Cable Run Calculator

This calculator estimates the round-trip electrical resistance of an audio cable run and checks it against a maximum recommended length for the connection type you select. Total Resistance comes from a per-foot resistance figure that steps up by wire gauge -- thicker wire (a lower AWG number) carries less resistance per foot, so at a fixed length, moving from 22 AWG to 18 AWG cuts resistance by more than half. Cable Length and Wire Gauge both raise Total Resistance as they increase, though which one moves the number more depends on where in their ranges you're working: gauge steps make a bigger jump near typical patch-cable lengths, while length dominates once you're running hundreds of feet.

Max Recommended Length is a fixed lookup by cable type -- balanced XLR tolerates the longest runs (300 ft) because differential signaling rejects the noise picked up along the way, while unbalanced 1/4" cable is limited to 25 ft before high-frequency loss and hum become audible. Signal Loss only applies to the two analog cable types (XLR and unbalanced) at a flat estimated rate per foot; Power Loss only applies to speaker cable, using the resistance figure against a standard 8Ω load. This calculator does not account for connector quality, shielding integrity, or the actual frequency-dependent skin-effect losses real high-frequency signals experience -- treat the numbers here as a run-planning guide, and confirm anything safety-critical against the cable manufacturer's own spec sheet.