Speaker cable help required

[Friendly_Ghost]

I need to replace a speaker lead, and would appreciate any guidance that you helpful people may be able to give.

It's a 1/4" jack to 1/4" jack, and runs from my MAG 300 head to my Hartke 4.5 XL quaddie. It was custom made at the shop I bought the head from, and the first thing I notice is that it's barely long enough - this, I imagine, is to maximise the output, yes?

The second thing I noticed surprised me more - I noticed, when inspecting the plug connections, that although this looks like a co-ax instrument lead, it's ... well ... not! It has 2 insulated cords inside it, 1 white, 1 black, and on closer inspection there's writing on the outer rubber insulation saying "for speaker only".

This is a whole new thing for me - I'd happily have replaced the lead with the shortest instrument cable I could find that would fit. I now assume this isn't a good idea, but can anyone explain why?

Observations/comments welcome ...

 

[billfitzmaurice]

I noticed, when inspecting the plug connections, that although this looks like a co-ax instrument lead, it's ... well ... not!

It's not supposed to be. Instrument cables are shielded, speaker cables are not. Minimizing the length of a speaker cable has benefits if you're shortening it from perhaps 30 feet to 6 feet, but not from 6 feet to 3 feet. 'Custom' cables that cost more than about $1 a foot plus $10 for the connectors are a waste of money, pure and simple. A good source for well made reasonably priced cables is Bayou.

 

[KPJ]

A good source for well made reasonably priced cables is Bayou.

+1 for Butch at Bayou! Unfortunately (or fortunately), the word is getting around on Butch and he is a few weeks out on orders. Well worth it, though!

 

[Friendly_Ghost]

Thanks, guys - so .. would the good quality hi-fi speaker cable that I use at home be suitable for a replacement? You probably know the stuff - 2-core, one copper-coloured, the other silver, each core quite thick, with transparent insulation on the outside. Might not be all that tough, though, I guess.

Now I think of it, I'm pretty sure I've seen such a lead with 1/4"-jack plugs on my travels, and just thought to myself "what a dodgy-looking instrument lead

 

[Bryan316]

Whoah. Why would a speaker cable that says, right on the cable, "Speaker Only" be worrying you??? It's BUILT for it!

Bill's completely correct. You DO NOT want instrument cables to use as speaker cables. Instrument, or signal, cables are very thin conductors surrounded by good shielding. Those thin conductors are sending very very low current, low voltage electrical signals. Speaker cables are sending very high current, higher voltage signals, and need thicker, more durable conductors. That's why most speaker cables are 16 gauge wire or thicker. Ideally would be up to 12 gauge. Using an instrument-grade cable is a very unwise thing to do. In a guitarist's rig with only maybe 100 watts of juice, you might get away with it. With a bass rig that's 3 to 10 times the juice, you'd melt that wire. NEVER EVER use a signal cable for a speaker load. EEEEEVER.

As for maximizing the output, you're worrying about an aspect of cables that is only really noticable in large lengths of cable, like Bill said. A 30 foot cable being shortened to 6 or 3 feet, you'd get a measurable difference. Replacing a 3 foot cable with a 6 foot cable, you'll never notice the difference. You'd need laboratory equipment to measure the effects of that cable change.

There's no need for using hi-fi speaker wires. Most of that stuff is snake oil, just like most of the marketing hype you get from some cable manufacturers *COUGHMONSTERCOUGH*. I've got two Live Wire cables for my rig, one 3 foot and one 5 foot, and I'm doing just fine. They cost me $15 each. You shouldn't have to spend anything more than that for a quality speaker cable.

If you REALLY want to make a quality decision, get a speaker cable that is 12 gauge wire, and the metal twistoff sleeve should be covered with some kind of shrinkwrap tubing or rubber insulation. That'll keep you from getting shocked when handling your rig with the power on.