OK, here's the deal...
Speaker cable is designed to handle higher current than an instrument cable. Current is defined as the number of electrons passing a certain point in a certain time. Speaker signals are high enough that the inherent radio and other stray electrical noises they might pick up are buried under the signal you want. Therefore they don't need sheilding. But instrument level signals are very low level and so RF and other interference can easily be as loud as the signal. So, instrument cables are shielded. Plus, instrumetn level signals are very very low current so they're smaller wires.
Now, if you use an instrument cable to drive a speaker load, you're trying to cram more current down wires that aren't physically big enough to carry the electrons. So, what do those electrons do? They run into friction, where the energy changes from your audio signal into heat. That has two bad effects. First, less of the signal your amp is putting out gets to the speaker (that means you ain't as loud as you could be), AND, the heat builds up in the cable.
What does heat do? Well, it can start to melt the insulation in the cable. That could cause the two conductors to short against each other. What happens then? Depends on how well made your amp is how lucky you might be. A dead short on a speaker output can be catastrophic- melt the output transformer of a tube amp or fry the output transistors on a solid-state amp. But it's got other more devious ways to mess you up.
The strain of the heat can accelrate the terminal life of the components.
So, don't do it. It's silly and pointless. Cables just ain't that expensive.
If you've been doing it for a while, your amps ultimate life may be shortened, but it's probably not something that's cost effective to repair. That's because it doesn't really make sense to just replace the output tranny or power transistors just because you've abused it. As long as it sound right and works right now, and you quit using guitar cables, then you're OK at least for a while.
In the case of the guitarist using on to connect his guitar amp to the speaker cab, that extra loading might be causing the amp to distort differently than it will with a proper speaker cable. But that sound he likes is likely to go away in a puff of smoke, followed shortly after by the sound of an amp tech saying "That'll be more money than you can think of".
jte
Speaker cable is designed to handle higher current than an instrument cable. Current is defined as the number of electrons passing a certain point in a certain time. Speaker signals are high enough that the inherent radio and other stray electrical noises they might pick up are buried under the signal you want. Therefore they don't need sheilding. But instrument level signals are very low level and so RF and other interference can easily be as loud as the signal. So, instrument cables are shielded. Plus, instrumetn level signals are very very low current so they're smaller wires.
Now, if you use an instrument cable to drive a speaker load, you're trying to cram more current down wires that aren't physically big enough to carry the electrons. So, what do those electrons do? They run into friction, where the energy changes from your audio signal into heat. That has two bad effects. First, less of the signal your amp is putting out gets to the speaker (that means you ain't as loud as you could be), AND, the heat builds up in the cable.
What does heat do? Well, it can start to melt the insulation in the cable. That could cause the two conductors to short against each other. What happens then? Depends on how well made your amp is how lucky you might be. A dead short on a speaker output can be catastrophic- melt the output transformer of a tube amp or fry the output transistors on a solid-state amp. But it's got other more devious ways to mess you up.
The strain of the heat can accelrate the terminal life of the components.
So, don't do it. It's silly and pointless. Cables just ain't that expensive.
If you've been doing it for a while, your amps ultimate life may be shortened, but it's probably not something that's cost effective to repair. That's because it doesn't really make sense to just replace the output tranny or power transistors just because you've abused it. As long as it sound right and works right now, and you quit using guitar cables, then you're OK at least for a while.
In the case of the guitarist using on to connect his guitar amp to the speaker cab, that extra loading might be causing the amp to distort differently than it will with a proper speaker cable. But that sound he likes is likely to go away in a puff of smoke, followed shortly after by the sound of an amp tech saying "That'll be more money than you can think of".
jte
