Power cord? Why?

Does it make sense to use greater than 12 gauge for the power cord since the outlet itself to the breaker box is only 12 gauge? In most cases bigger is better. However, if the outlet can only give you 20 Amps then what's the point of using a 30 Amp power cord since your device is drawing less than 6 Amps anyway?

Anyone did A/B test with 12 gauge vs 10 or 8 gauge? I've compared 12 vs 14 and it doesn't make much difference. 12 gauge seems to give slightly better bass than the 14 but not by much. From my own A/B test, the difference is no greater than 2~3%.

S23chang: The longer the run, the more series resistance. The longer the run, the greater the voltage drop. As such, heavier wire will never hurt you ( other than the pocketbook ) and can only help. You have to remember that some people may have runs in their house that are 100 foot long or longer. To top it off, some product do pull way more than 6 amps of current, i.e. high bias power amps of good size. Couple these with low impedance speakers that are low efficiency and you've got an instant "power sucker" all ready to go. There are amps on the market that can drink everything that a 15 or 20 amp circuit can deliver when being pushed hard. Besides that, building for "worst case scenario" right now covers you for any changes made in the future. The difference in cost right now would be nothing compared to what it would cost to re-string new, heavier gauge wire at a later date.

14 gauge should be fine for any line level components. I would recommend at least 12 and preferably 10 gauge for an amp. Really big amps may benefit from 8 gauge, especially if you have a long run. If running everything from one dedicated line, use the heaviest gauge feasible. Sean
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S23chang...Voltage drop aside (because that depends on how long the wire is) 12 gage wire is acceptable (building codewise) for circuits that draw 20 amps CONTINIOUSLY. This is based on the wire not getting too hot. It will actually carry much higher current, and even the 20 amp fuse or breaker that the 12 gage wire is supposed to have will carry 30 amps for quite a few seconds...and longer if it is a slow-blow or time delay type.

S23chang, I don't know about all the EE stuff, but higher and lower gauge cables do sound different and has different effects on different types of component ie digital front end and amps.

One anomaly I found is I like higher gauge on digital and modest gauge on amps.

Thank you Sean. I guess there is no point for me to change from 12 to 10 since I don't really have a dedicated line for my stereo system. The power cord I need is only less than 3 ft long anyway. Like what I observed from 14 to 12, there probably will not be much difference from 12 to 10 in this case.