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Making my own speaker cables. Few quick Questions

tb420

tb420

Sep 23, 2008
356
0
#1
I'm not one of those tone nazi guys who has to have everything just right. I just need it to work right, the first time, and the last time.

So I've started soldering my own instrument cables and its worked great so far. My question is, is there any difference in making instrument cables and speaker cables? Seems speaker cables just use higher quality wire, jacks and different power capabilities. Do I need to do anything different than stripping some of the plastic back, solder the ground and lead? Seems pretty simple?

Again, you don't need to write up a whole essay, if you want go for it, I'll read it and enjoy it, but just looking for the basics here.

Thanks
 
#3
My father works on firetrucks and they replaced their old sirens with 20 inch subwoffers on the trucks, they use this huge ass cable, i used some of that with quarter inch jacks from radioshack sodered in, and to make it look nice we covered it in braided stainless steel line, like they use on cars a motercycles, i use it on a ampeg svt cl and a 810e cabnet and have never had any prolems with it
 
#6
xaxxat said:
Good info:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
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Indeed it is good info. Thanks mate.
fenderfunker said:
You have to use the right cable, sheilded or un-sheilded. Do some research, before you damage your amps, or get massive hums in your instruments.
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Thats why I made this thread ;).
etoncrow said:
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=601162
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Thanks. That helped a lot on the instrument cable questions I had, but still a few speaker cable questions. I asked in there so hopefully someone will answer.

Thanks guys
 
#7
Speaker cable is a twisted pair, not a shield & center conductor. It should be heavy enough gauge to handle the power you're planning on putting through it - 16 gauge is OK for short runs (a foot or two) but 14 is better. Most patch cable will be 20 gauge or smaller - not good for speakers - and will have a braided or spiral wrap shield - again not good for speaker runs.
Go here Invalid Link Removed Page 37 has some useful info.
 
#8
Buck Spunni said:
Speaker cable is a twisted pair, not a shield & center conductor. It should be heavy enough gauge to handle the power you're planning on putting through it - 16 gauge is OK for short runs (a foot or two) but 14 is better. Most patch cable will be 20 gauge or smaller - not good for speakers - and will have a braided or spiral wrap shield - again not good for speaker runs.
Go here Invalid Link Removed Page 37 has some useful info.
Click to expand...

Wow great info. My next question is why would anyone need a speaker cable more than 25ft? Is it for monitors and PA that need to be spread about the stage?

Would there be a noticeable difference between 16 and 14 gauge in a 3ft cable? I'm just running into the back of a cab from my head on top.
 
#9
IME for 3 feet 16 or 14 will probably fine on a instrument speaker cabinet. I wouldn't use 16 if it were 10 feet or more.

I works for production company so I am basing this of real world everyday experience.

Ironically "back in the day some speaker boxes used cannon plugs (XLR) for the speaker cabinets. We have some of this old gear laying around the shop, and I always get a kick out of seeing XLR connectors on a non-powered speaker cabinet.
 
#10
Buck Spunni said:
Speaker cable is a twisted pair, not a shield & center conductor. It should be heavy enough gauge to handle the power you're planning on putting through it - 16 gauge is OK for short runs (a foot or two) but 14 is better. Most patch cable will be 20 gauge or smaller - not good for speakers - and will have a braided or spiral wrap shield - again not good for speaker runs.
Go here Invalid Link Removed Page 37 has some useful info.
Click to expand...

I just want to emphasize that you always want speaker wire as heavy as you can afford. You don't match wire gauge to power or run length, it's just that you can "get away" with lighter gauge wire for short runs. However, heaver wire is ALWAYS best. It helps if you can find some nice rubber covered wire too. Stiff wire works but is a pain in the butt to deal with.

If cash is short one can often find power tool extension cords in two conductor (or 4 conductor and you wire pairs in parallel) and as heavy a wire gauge as you can find cheap. Just chomp off the AC connectors and wire speaker connectors. By the way, the biggest no-no on the planet is to get the idea to use AC wall type plugs and jacks for speakers. Yes, they are cheap as dirt. Yes, they handle current great and are totally reliable. And eventually (I've NEVER seen it fail) some bozo plugs your speaker cabs into a wall outlet!
 
#11
Instrument cables need to be shielded, speaker cables dont need to be. Speaker cables need to be a minimum of 18 gauge to give decent full spectrum sound. But 12-14 is better choice. Especially for bass frequency difinition and fullness. High qaulity oxygen free copper will be less harsh sounding then lamp cord. For speaker cable on the cheap,l monster brand is ok. For better stuff, brands like Analysis Plus, Audioquest, and Kimber Kable are good choice imo.

Of course to get maximum benefit from higher qaulity speaker cable it needs to go all the way to the speakers and crossover themself. So while it'll improve your sound to use high qaulity speaker cable from amp to cabs input, you'll get even more benefit by also rewiring the stuff inside the cab. Unless of course the cabs are wired internaly with 12-14 gauge high qaulity stuff allready. But thats very rare for music instrument cabs.
 

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