Could it help to splice different gauges of speaker wires?

Question

I'm considering the Philips 5.1 HTS3544. Upon researching, I've learned that it has the speaker wires already built in (perhaps 18-20 gauge). I'm using 12 gauge wires for my current setup. My question is, would I notice a difference in quality or performance if I trimmed off most of the 20 gauge wire and used as much 12 gauge wire as possible, or would it not make a difference since the 12 gauge is ultimately feeding into a 20 gauge anyway? My thought is that the 12 gauge could start at the receiver, and then about 1 inch of 20 gauge wire would remain attached to the speaker - but would that do any good?

Answer 1

Speaker wire is chosen based upon the circuit design of the crossover network, and the speakers.  Considerations such as  input/output  inpedence, and reactive capacitance are used to determine the wire material, and gauge.

If the Philips Design and Manufacturing Eng.'s thaught that 12 gauge wire would enhance the performance of their product, they would have used that, instead of the smaller gauge.

However, you can replace the wire on one speaker, and A-B the differrence for yourself.

Answer 2

I very much doubt you would notice any improvement from larger gauge wire.

You only need to be concerned if you are operating at high power and/or running long distances to the speakers. The primary issue with speaker wire is the effect of resistance (from long runs/small wire) on the frequency response (See link). Basically you want to keep the resistance of the wire under 5% of the speaker impedence (usually 4 or 8 ohms) If you aren't extending the length past 10 ft or so you should be fine as is. If you need to extend, a short length of smaller gauge wire won't have any appreciable effect as long as the main run is larger gauge.

Just make sure you make a good connection.