Power Loss caused by Wire Length (Line Loss)

Wires have a certain resistance that is in series with the speaker. Because of the resistance in the wire between the
power amplifier and the speaker the speaker will 'lose' power to the wire. With larger (thicker) wire the loss is less
because a thicker wire has less resistance. The wire acts like a voltage divider and cuts the amount of voltage from
the amplifier available to the speaker.

For instance: A 200 feet cable AWG 20 has a resistance of about 4 Ohms, a 25 feet cable AWG 12 has a resistance
of about 0.08 Ohms !

Calculation of the cable size for a given power and cable length for a 70V / 100V system:

A = wire size (square cross selection in qmm)

l = length of cable between power amp and speaker (one cable with two conductors)
N = power rating of the loudspeaker (with transformer)
U = output voltage at the power amp
n = acceptable power loss in the cable in percent (10% = 1dB)

Example 1:

cable length l = 300m

Power rating of the speaker = 100W
Voltage at the amp = 100V
Acceptable power loss = 10% (1dB)

Necessary A = ( 0.035 * (100 - 10) * 300 * 100 ) / ( 10 * 100 * 100 ) = 0.945 qmm

A cable of about 1 qmm (each conductor in the two-conductor cable) is required for a 100W system with a maximum
power loss of 1dB.

Formula for calculating the Total Load Impedance of a speaker line:

Total Load Impedance = Zt = E² / P

Zt = Total Load Impedance

E² = Voltage square = 70.7 X 70.7 (70V System) or 100 * 100 (100V System)
P = total power (speaker power * number of speakers)

Example 2 for a 100V system:

E = 100 (100V system used)

P = 100W

Zt = E² / P = 100 * 100 / 100 = 100 the total load impedance is 100 Ohms!

Example 3 for a 70V system (exact 70.7V):

E = 70.7 (70V system used)

P = 100W

Zt = E² / P = 70,7 * 70.7 / 100 = 4998.5 / 100 = 49.98 the total load impedance is 50 Ohms!

From example 1: The cable run is 300m and the wire is 1 qmm with a resistance of about 18.5 Ohms/km.

The cable resistance is = 300m * 18 Ohms/km * 2 * 1/1000 = 10.8 Ohms

( Factor 2 for two wires in a cable, factor 1/1000 for the km in the wire resistance )

The cable adds a resistance of 10.8 Ohms to the speaker impedance of 100 Ohms (the above 100V system in the
Example 1). The amp would 'see' about 111 Ohms. With the available 100V this will produce a power of about 90
Watts, reaching the speaker. This is 100% less that the full 100W that would be produced by connecting the speaker
directly with a very short cable. 10% less is 1 dB less. 1 dB less is the maximum line loss acceptable !