[OAC_Sparky]

darkpuppet,Mar 28 2008, 11:57 AM Wrote:depends on how big a snob you are.  I think the current belief is that signals travel primarily on the outside of the wire -- [right][snapback]260737[/snapback][/right]

That is not just for audio signals -- that actually applies to all electricity. It's referred to as the "skin" effect -- electrons all having a negative electrical charge will repel each other and force each other out to the perimeter of the cross section. Therefore, the electrons appear to travel along the outside -- a theory that is supported both by tests using hollow pipe and wire of the same circumference, and by the fact that a wire's current-carrying capacity is more proportionally tied to circumference than cross-section of the wire.

That said, a 14ga wire has an ampacity (current carrying capacity) of 15A. An 8ga wire has a 40A capacity. A stereo puts out nowhere near 15A (per channel), let alone 40A, so generally speaking a 14ga wire is more than enough for most applications UNLESS the run is more than 50' and voltage drop is an issue. Where the difference is worth paying for is in shielding (only if you're running speaker wires next to power cables) or quality end connectors. Neither of which is related to the wire size.