Will upgrading the speaker wires neccesary for the Harman Kardon cp40 home theater system?

Question

Im planning on purchasing this product and when i saw the speaker cables they looked pretty thin. I mean it does sound nice still but will upgrading the speaker wire make a huge difference? Also what gauge should I be aiming for for the cp40 system?

Answer 1

You can change the wires, but unless you are going to extend the wires to much longer distances than the original wire allows you won't get any significant benefit (other than maybe feeling better).

The reason people get concerned about long lengths of small gauge wire is because if the wire increases overall impedance (resistance) of the speaker it changes the overall frequency response ... mainly a reduction in output across the full audio spectrum ... and at very long distances additional effects start to selectively roll-off the higher frequencies. Note this latter effect is more or less independent of wire size ... it's length that matters.

For minimal effect the "rule" is to keep the total resistance of the speaker wire to less than 5% of the speaker impedence and total length under 50 feet (15 m). This means that, for a "normal" 8 ohm speaker, even if the wire were 22 awg (pretty small) the wire can be 12 feet (4 m) long. See the table in the article at the link.

Of course it won't hurt to change the wire to something thicker, and if you plan to play your system loud and have a very good ear you MAY hear a slight difference. Whether it is worth it is up to you.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Be carefull of the bull your dealt (usually by dealers) in this matter.

I had regular 16g speaker wire...tried cardas neutral ref.....No difference...except the Cardas were 2K

Answer 3

i dont know what speakers it comes with but speaker wire is pretty cheap. just get some 12 or 14 gauge wire, it should be more than enough