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Speakon Vs. 1/4" Pros & Cons

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#81
In CU, skin depth at 10kHz is 660um, or .6mm. That would be the equiv. of a single strand of solid copper 1.2mm in diameter. That's ~1.13 sq mm of solid wire which is equal to ~17 gauge.

Now the effect of skin depth and the losses are related to the SQUARE of the current at that frequency, and the current is very low since the power levels at high frequencies are a small portion of the overall signal's current. Maybe 1/10th the current at 60Hz, so it's somewhat naturally self-defeating. This resistivity flatness also relates to the length of the cable as if the losses are insignificant anyway, even doubling insignificant is still insignificant.

Besides, few folks would use a solid wire for a speaker cable, and stranded wire is made up of multiple wires that are generally 22-30 gauge which make the whole skin effect issue go away completely (unless you believe in aliens ;) )
 
#83
A long time ago Stereophile Magazine tested some standard Romex, 14 gauge, THHN solid core, copper wire (standard electrical wire in houses) for use as speaker cables. As I remember some of the testers thought that it sounded very good although not as good as the really expensive stuff. I was waiting for a backlash from the cable manufacturers but it seemed that the readers (and presumably owners of expensive speaker wire) all wrote in and claimed that this material was vastly inferior to custom speaker cables when tested at their homes; skin effect and eddy currents were sighted as the reasons.

I remember asking my dad (master ins EE) about his thoughts on the matter which instantly turned into a math problem/lesson; our conclusion was that any measurable effect would not be within the range of human hearing
.02
 
#86
#87
Bass_Pounder said:
Since you are so fond of using Wiki to back up your argument, maybe you should have gone to the bottom of the page you yourself cited, and read the link to the article which debunks "skin effect":

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/skin-effect-relevance-in-speaker-cables
Click to expand...

actually it doesn't debunk it rather confirms
Actual measured increase in AC Resistance due to Skin Effect at 20 kHz is less than 3%
Click to expand...

3% is not equal no effect.

Original post was a response to
..there's nothing in a speaker cable to increase bass response, and frankly there's nothing in a speaker cable to decrease HF response..
Click to expand...

the reply was
not exactly; solid conductor would have ... limits. ... granted speaker cables use multi-wire core..
Click to expand...

The cables in study you refer to above all had multi-core wire.
 
#90
I swear I can hear/feel the difference between 1/4 inch and speakon cables when powering my 810 with my 1001RBII. Not that it changes the tone, it just sounds more powerful and full. My head runs cooler when using the speakon as well. I don't have any scientific data or testing to back this up, but I can definitely tell.
 
#91
No, you do not read it correctly.

Contrary to your ealier post, speaker cables do not have frequency "limits," whether they are solid or stranded.

Skin effect exists at audio frequencies, but it is as insignificant as aerodynamics are on a turtle.

I hope that clears it up for you.
 
#92
my speaker cables have a frequency limit of 2 GHz (just kidding).
The last speaker cable i made was out of an old rubber vacuum cleaner power cable, with a Speakon at one end and a 6.5mm jack on the other end.
It handles the power quite well, even when last practice my Behringer PMP3000 power mixer's amp went D.C. and cooked 4 x 12" speakers (didn't like 2 ohms), the speaker cable was still up to carrying the full current.

The HF & LF layers in a cable made me LMAO...:D
 
#93
agedhorse said:
In CU, skin depth at 10kHz is 660um, or .6mm. That would be the equiv. of a single strand of solid copper 1.2mm in diameter. That's ~1.13 sq mm of solid wire which is equal to ~17 gauge.

ETC...
Click to expand...

agedhorse there is no doubt that effect would not be significant; you'd have to be pumping huge amounts of HF and it is hard to imagine someone playing bass and maxing out 17g capacity with freq 10kHz and above

however nothing and insignificant is not the same and this is what was corrected.

Now since we all like to argue for the sake of it, at some point long thick cable could work as additional (insignificant ;)) low-pass filter for Class D amps
 
#100
the main issue i have with 1/4" jack plugs for speaker leads is, someone trips over the cable and the plug's plastic backshell pops off and the shield support in the plug shorts against the centre pin, blowing an amp.
Or the jack (while plugged in to a speaker) folds in half when lightly stood on. They (1/4") are not very robust, especially the newer chinese made ones.
Plus i can't plug my speakon output from my 450 watt bass amp into a mixing desk line input (which is a good thing), i saw that very thing happen with my own eyes with a Marshall JCM800 plugging what was thought to be the recording out into a brand new G & L desk, but was instead the speaker out.....POW!!! my ears nearly exploded from the feedback, the 40k watt P.A system tripped the building main power, and that channel on the new desk never worked again.
 
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