Cable Confusion!

RyannosaurusRex · #1 02-28-2011, 02:50 PM

Hey folks, I was playing a few days ago, and I realized that with my head(250 watts @ 4ohms) and my 410(350~ @8ohms), and 115(175 @ 8ohms), I'm fairly sure I should be getting far more power than what I currently am. I have a Hartke HA2500, Carvin 115, and Ashdown Mag 410T. So, I was looking and I saw an output on my head, and the 410, that looked like an XLR? So I looked it up, and couldn't find anything. But, I did find that there are instrument cables, and speaker cables. I believe I am using instrument cables for everything, would getting speaker cables make THAT big of a difference? Also, is it an XLR output, or something else? Sorry for being so vague, and please be gentle

Thanks for the help!

IbanezBass69 · #2 02-28-2011, 02:52 PM

NEVER use instrument cables in place of speaker cables. EVER! The sound you are getting from your rig will increase many times over if you move to speaker cables, as instrument cables are not meant to carry that kind of power.

PhiDeck · #3 02-28-2011, 03:00 PM

If you actually know what an XLR looks like, and the one on your head looks like an XLR, then it is. In which case it's probably a DI output (line-level, balanced).

All power used to heat undersized speaker wires is power not delivered to the speaker(s). Whether the difference is audible depends on the gauge and length of the wires, and on the impedance of the speaker.

Bass_Pounder · #4 02-28-2011, 03:15 PM

Yes..........it makes a difference using speaker or instrument cable. You will NOT really hear a difference, but you will save your head from eventually self-destructing.

250 watts is still just 250 watts. In your setup, you are sending 125 watts to each cabinet. You can't expect it to be knocking down walls and sterilizing the livestock.