What gauge speaker wire to use?

[Gebhard]

Hello,

I'm switching from coaxs to 3-way separates in my 300E. I've already run 12g wire in the platic channel for existing speakers, but now with crossovers in the trunk (only place I think they'll fit) I need to run new wires. I'm not sure if there is room for 6 12g runs, and it seems the 5.25s and the tweeter wouldn't need that big of a wire anyway.

Any advice on which gauge wire I should run for each set of speakers? tweeters, 5.25s and 6.5s.

Are there any speaker wires that are shielded so they won't pick up external noise? (no problems now, I'm just in relentless pursuit of perfection, whoops, thats Lexus)

Thanks!
Gebhard

[speedy300Dturbo]

Specially shielded speaker wire tends to be overpriced and really is not worth it. As long as you keep the speaker wires away from wires that carry electric current (power cables, etc) they will not pick up an audible amount of noise. For your application, 12-16AWG wire should be fine.

I dont compete in the car audio world and believe that the bigger the speaker wire running to the speakers, the more the current yout amps can put out to them. Think of a water hose as the wire and the water as the current. I am not saying that everyone should go and buy 12 gauge speaker wire. I am using the 16 gauge wiring that came with the speaker sets the I bought, MB Quarts. Just remember to run the speaker wires down the opposite side of that car, away from your power wires. Joe