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speakon cables:do they really make any difference

#21
Bass_Pounder said:
They have more surface contact area, and can carry higher current levels safely.

They also do not short out when being inserted/removed.
Click to expand...

What is this "short out" you speak of? Would it explain why the 1/4 inch jacks on my cab suddenly no longer work? I have been guilty of plugging /unplugging 1/4 inch cables with the amp on. The man at the store said that was OK :hmm:

Fortunately, the Speakon still works fine. It's an Avatar, if that matters.

Whatever the reason, I now def. prefer Speakons.

--Bomb
 
#23
I had the same problem when attaching a Genz Benz (Speakon only) head to an older Ampeg (1/4" only) cab.

I found a Planet Waves Speakon to 1/4" 3 foot cable on eBay for approx $18. These are oddball cables and not many people are looking for them. They tend to go real cheap.

P.S. I use both speakon and 1/4" cables for gigs, no difference IMO but I am not playing 50,000 seat stadiums.
 
#24
I don't think that the issue here is safety more so than sound. If you look at 1/4" jacks, there is very little insulation seperating the negative and positive / tip and sleeve. With todays high power amps. it's a formula for arcing or a short in the power section of your amp. Not good at all. Speakons have more insulation, and a improved link from the amp. to the speaker, positive connection so to speak. IMO it is a big improvement in amp./ speaker development.
 
#25
Adam Bomb said:
What is this "short out" you speak of? Would it explain why the 1/4 inch jacks on my cab suddenly no longer work? I have been guilty of plugging /unplugging 1/4 inch cables with the amp on. The man at the store said that was OK :hmm:

Fortunately, the Speakon still works fine. It's an Avatar, if that matters.

Whatever the reason, I now def. prefer Speakons.

--Bomb
Click to expand...

With 1/4 plugs, if you have the amp on when inserting/removing the speaker cable it can cause a short.

Reason being, as you insert the cable the positive (tip) brushes across the negative before being seated. It can arc and cause a short. I have had amps go into protect mode when this happened to me. Luckily, I just had to power down and reset without any damage.

With a speakon, the positive and negative are not next to each other, and only connect to their respective counterparts in the socket.
 
#27
Phone jacks are a poor solution to the problem of connecting high current amps to speakers -- they are not very robustly designed, they can easily be attached to too small a gauge wire, and just about everything that happens to them has a bad result.

Speakons are strong, lock in place, and will last forever. I wish all my gear had Speakons.
 
#28
bassdaddyfive said:
I don't think that the issue here is safety more so than sound. If you look at 1/4" jacks, there is very little insulation seperating the negative and positive / tip and sleeve. With todays high power amps. it's a formula for arcing or a short in the power section of your amp. Not good at all. Speakons have more insulation, and a improved link from the amp. to the speaker, positive connection so to speak. IMO it is a big improvement in amp./ speaker development.
Click to expand...

Most certainly is for safety, but not for the reasons you stated.

1. Speak-Ons have recessed contacts so that can not be accidently touched. This is a real problem with today's larhge amps swinging over 200 volts peak between the output terminals. The insulation between tip and sleeve on a 1/4" jack is plenty big for this, but definately not touch-proof so if you happen to grab the business end of a 1/4" cable with the amp being driven, the bite you receive can hurt and may under some circumstances be fatal.

2. Shorting between tip and sleeve when inserted into the speaker's jack... this is a definate problem and has sent many poorly designed amps to the repair shop. Most of the better products these days will survive this most of the time, but there's always the real possibility of damage.

3. Bridged operation... when an amplifier operates in bridged mode (including some amps whose internal architecture is configured this way), this places the sleeve (and shell) of the connector above and below ground as the signal swings from rail to alternate rail, and voltages can exceed 125 volts peak... again potentially dangerous.

4. Safety requirements of the European Union countries, as well as others may require touchproof connections if they are to be made available for sale. Some bannana jacks (never the plugs) are constructed this way, but in general bannana connections are falling out of favor except in pro audio where the amps will typically be wired to an output connector panel.

5. Sound quality isn't the reason, but under high current operation, reliability is compromised with a 1/4" connection.
 
#30
billfitzmaurice said:
You won't hear any difference. But an adapter will allow inadvertent use of an instrument cable with it, and that could spell trouble. There are Speakon-1/4" cables that would eliminate that possibility.
Click to expand...

I have been using instrument cables to connect my head to my speakers (patch leads) is this wrong? Do I need unbalanced leads?
Am I likely to have damaged my gear? Peavey Tour Series 450, Hartke Extreme 410 , GB Live Series 15.


___________________________
Can't groove @14
 
#31
JazzyLambert said:
I have been using instrument cables to connect my head to my speakers (patch leads) is this wrong? Do I need unbalanced leads?
Am I likely to have damaged my gear? Peavey Tour Series 450, Hartke Extreme 410 , GB Live Series 15.


___________________________
Can't groove @14
Click to expand...


You are tempting fate my friend.


Have you ever seen how thin the wire in an instrument cable is ?

Now take that thin wire and run high current through it.

You are running a risk of the cable overheating and melting. If that happens, your cable can short out and cause serious damage to your head.

Get a proper speaker cable.
 
#33
Bongolation said:
Because of the safety factor, I believe that Speakons are required on most high-output amps exported to the EU.

Correct?
Click to expand...

Yes sir, Speak-Ons or touch-proof bannanas or touchproof binding posts, or touchproof Phoenix, or touchproof barrier strips.

On a bass amp, you are likely to see Speak-On's only though.
 
#34
Bongolation said:
Because of the safety factor, I believe that Speakons are required on most high-output amps exported to the EU.

Correct?
Click to expand...

Speakons meet the CE requirements, but they aren't necessarily required. Binding posts are allowable as long as they are sufficiently touchproof and do not encourage the use of dual banana plugs (which have the same spacing as continental European mains plugs). Binding posts on QSC amps exported to Europe have plastic plugs inserted in them to prevent the insertion of banana plugs (as well as paper clips, mains plugs, etc.).
 
#35
If I have a cab which only takes 1/4" inputs, and I want to connect to the Speakon out on a mono head (and I have a 4 connector Speakon male lying around), would I remove a 1/4" male from one side of the cable and attach the leads to the 1s only (1-,1+) of the Speakon male or, is there some combination of 1s and 2s?
 
#36
malicous said:
If I have a cab which only takes 1/4" inputs, and I want to connect to the Speakon out on a mono head (and I have a 4 connector Speakon male lying around), would I remove a 1/4" male from one side of the cable and attach the leads to the 1s only (1-,1+) of the Speakon male or, is there some combination of 1s and 2s?
Click to expand...

Tip to 1+, Sleeve to 1-, 2+NC, 2-NC.

Though, I myself, would add a Speakon to the cab.
 
#38
Afterall 1/4 " plugs were invented for the telephone switchboard, back in the day when a operator had to connect your phone call to the other party. I think IMHO that the 1/4" jack has seen it's better days in the past. Speakon is a big step foward. Next step (lo Z) connectors on the input / bass connection.
 
#39
Bob Lee (QSC) said:
Speakons meet the CE requirements, but they aren't necessarily required. Binding posts are allowable as long as they are sufficiently touchproof and do not encourage the use of dual banana plugs (which have the same spacing as continental European mains plugs).
Click to expand...
Ouch! Funny, but I thought they looked awful close.:hmm:

Binding posts on QSC amps exported to Europe have plastic plugs inserted in them to prevent the insertion of banana plugs (as well as paper clips, mains plugs, etc.).
Click to expand...
It's interesting to me that a number of amp manufacturers -- like Ampeg -- had the chassis bored out for Speakons for export, but put a blank cover in the hole and used a 1/4" jack for domestic sales. That's kind of annoying.
 

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