Speakon vs. 1/4" Speaker Wire: Pros/Cons

I've had an Eden WT-550 and an SWR500x, both offered a choice of Speakons or 1/4" receptacles. My current (and all-time favorite) amp is the Mesa M-Pulse 600. It only has 1/4" receptacles-no Speakons available. I know a lot of people prefer the Speakons, but Mesa must believe that the 1/4" can handle 600W @ 4 ohms with little or no perceptible degradation. JMHO.

Nice amp choice, by the way. Enjoy!

 

Do a search here for "Speakon". The pro's are many, the con's are non-existent.

 

There was a very good post on speakons vs 1/4" titled Power amp with 1/4" output???. Bassically(sic), the crossover point is 100W for an excellent 1/4" jack.

 

Well.
A jack plug has a contact area the size of a needle tip. That isn't good when you are driving bass speakers -because bass speakers needs much current, and much current needs fat wires. 1/4" jack connectors can work fine (for a time), but if there should come a bit of corrosion or dirt on the contact area, then conductivity goes down and as it does, heat may build up (which further degrades the connection causing even more heat - it's an evil circle), and you may have the insulation on the plug or cable melt, causing short circuit, and goodness knows what can happen then.
1/4" Jack connectors were never designed for high power use. They were designed for telephone switchboards (which is why they are, or were, called phone jacks).

Speakons, on the other hand, are designed for loudspeakers. Big contact area, lots of room for fat cables, locking when inserted, non-exposed contact elements. Personally I use only Neutrik speakons (I don't know if anyone else makes them?) - they are great.

For loudspeakers - especially bass and high power:
Speakon = good choice.
1/4" phone jack = bad choice.
XLR = better than phone jacks, but still not good IMO.

Meaning no disrespect, of course.

 

Awesome.

 

No, I was up at 5:00 am this morning to contact the UK, I am a bit out of it

If you want a simple rule "Always use a speakon". There are more good reasons to use a speakon other than just power. They do not short the connection, more reliable connection, etc. Eric Moesle said it best: The pro's are many, the con's are non-existent.

However, for 100W and below you are ok with a 1/4" jack. In fact with an 150W amp you are probably ok since you are probably not using 150W continuous but 150W peak. For a 500W amp running half way (gain and volume at 12:00) I would use a speakon.

Since you have a good 1/4", I would try using it. You will only lose power and headroom and security

 

Ok then, I have a question...

I currently have 12 gauge speakon to 1/4" because that was the only option to connect my cabs. I'm running a good 300w a side, at least. Do you think I will run into any issues with this?

 

You might or might not. Over time, you'll be less likely to incur problems with Speakon connectors than with 1/4".

 

Speakons are self-cleaning - they're locked by a twisting motion which cleans the contact surfaces, reducing any build-up of dirt/crud/etc which might introduce resistance into a connector. This is especially important when using low-impedance speakers or combinations of speakers (e.g. 2-Ohms). Also Speakons lock, and so can't be pulled out inadvertently.

FWIW

- Wil

 

Ok thanks, I was mainly just curious, as I don't have much choice with my cabs only having 1/4" inputs. I used to always run 1/4" to 1/4" and I have to admit that the locking feature on the speakon is pretty nice in comparison.

 

Bob Lee and Wil Davis bring up good points and I won't repeat them. From a purely power perspective, if you are running 300W per side continuous with the 1/4" jacks, you might get away with 200-250W per side with a speakon because of less loss (I made up these numbers, so don't hold me to them). The more power you try to pump out (over 100W), the more you are going to lose.

Speakons have 16 times the power capacity of 1/4" jacks. So you don't have to start worrying about power loss until about 1600W continuous

 

The current ratings are less about power loss and more about having the contacts overheat and melt or arc--causing a 100% power loss.

 

Well, I definitely understand what you guys are saying, but I guess my question was a little more like, what effect do you suppose the conversion has? Because one side of the cable is 1/4" is it practically like having 1/4-1/4? Loss is loss right? Does it even matter that one side is connected by speakon?

 

One is more likely to have a problem, and the other is doubly so.

 

What if my amp ( Mesa Strategy 400 ) only has 1/4" outputs? Should I replace my 1/4" cables with 1/4" to Speakon, or just stick with what I have? Would it be possible to have my amp modified to have speakon outputs?