Speaker cable gauge and amplifier power

If you believe "pipe size" is that important, giving a cable like Audience AU-24 Speaker cables a spin can be very surprising. I used them with a Pass X-250 driving Revels for a couple of years and STILL remember my shock at how they outperformed the garden hoses I was using at the time.

It's like Albert said- MANY factors go into cable design.

These are all interesting and enlightening responses. However, they have strayed a little from my original question. I was wondering about the interaction between amplifier and speaker cable. Does the output of an amplifier change based on the size of the speaker cable used (assuming all the other factors involved in cable design are held constant)?

For example, say you have an amp that produces 60 watts into 8 ohms, use an 8-foot run of speaker cable, and a pair of 8-ohm (nominal) speakers. Wouldn't the output of the amplifier change based on the resistance of the wire?

According to Albert Porter and other posters, even relatively thin speaker cable will pass higher amounts of current than most home amplifiers generate. But are there other ways in which using a thicker wire might affect the performance of an amp?

According to Albert Porter and other posters, even relatively thin speaker cable will pass higher amounts of current than most home amplifiers generate. But are there other ways in which using a thicker wire might affect the performance of an amp?

I was trying to inspire you to think beyond wire gauge.

I don't disagree larger gauge might be better, my favorite speaker wires are about 12 gauge under all that outer wrapping.

Thicker wire effecting the amp is perhaps the wrong way to look at it. The wire is passive and always lossy in relationship to the best ability of the amp. The best a wire can do is move most of the energy to the speaker with as little damage as possible and hopefully not picking up too much RF, vibration, inductance and other problems in between.

What I'm getting at is two identical wires (gauge wise) can sound totally different but not necessarily because it's effecting the performance of the amp. More likely it's showing the personality of delivering the energy to your speaker. Sure, things like capacitance and resistance are real and effect the sound but there are other things that are not so easy to measure.

When we have a perfect way to move that energy, there will be no need to discuss wire any longer.

Basically, choosing the lesser evil in wire is like choosing other compromises within ones system.

Albertporter...As Sean (the missing Sean) has told us many times, some wire with exotic construction CAN affect the power amp in undesirable ways unless terminated with a Zoebel network. I don't think that cables can do the opposite...make the amp work better.

Guys

The name of the game is hi-fi. Our concern is the signal riding the current and not the electricity . Of course clean power will carry a clearer signal, but that is easier said than done. Hi-fi claims that the 1st watt is the most important....So then 22 gauge would cut it. Mega weight and watt is mega loss . Did you ever measure what your system actually draws as far as power ,then what they say it can deliver. You'll be suprised .....