Does SpeakOn cable diameter matter?

[abarson]

The best way to get Speakon cables is to buy them from Monoprice. The quality is great and the price is crazy good. They began as a cable manufacturer many years ago and now make and sell all kinds of audio products with terrific quality and pricing. Some people think that the 3rd party Speakons are troublesome, but that is not the case for at least the last 5 years - they are excellent. My neighbor provides professional PA and DJ services and that is all he uses. I have bought a couple for my needs as well - no problems!!

i.e. - 3 foot NL4/NL4 cable - 12 AWG cable - $8.99 - click here and select the length you want - Invalid Link Removed

Interesting. I've always heard that since these Monoprice cables don't use real Neutrik connectors they have a high number of failures and latch release issues. Customer reviews seem to bear that out.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Interesting. I've always heard that since these Monoprice cables don't use real Neutrik connectors they have a high number of failures and latch release issues. Customer reviews seem to bear that out.

Holy cow!

The best way to get Speakon cables is to buy them from Monoprice. The quality is great and the price is crazy good. They began as a cable manufacturer many years ago and now make and sell all kinds of audio products with terrific quality and pricing. Some people think that the 3rd party Speakons are troublesome, but that is not the case for at least the last 5 years - they are excellent. My neighbor provides professional PA and DJ services and that is all he uses. I have bought a couple for my needs as well - no problems!!

i.e. - 3 foot NL4/NL4 cable - 12 AWG cable - $8.99 - click here and select the length you want - Invalid Link Removed

Out of the 17 reviews on just that page you linked only 4 are not about the connectors not locking, wiggly or failing, yet they still give a 4 of 5 star ratting after talking about the connector not working properly.

 

[mmbongo]

The best way to get Speakon cables is to buy them from Monoprice. The quality is great and the price is crazy good. They began as a cable manufacturer many years ago and now make and sell all kinds of audio products with terrific quality and pricing. Some people think that the 3rd party Speakons are troublesome, but that is not the case for at least the last 5 years - they are excellent. My neighbor provides professional PA and DJ services and that is all he uses. I have bought a couple for my needs as well - no problems!!

i.e. - 3 foot NL4/NL4 cable - 12 AWG cable - $8.99 - click here and select the length you want - Invalid Link Removed

Actually, those are junk.

 

[Ryan J]

There are plenty of quality instrument cables available if you avoid the off-shore Amazon and eBay type products. All the major manufacturers have high quality models. (note that I did not say esoteric or audiophile or "magic woo-woo") models.

Ebay cables is what I started looking at before deciding to ask you guys. Specifically, this:

Van Damme Blue Speakon to Speakon Loud Speaker Cable Wire. 2 Pole Neutrik NL2FX | eBay

Just because I am at least familiar with and like Van Damme cables from an instrument perspective, so I figured the speaker cables would likely be good as well.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I will NEVER buy another MonoPrice cable or connector!
That's exactly what failed on me a few years ago & convinced me to use REAL Neutrik connectors afterwards.

TBH I'm shocked that someone is promoting that junk on here, the news is All Over in this sub-forum!

 

[zombywoof5050]

It will, just got to give the tip a nice tight twist before slipping it into the cup.

I got some 12 AWG Livewire brand from the Guitar Center's bulk wire bin that was pre cut they had priced for $3 for ten feet so I grabbed it knowing very well it was way overkill.
Works good if a bit stiff, made two cables from it. The strain ring also fit over the jacket with room to spare, using the NL4FX connector which is what most complete sets of 12 AWG are sold with.

Neutrik says 12-10 AWG in their specs for the 4 pole,
NL4FX
and 16-12AWG for their two pole.
NL2FX
You must have the two pole?

I also used the Livewire Elite 12AWG from Guitar Center bulk, with the NL4FX connectors, and it all fit perfectly. I don't think the cables are too stiff at all, pretty flexible actually.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Wait, what?
If you bought pre-assembled LiveWire cables, how do you know what the fit was like at the terminals?
Did you take it apart?
The jacket on those isn't as thick as SJOOW.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Wait, what?
If you bought pre-assembled LiveWire cables, how do you know what the fit was like at the terminals?
Did you take it apart?

He got the bulk Livewire Brand wire that comes on a spool, some Guitar Centers had this.

I also used the Livewire Elite 12AWG from Guitar Center bulk, with the NL4FX connectors,

The locations that use to have bulk cable in my area no longer sells any bulk. All four of them and neither do the other shops anymore.

 

[Zooberwerx]

The largest cable / conductor I can comfortably jam into a Speakon is 13 g...I have a couple spools from PartsExpress in both 2 & 4 conductor. It's overkill.

Riis

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I will NEVER buy another MonoPrice cable or connector!
That's exactly what failed on me a few years ago & convinced me to use REAL Neutrik connectors afterwards.

For those too lazy to make cables, like me after making 100's for sound companies, I've had good experiences with ProCo. They use branded Neutrik connectors and quality cable.

 

[zombywoof5050]

He got the bulk Livewire Brand wire that comes on a spool, some Guitar Centers had this.


The locations that use to have bulk cable in my area no longer sells any bulk. All four of them and neither do the other shops anymore.

Correct, they had a big spool of it and would cut off however long you want for about $3/foot, and I had to direct them to a website showing the best price I found for the connectors and they matched that price, great deal. The cable itself has "LIVE WIRE ELITE Speaker Cable / 2 x 12ga conductors" printed on it. Dang, they quit selling the bulk cable?
Edit: I agree that the 12ga wire was overkill, but that's what GC had, and it all fit perfectly, and IMO this particular cable is actually quite flexible (for 12ga). Also the 12ga fits nice and snug in the strain relief which is reassuring.

 

[agedhorse]

The added advantage of building my own is that IF one fails I can cut off a portion & put on a new connector, since they usually go bad at the bend right before the connector.
Yes, I've had it happen, losing 10 cm of wire is better than replacing the whole thing.
It also costs less to build your own, IME.
Sure you can get them cheaper, but then they don't specify what they're made of or the Capacitance/Length.

Or you buy pro level cables that are properly assembled and they last a lifetime, you won;t have to worry about failures.

I have shop fabbed 4 wire cables by the road case full, the equivalent of buying a pro manufactured cable (since we did that by the hundreds) and we haven't had a SpeakOn cable failure in probably 10 years. This is heavy duty use, thousands of shows.

Neutrik says 12-10 AWG in their specs for the 4 pole,
NL4FX
and 16-12AWG for their two pole.
NL2FX
You must have the two pole?

Assembling with 10 gauge is a bitch and a half, ESPECIALLY 4 wire and even more especially the end with the conductor crossover. I did it once for a customer and never again (and we have a cable assembly bench where we could assemble commercial quantities).

The best way to get Speakon cables is to buy them from Monoprice. The quality is great and the price is crazy good. They began as a cable manufacturer many years ago and now make and sell all kinds of audio products with terrific quality and pricing. Some people think that the 3rd party Speakons are troublesome, but that is not the case for at least the last 5 years - they are excellent. My neighbor provides professional PA and DJ services and that is all he uses. I have bought a couple for my needs as well - no problems!!

i.e. - 3 foot NL4/NL4 cable - 12 AWG cable - $8.99 - click here and select the length you want - Invalid Link Removed

Probably the single biggest source of intermittent problems I have seen related to speaker connections. They are the worst quality cable I have seen, and when the internal contacts of the connector come apart they can ruin the mating connector also, causing additional repairs (once you can get the damn things apart since they tend to wedge together). PLEASE stop recommending them, they are still problematic.

It's an example of getting less than what you pay for.

Interesting. I've always heard that since these Monoprice cables don't use real Neutrik connectors they have a high number of failures and latch release issues. Customer reviews seem to bear that out.

This is absolutely correct, every time I see a unit in for repair with a cut off speaker cable and the connector sticking out the back, it ends up being one of those. Good grief I wish people weren't so darn cheap, generally the cost to repair an amp that has this problem is about $100 because it's difficult to get apart without causing additional damage.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Or you buy pro level cables

I have the knowledge & tools to make my own, so that is what I do. The connectors & wire are cheap & easily available, as well.
Most can't tell which is "pro level" & it's exactly why we have threads like this, loads of them.

 

[murph7489]

As an EE specifying products on a drawing for the industrial controls market

Could of just stopped right there..ha ha...I know the differences..but in the field sometimes shorthand gets used...everything on site is there due to the architects specs, or engineer...but honestly we don't use sj for anything but extension cords or to fix a power tool..

I accept your specificity though it is important.

 

[seamonkey]

Ebay cables is what I started looking at before deciding to ask you guys. Specifically, this:

Van Damme Blue Speakon to Speakon Loud Speaker Cable Wire. 2 Pole Neutrik NL2FX | eBay

Just because I am at least familiar with and like Van Damme cables from an instrument perspective, so I figured the speaker cables would likely be good as well.

Their ad says:
‘Ultra Pure Oxygen Free Copper’ (UPOFC) twin conductor speaker cable

Are these made for superconducting, submerged in liquid helium, speaker cabinets?



http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#oxygenfree

Otherwise, they look like fine cables and connectors and should last a long time.

 

[chadds]

Jean Claude Van Damme?

 

[BassmanPaul]

Silver is about 7% more conductive than copper, rarely worth the cost or hassle because silver is not as mechanically robust.

Another negative is that Long John could come looking for his Silver!

 

[Jeff Scott]

Another negative is that Long John could come looking for his Silver!

Or, the Lone Ranger!

 

[agedhorse]

Another negative is that Long John could come looking for his Silver!

Arrrrrr

Or, the Lone Ranger!

And, "Hi Ho"

 

[BassmanPaul]

Or, the Lone Ranger!

Shouldn't that be The Loan Arranger??