Amp to Speaker Hookup

[DavidE]

I'm connecting two 8 ohm speaker cabinets to a Markbass SD800 head. Due to the vertical orientation of the bottom cabinet (I'm doing this for a reason), my highest quality cables won't reach from the SD800 to the input of the bottom cabinet. I hooked a speaker cable from the amp to the top cabinet and then another cable from the top cabinet to the bottom cabinet. Safe to assume that's the same as hooking each cabinet directly to an output on the head? The top cab is a Markbass and the bottom is a Schroeder.

Thanks

 

[BBEgo]

Yup, that's correct.
Can you really hear a difference between different speaker cables? I'm only asking because I can't tell 1 speaker wire from another.

 

[DavidE]

I'd just rather use my thickest and best cables for this 800 watt rig. I have some thinner and longer cables, but why not use the best stuff if I have it?

 

[BBEgo]

Oh yeah, I get that.

 

[Bassamatic]

The only requirement for speaker wire is that it is heavy enough to handle the current. From a head down to a cab underneath, even 18 GA is enough, but you can use 16 if you want insurance. I use regular wire, like a lamp cord so it is clear that it is not an instrument cable.

Just as important to have good, solid connectors. I have added the Speakons to some cabs for the better connections. The 1/4" plugs and jacks that we use are terrible for speaker level audio.

 

[Ric5]

Where you really need good speaker cables is for the PA subwoofers.