SpeakOn Cable Gauge

That'll be fine. Enjoy the new toys!

Riis

 

The gauge is plenty fine. Just be sure the connectors are genuine Neutrik parts. Many problems have been traced to knock-off non-Neutrik parts.

 

If it fails, DA will replace it as they've done with a few of my instrument cables.

Riis

 

Virtually every failure I have seen that were ultimately related to SpeakOns , including those that ruin the mating connector on the amp, have been non-Neutrik. The only exceptions have been with improperly wired connectors (mis-wired, wires tinned before assembly, and connectors attempted to be soldered, all of which go against Neutrik specs), but these were not connector faults.

 

Those look like Rean or newer Neutrik SPX-type connectors... I have a D'Addario speaker cable which has Neutrik ends and must be now ten years old. Still works great. At some point they switched to a slightly more stiff cable.

You should be ok, but if you're worried, you can confirm with D'Addario that "Flash House" is an authorized D'addario accessory seller.

 

Many compression terminals state “do not tin conductors”—- people often disregard this step and tin them, thinking it’s better.
Big mistake.

 

Just wanted to pile on and observe - after buying 12 gauge cables, which I feel now like a moron for doing - that if you live in the US, your interior wiring is 14 gauge and that's on a circuit that rated at 1800 watts with plenty of room to spare.

The important thing for speaker cable is what agedhorse and others have said - GET REAL NEUTRIK CONNECTORS.

 

im curious what happens if the wires get tinned? Is it a heat thing or do they end up coming loose?

 

The compression terminal connections are designed to crush / deform / splay stranded speaker wire to optimize contact. If you tin a wire (...or attempt to connect a solid conductor!), it completely defeats the purpose of the design.

Riis

 

14 awg on 15 amp circuits (the regular living room ones). 12 awg on 20 amp circuits (the GFCI protected ones in your kitchen and bath for example). Those are solid conductor wires. The clothes dryer will be 10 awg and an electric stove will be 6.

A flexible, stranded cable at 14 awg will be rated 12 amps (1440 watts). Still way plenty of our applications.

I use 14 awg or 16 awg stranded for projects as well as for speaker cable. Never had an issue. I have 12 awg speaker cable as well and notice no difference in sound vs the 16 at the meager distances involved (12 feet).

 

Thanks,
That’s pretty much what I thought.
I keep seeing replies to threads with “bad idea” or similar with no explanation as to why.

 

I always have to be difficult...

I use 13 gauge wire available via PartsExpress. It's the largest that will comfortably fit a Neutrik Speakon connector without blasphemy.

Riis

 

You rebel you!

 

When a compression connection puts pressure on a tinned wire, the solder will cold flow over time and the connection will loosen. Copper doesn’t cold flow to any significant degree (at these pressures), and the stranded conductors consolidate under pressure.

These connections are also not typically rated for solid conductors, the pressure for solid compression terminations is much higher and the internal saddle design is different.

 

Thanks!

 

Note that the analogies to home wiring really don’t apply because the voltages are very different and since voltage, current are related to power through Ohm’s law, all of these factors must be considered.

For example, a 500W/8 ohm amp would result in a current of approx 8 amps and 16 gauge would be entirely fine for lengths up to say 20 feet.

Now, taking the same output power but into 2 ohms, the current would be approx 16 amps, so for lengths under say 6 feet, 16 gauge would be fine, 20 feet 14 gauge would be reasonable but for longer lengths, 12 gauge might be a better choice.

For a 1000 watt chass D amp, the typical efficiency is 80% so the maximum power draw would be 1200 watts, so when you divide 1200 watts by 120V, you get 10 amps. For audio amplifiers, the power draw is not continuous (dynamic load), the power draw averages the dynamics.

The regulations and safety test labs typically use 1/8-rated audio power which takes the input power and is multiplied by .125 resulting in a rated current draw of 1.25A. This is why an 18 gauge power cable is acceptable and legal.

Some designers (myself included) use a higher percentage for the maximum to average current calculation based on the fact that the amp is designed and marketed for higher duty cycle applications.