16/2 In Wall Speaker Wire: The Standard CMR Line
Quick answer / TL;DR: 16/2 in wall speaker wire is the two-conductor 16 AWG line in the CMR jacket – the standard gauge for the home's concealed run and the rated stock the wall's cavity requires. The 16 AWG's round-trip loss holds under about a tenth of the 8 ohm speaker's impedance to roughly fifty feet, which covers the room's throw in the common case. The 14/2 is the step at the longer distance and the 4 ohm load, and the 18/2 is the short ceiling run below it.
The 16/2 in wall speaker wire is the stock the residential install reaches for first: the two-conductor pair at the 16 AWG, the standard gauge the room's throw serves, in the CMR jacket the concealed path requires. The 16/2 is the count and the size – two conductors, sixteen gauge – and the in wall figure is the jacket's rating: the line the drywall's cavity takes, the standard the home's runs sit on, and the rung of the ladder the measurement's figure selects for the room in front of the install.
This is the standard line's view: the 16/2 figures and the loss they carry, the room's throw the gauge serves, the CMR jacket the concealed path requires, and the run where the measurement steps to the 14/2 instead.
The 16/2, and What Each Figure Does
The 16/2 is the line's two figures: two conductors and the 16 AWG, and each does a job in the run the install dresses. The two conductors are the speaker's circuit – the plus and the minus the amplifier's output drives and the voice coil's current returns on – and the count is the standard two-post speaker's requirement rather than the bi-wire's four. The 16 AWG is the conductor's size, the gauge the resistance per foot reads from, and the figure that sets the loss the run pays against the speaker's impedance. The in wall figure is the jacket – the CMR rating the concealed path requires – and the three figures together are the line the standard room's run takes: the pair, the gauge and the rating the wall's cavity reads.
| The figure | The value | The job it does |
|---|---|---|
| The conductors | Two, the plus and the minus | The speaker's circuit at the two posts |
| The gauge | 16 AWG, the standard conductor | The loss the run pays against the impedance |
| The jacket | The CMR rating, the print along the wire | The concealed path's allowance |
| The length | The room's throw, measured in the cavity | The run the gauge's fraction holds |
The table is the line's four figures and the jobs they do, and the reading is the standard the room's run sits on. The conductors are the circuit's count, the gauge is the loss's figure, the jacket is the path's rating, and the length is the run's measurement. The 16/2 is the line the four figures select together for the room's standard throw, and the install is the one the standard stock serves without the heavier rung the longer distance would call for.
The Loss, and the Room's Throw
The 16 AWG's loss is the figure the room's throw reads against, and the arithmetic is the one the gauge ladder runs on. The conductor's resistance is about 0.4 ohms per 100 feet, the run's loss is the round trip – the figure doubled for the current's out and back – and the fraction is the loss against the speaker's impedance. The 25 foot run is the 50 feet of copper, the 0.2 ohm the 8 ohm speaker's fortieth, and the 50 foot run is the 100 feet, the 0.4 ohm the twentieth – the rule's tenth the run's edge, and the standard gauge's territory the room's throw inside. The 16/2 is the line the room's run holds at the fraction the rule serves, and the throw past the standard distance is the figure the 14/2 takes over at.
The 4 ohm speaker, and the gauge that steps down
The 4 ohm speaker is the load that moves the gauge's selection, and the figure is the fraction's tightening. The 16/2's loss against the 4 ohm value is the figure the 8 ohm's reads at twice the weight – the tenth the rule holds at the 8 is the fifth the 4 ohm's circuit spends at the same run – and the gauge the 4 ohm's run calls for is the one up: the 14/2 where the 16/2 served the 8. The 16/2 is the standard the 8 ohm speaker's run sits on, and the 4 ohm load is the figure the ladder's next rung serves at the distance the 16 held.
The CMR Jacket, and the Concealed Run
The CMR jacket is the line's path figure, and the concealed run is the one the rating answers. The wall's cavity – the stud bay the drywall covers, the joist space the ceiling's structure encloses – is the path the CMR stock serves, the communication wire's listing for the enclosed circuit, and the 16/2 in wall line is the standard gauge in that jacket. The same 16/2 in the general-purpose jacket is the open run's wire, and the code's reading of the concealed path is the figure that separates the two. The 16/2 in wall is the line the room's concealed run takes: the standard gauge for the throw, the CMR for the path, and the print along the jacket the check the install reads at the spool.
The print, and the check at the spool
The CMR print along the jacket is the check the install makes before the fish starts, and the figure is the rating the roll carries. The print runs at the interval the listing sets, and the reading is the one that confirms the 16/2 at the spool rather than the general-purpose roll the open run serves. The check is the minute the concealed path's line is confirmed – the CMR at the jacket, the 16/2 at the gauge, the two-conductor at the count – and the install that passes it is the one the wall's cavity holds without the replacement the absent print would force. The 16/2's in wall figure is the print, and the spool's check is the stage the figure is read at.
16/2 in wall speaker wire is stocked as the two-conductor 16 AWG line in the CMR jacket, the print at the listing's interval, solid and stranded, on the spool and in the box length; the catalog lists the gauge, the rating and the length per roll.
Real-World Applications
The living room's front pair: the 16/2 through the stud bays, the CMR print the inspection reads, and the room's throw inside the gauge's fraction at the 8 ohm speaker. The bedroom's surround pair: the standard run the 16/2 serves, the ceiling's short path the pair crosses, and the CMR the cavity's path requires. The home theater's four runs: the measured throws the installer reads at the rack, the 16/2 the three shorter runs select and the 14/2 the long one steps to, the ladder's arithmetic the drywall's closure precedes. In each the 16/2 in wall speaker wire is the standard line – the pair at the sixteen gauge, the CMR at the path, and the room's throw the fraction's figure holds – and the run past the standard distance is the one the 14/2 takes over.
Related reading: The gauge selection the standard sits in, in full: what gauge speaker wire for in wall — what-gauge-speaker-wire-in-wall
Related reading: The install the standard line runs, start to finish: in wall speaker wire installation — in-wall-speaker-wire-installation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is 16/2 in wall speaker wire?
The two-conductor 16 AWG speaker line in the CMR jacket – the standard gauge for the home's concealed run and the rated stock the wall's cavity requires. The two conductors are the speaker's circuit, the 16 AWG is the conductor the loss's fraction reads from, and the CMR is the jacket the concealed path's listing answers. It is the standard the room's throw sits on, with the 14/2 the step at the longer distance.
How far can I run 16/2 speaker wire?
At the 8 ohm speaker the 16/2 holds the rule's fraction to about fifty feet of run – the hundred feet of round trip, the 0.4 ohm the speaker's twentieth. The room's throw sits inside that distance in the common case, and the run past it steps to the 14/2. The 4 ohm speaker's fraction tightens at the same run, and the gauge the 4 ohm's line calls for is the 14/2 where the 16/2 served the 8.
Is 16/2 the same as 16 gauge speaker wire?
The 16/2 is the two-conductor 16 gauge line – the count and the gauge stated together, the two conductors the standard speaker's circuit takes at the sixteen gauge. The in wall figure is the jacket's rating added to the two: the CMR the concealed path requires. The same 16/2 in the general-purpose jacket is the open run's wire, and the rating is the figure the path selects.
Do I need 14/2 instead of 16/2 for in wall runs?
The run's length and the speaker's impedance select: the 16/2 serves the standard room's throw at the 8 ohm speaker, and the 14/2 is the step at the distance past it and at the 4 ohm load. The figure is the round-trip loss against the speaker's impedance, and the measurement – the cavity's route rather than the plan's straight line – is the length the arithmetic reads. The standard room's run is the 16/2's, and the measurement is the figure that decides whether the heavier rung is the one the run takes.
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