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Rolling your own speaker cables

Phe

Phe

May 30, 2005
866
941
41
Tampere, Finland
uskovaiset.bandcamp.com
#1
I'm thinking of making my own speaker cables. I have few questions, though.

I have a Quilter Bass Block 800 going to 215 Hartke cabinet. I never run my amp even near its maximum power.

I'd like to make the most out of my cables without spending too much money. I'm probably going with straight Neutrik plugs, but I'm not sure what gauge wire I should get. Should I go with 10 or 14 AWG? Thomann seems to have mostly Cordial and Sommer cables in stock.

Any tricks for overdoing these?
 
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#2
hey,

get generic Neutrik plugs, 2- or 4-pole, 2-pole are slightly cheaper. older NL2FX is easier to assemble, dis-assemble and re-assemble without tools, than the new NL2FXX, Thomann still has it.

since you're in EU, you get mm2, not AWG. 1.5mm2 (slightly larger than 16AWG) is plenty for a shorter cable like if you put your head on the top of your cab, get 2.5mm2 (> 14 AWG) if that's a really long cable (like several meters). Klotz also makes nice speaker cables, for some reason they're not available via Thomann, but they're generously available in other stores in EU.
 
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#4
Phe said:
There's no merit on having shielded wire with this kind of short run?
Click to expand...

not sure, what you mean by shielded, an instrument/interconnect cable? definitely no, you need a speaker cable.

Klotz's cable is not shielded and I frankly haven't seen shielded speaker cables at all (and this kinda makes sense, as there's no place on the SpeakOn jacks where you can connect the shield).
 
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#6
Aloe said:
get generic Neutrik plugs,
Click to expand...
I'm hoping this was meant to say "Get GENUINE Neutrik plugs". 'Generic' sort of implies that non-Neutrik are acceptable; they are not. Get NL4s unless you have an amp or cab that specifically requires NL2-type connectors. (NL4 cable-mount connectors will not fit into an amp or cab that has NL2s, but those are fairly uncommon.)

And shielded cable is not only not required, it is not recommended. AWG14 (2mm^2) is plenty big. #10 AWG is entirely too large; the additional weight of that heavy cable hanging off the back of the connector can lead to problems.
 
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#7
Redbrangus said:
I'm hoping this was meant to say "Get GENUINE Neutrik plugs". 'Generic' sort of implies that non-Neutrik are acceptable; they are not.
Click to expand...

yeah, thanks for correction, I meant exactly this.

Redbrangus said:
(NL4 cable
-mount connectors will not fit into an amp or cab that has NL2s, but those are fairly uncommon.)
Click to expand...

in EU MarkBass is fairly common and the new line (latest 1.5 years) accepts only 2s.

getting 4s is good for standardization if you actually have and use the 4-pole connectors. if not -- nothing's wrong with going NL2 and saving a few bucks. it will fit both NL2 and NL4, i.e. both sizes that are on amps in the wild.
 
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#8
Aloe said:
in EU MarkBass is fairly common and the new line (latest 1.5 years) accepts only 2s.

getting 4s is good for standardization if you actually have and use the 4-pole connectors. if not -- nothing's wrong with going NL2 and saving a few bucks. it will fit both NL2 and NL4, i.e. both sizes that are on amps in the wild.
Click to expand...
This point is well made, although the last time I checked, the price difference wasn't too significant. I admit that my own viewpoint is heavily influenced by my being in the PA business where I never use NL2s for anything.

Has MarkBass always used NL2s? I'm asking because I think G-K started in that direction at some point and then had a course correction, causing still more confusion for their user base.
 
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#9
Redbrangus said:
This point is well made, although the last time I checked, the price difference wasn't too significant.
Click to expand...

From Thomann it's 8,40 vs 11,60 eur for a pair, that's 39% more expensive.

Redbrangus said:
Has MarkBass always used NL2s? I'm asking because I think G-K started in that direction at some point and then had a course correction, causing still more confusion for their user base.
Click to expand...

I believe that started 1,5 years ago with a mb58r line, according to numerous posts on this forum. They might change their mind in future or not, but AFAIK that didn't happen yet.
 
#10
NL2 jacks are not compatible with NL4 plugs. The entire bass industry standardized on the NL4 jack (the 6.3mm combo jack is based on the NL4 keying system) decades ago, so using NL2 jacks which reject NL4 plugs makes absolutely no sense.

I encountered this with a couple of GK amps while troubleshooting problems with players but GK very quickly changed back to BL4 compatible jacks. I hope you are mistaken about MarkBass.
 
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#12
Quilter uses NL4 compatible jacks.

With 6.3mm plugs, use the equivalent of 16 gauge, anything larger (or with an oversized jacket) may not fit unless you use "jumbo" style plugs.

Be sure to use good workmanship so you don't end up with a short that damages your amp.
 
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#13
Phe said:
My cab doesn't have speakon input, so I was thinking of going with straight plugs. Other option is speakon-plug cable. I'm not sure if my Quilter takes NL4 or NL2. The price difference isn't bad when I'll buy just one or two.
Click to expand...
Be cautious with those cables. Most Class-D amps have a bridge-mode output, meaning that both of the speaker terminals carry signal. There are good reasons for this. On some amps, both terminals carry an elevated voltage, even when there's no audio signal. But as a result, the sleeve and cap of the straight plug is "live" and not grounded like you'd expect on older gear. I don't know if the voltage is high enough to be considered unsafe, but if the metal parts of the plug touch anything grounded, it's a short circuit.

This is one reason why the world went to Speakon. If it were me, I'd use a Speakon on the amp end, just to have less bare metal in the system.
 
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#14
Redbrangus said:
This point is well made, although the last time I checked, the price difference wasn't too significant. I admit that my own viewpoint is heavily influenced by my being in the PA business where I never use NL2s for anything.

Has MarkBass always used NL2s? I'm asking because I think G-K started in that direction at some point and then had a course correction, causing still more confusion for their user base.
Click to expand...
Only place I use NL2s is on the small (10/horn/passive xo) wedge monitors, that's to keep a biamp PA speaker cable which has some serious power on pins 1 and 2 from getting accidentally plugged. Have always used SJ "constant service" cable but that's getting hard to find, the hardware store stuff lacks the jute fillers and gets deformed / ripped easily.
 
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#17
Phe said:
I'm thinking of making my own speaker cables. I have few questions, though.

I have a Quilter Bass Block 800 going to 215 Hartke cabinet. I never run my amp even near its maximum power.

I'd like to make the most out of my cables without spending too much money. I'm probably going with straight Neutrik plugs, but I'm not sure what gauge wire I should get. Should I go with 10 or 14 AWG? Thomann seems to have mostly Cordial and Sommer cables in stock.

Any tricks for overdoing these?
Click to expand...
I make mine from mains cable
 
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#19
Cable I use (recommended by @agedhorse on some TB thread I came across a long time ago). Can't remember what vendor I purchased it from. I think I ended up with like 15 - 20ft of cable. Feel like I ordered like 10ft, and they sent me double that. More than enough for one dude. Still have quite a bit after making a few speakon cables.
EWI NNS1492 2 Core 13 Gauge Bulk Speaker

I plan to make a couple of cables with 1/4" ends since I recently got a new amp and cab that are both 1/4" only. Plan to use Neutrik NP2XL connectors.

Used Neutrik NL4FC Speakon connectors for my other cables. Looks like that model may have been discontinued and replaced by this... NL4FXX-W-S

cables.jpg connectors.jpg measure once.jpg putting it together.jpg wires.jpg cable.jpg
 
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#20
Phe said:
My cab doesn't have speakon input, so I was thinking of going with straight plugs.
Click to expand...
I recommend adding a speakon input if you can do a reasonable job. Unless there's a crossover or something integrated with the socket it's usually a straightforward job. A lot of cab builders use standard plates from the likes of Penn elcom, and you might well be able to source a replacement ready drilled for jack and speakon.
 
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