What's the recommended speaker wire gauge for running between HT10's and an AVR? I've read all sorts of opinions but I'd prefer if @Matt Grant would answer since he designed the bad boys
What will be the approximate length of the speaker wire to each speaker as I know that plays into it.
The recommended gauge it's dependant upon the nominal ohms of the speaker and how long is a run it is. Just Google for "speaker wire gauge chart" and go from there.
Up to 30' - 16 awg. 30-50' - 14 awg. >50' - 12 awg. You could liekly stretch those figure a little as well and of course it doesn't hurt anything (except your wallet) going larger then needed. But I'd normally never use more then 12 gauge for main speaker runs unless they were crazy long or were some kind of monster speaker. In my system where the AVR and amps are at the rear I have 16 gauge going to the surrounds and 12 to the LCR. I used 12 to the LCR because I bought a 250' roll of 12/2 CL2 and it was easy to use it for both the LCR and the subs.
I ran 12ga throughout my theater before I hung the drywall. Some runs are over 50’ most are 25-30’. I can tell you that sometimes the 12ga becomes a pain when it’s time to terminate it at a connector or a speaker. Not all fittings accept 12ga worth of wire. I’ve come to appreciate that the larger ga of the wire assured me that the power will reach the destination, and if I have to remove a few strands in the last 3/8” of wire at the termination, I still have the benefits of the bigger wire without the hassle of making it fit. That being said, all of my banana clips and binding posts handle 12ga, but managing it on a crossover can be a pain.
