can pass along energy at all.. and if there are smaller atoms (or alternative atoms) that can decrease the size of the electricity being sent.

that might explain how computers run on electricity very well and efficient without much voltage needed.

i participated in this thread because i know a smaller wire can lack the transport medium of the voltage being requested to transfer.
you can use the smaller wire until it gets hot enough to melt the plastic around it.
it would be safe until the plastic melts and one wire touches the other wire.
and it wouldnt suprise me to find people actually prefer the smaller wire and run it close to the maximum for the characteristic sound it might have.
whether it is a function of heat, or a function of having no extra room for the request (and possibly working faster to make the room)
i suspect this is how the smaller wire can have additional sound characteristics.
because yes, the metal used could sound a certain way.. and then when that metal is 'abused' to work at full production - creating the heat, then the sound signature might change again.

i would think the wire would need to get hot for the entire duration of the cable.. and not simply a hot spot at the end of the cord.
because a hot spot at the tip would certainly melt the plastic while the rest of the cord is cool.
it's dangerous there at the tip because the wires will inevitably touch eachother.
to say that the wire needs some type of heat conductor in the metal to spread the length of the heat uniform to prevent damage at the tip.
to some, maybe that is their niche and considered a premium wire for them.
it wouldnt be far-fetched if the metals and chemicals they use are providing better results than most of the widely available wire that can be purchased.
a matter of what it takes to make the best of what they have.

"i think hair dryers are hotter because they have less resistance".... well hair dryers MUST have high resistnace in order to produce the heat, the coils which when UNCOILED are very very long, and longer length means higher resistance which equates to higher temperature.

impedence and resitnace isnt really different at all, except that impedence also has frequnecy as one of their variables.

"i would think the wire would need to get hot for the entire duration of the cable.. and not simply a hot spot at the end of the cord."
lol no need to say that, we know wires get hot for teh entire duration of the cable, its just the tconsturction of wire, simpy change this a little, even banana plugs.

"makes one wonder if an electron can pass along energy at all.. "
voltage is a measurement of force of the electrons moving, the electricity that u see, is just electrons moving. another way of saying is, electrical energy IS electrons. electrons are charged, so one COULD say they already have energy. im not going to go into too much detail, or else i would go completely off topic.

 

[MEgamer]

this post made me feel stupid again, and for that THANKS.
i didnt even begin to think about series and parallel.
the same concept of speaker connectivity is relative here.
two 4 ohm speakers wired in parallel is 2 ohms .. the resistance is lower!
and
two 4 ohm speakers wired in series is 8 ohms .. the resistance is higher!

god, i wonder if that is a matter of dyslexia or simple forgetfulness.

what i said was backwards, because i was thinking if you add a single strand of resistance, adding another strand of resistance should make the resistance double.
like if you were trying to push a bag of dirt on a cart, adding another bag of dirt onto the cart would make pushing twice as hard.

hehe, it is my focus, respect, and appreciation that needed an adjustment.

nobody else thinks we have been had for a cool science experiment?
there has got to be other people who think the same way, about adding another bag of soil would make the work required to push the cart double.
this thread should set things straight.

so does this mean we have to learn to appreciate the atomic structure is prevented from working in series to keep the resistance growing lower with each additional strand?
and would this mean we need to pay closer attention to the wire we buy to say, if the atomic structure wasnt prevented from working from series.. the cord would measure with a higher resistance?
i mean, if one company made certain there was no atomic structure problems (or anomolies) then that cord would be higher grade when compared to a manufacturer that didnt take the care and attention to structure the atoms.. and is this where your research ends?

because i think, yes getting the atomic structure right to keep the wires in parrallel.. even the atoms in the needed sequence themselves, is necessary to get the highest quality results.
but
using different atoms.. maybe translating to using different metals or materials.. would also provide a conclusion that the wire is higher quality.
when different materials have a transparent sound signature, it would resolve the quest for a premium speaker wire.
whether those different atoms are placed inside copper or some other metal.. i again dont know.
didnt go to college, and didnt read a book.
but it is good that somebody has shed some light on the situation, because there are hundreds of people who buy premium speaker cords (if not thousands).

i wasnt totally wrong, when i said the bigger cord would open up a wider path for more current to transfer.. and the more current can allow for better harmonics.
however, transients are smaller than harmonics to the ear.. making me think the cable needs to be, hate to say it but, less resistance again.
funny, because if transients are the first thing that goes when the wire is too small.. wouldnt that lead to transients being a current hog more than harmonics?
or is it..
transients are the easiest to transport across a wire, and harmonics suffer.

megamer has provided the will power to make me want to benchmark a little bit.
for instance, adding more wire between my speakers and receiver to try and obtain some better sound quality.
doesnt that mean we can now take 4 or 5 different wires from a box full of cords that have sound signature.. then try to create the perfect 'custom' sound signature with each cord being added together!?

if anybody has a wire that is too warm, and another wire that is too bright.. adding them together should equal less resistance then, AND create a more neutral sound with added current to the speaker.

it is fascinating and i'm glad it put me in my place.. because there are many other things of lesser prosperity that can create awe and demand attention.

this proves me right about another discussion i was in, about speaker voice coils and how they are not created equal.
those people laughed me out of the forum when i said one wrap of copper could talk to another wrap of copper.
based on this thread, it is the atomic structure that provides such a thing to be possible.
i only wonder if the atomic structure is wrapped around the entire girth of the wire or if only half.. because then, the voice coil wire wouldnt be allowed to be rotated any degree once set perfect in the loading machine.
or
if the loading machine has an eyeball to twist the atomic structure so that it lays on the voice coil former perfectly regardless of how the wire was loaded into the refill bin.
makes me never ever wanting to unwrap a working voice coil !!
i already knew in my heart that you cant just replace a voice coil with another one of the same size and expect the exact same results (or even anything resembling what it was before).

see, when speaker designers are that involved.. to know the atomic structure of the entire voice coil when it is assembled.. there is a certain key combination needed to unlock hidden 'spots' of the voice coil to unlock higher quality performance.
my virtual thinking of rationale takes me places.. thanks again megamer

i enjoy reading ur essay mate lol

 

[stillerfan15]

"i think hair dryers are hotter because they have less resistance".... well hair dryers MUST have high resistnace in order to produce the heat, the coils which when UNCOILED are very very long, and longer length means higher resistance which equates to higher temperature.

impedence and resitnace isnt really different at all, except that impedence also has frequnecy as one of their variables.

"i would think the wire would need to get hot for the entire duration of the cable.. and not simply a hot spot at the end of the cord."
lol no need to say that, we know wires get hot for teh entire duration of the cable, its just the tconsturction of wire, simpy change this a little, even banana plugs.

"makes one wonder if an electron can pass along energy at all.. "
voltage is a measurement of force of the electrons moving, the electricity that u see, is just electrons moving. another way of saying is, electrical energy IS electrons. electrons are charged, so one COULD say they already have energy. im not going to go into too much detail, or else i would go completely off topic.

Some good points but you are giving me a headache - thicker quality cables and plugs should mean lower resistence better impedence wattage and amperage transfer. So what are you saying?
dave

 

[MEgamer]

taht what im saying, i was just talking something off topic on that post.