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Can I use 24 gauge speaker cable?

I’ve been trying to google this but I only get vague answers.
I want to know if I can use 24 gauge cable as speaker cable. And if not: why not?
Usual answers are “no, you should use xx gauge”, but I’m looking for why is that? Will the speakers of the amp go off in flames if the resistance is too high? I don’t even get that because the resistance isn’t even that much of a difference between speaker cable sizes, compared to the speakers resistance.

I’m talking about ca 16ft / 5m distance between amp and speaker. By the way should that measure 16 ft or double (32ft because one cable is plus and the other minus)?
sjeesjie

Showing 1 response by dekay

dekay's avatar
dekay
5,349 posts
 
Wow:

I've been using the same 26 gauge solid core copper speaker wire (with various SS/tube based setups) for the past 18 years and have not experienced any of the "downsides" posted by others in this thread.

The speaker wire lengths have been in the range of 10-12 feet in length.

Not a fan of the "stranded" wire I've tried in the past, but have zero experience with the new wave of them.

DeKay
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