# Speaker cables



## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Couple questions. 
Anybody ever buy cables from Prime Cables? Based out of Montreal and seem pretty reasonable. Haven't checked shipping quote though. 

Also, could I just grab some 14-16 gauge speaker wire and put ts ends on and be good to go?


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

fretzel said:


> Also, could I just grab some 14-16 gauge speaker wire and put ts ends on and be good to go?


Yes.

In addition, if you use 14-16 gauge wire you can go quite long lengths of speaker cable.

Personally, I prefer something like this with TS plugs:
RapcoHorizon Commercial Speaker Cable - By Foot


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Thanks.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

There's plenty of places in TO to get speaker cable; don't pay for shipping from Montreal.


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Yeah, regular table lamp cable will do fine. Just make sure polarity is the same at both ends when assembling.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

BGood said:


> Yeah, regular table lamp cable will do fine. Just make sure polarity is the same on both ends when assembling.


Excellent reminder! Especially if the wires are not easily discerned.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

The ones from Prime Cable are 35 ft with tips for less than $20 each. Thought it was a pretty good deal. A 25 footer from L&M is $35. 

http://www.primecables.com/p-312890...lated-primec-primecables?from_catalog_id=3111


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## BGood (Feb 20, 2015)

Wow


fretzel said:


> The ones from Prime Cable are 35 ft with tips for less than $20 each. Thought it was a pretty good deal. A 25 footer from L&M is $35.
> 
> http://www.primecables.com/p-312890...lated-primec-primecables?from_catalog_id=3111


Wow ... 35 feet. Do you play live on a big stage ?


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

No. It's in my basement but where I would like to have the mixer in relation to the speakers, by the time you run the cable around the perimeter of a room 25' disappears pretty fast.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

That link is not for speaker cables. Or was that a separate question?
Just a bit of a warning that manufacturers can cut a lot of costs by using cheap plugs. And when handling power, like speaker cables, you do *not *want cheap plugs.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Sorry copied wrong link. 

http://www.primecables.com/p-312904...-gold-plated-primecables?from_catalog_id=3111


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

fretzel said:


> Sorry copied wrong link.
> 
> http://www.primecables.com/p-312904...-gold-plated-primecables?from_catalog_id=3111


That is not speaker cable.

This is what you want...only with TS mono plugs...which they don't seem to have
http://www.primecables.com/p-312998...12awg-speaker-twist-connector-cable#sku312998
12 AWG is also more heavy gauge than you need, IMO.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

I know that I can use the speakon connectors but I am just using the 1/4" TS. 

In the listing I posted under details it says it is a speaker cable. Is there something that is wrong with it? I just want to be clear. 
When I first picked up my PA all the different cables were a bit of a study. LOL!!!


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Speaker cable has two equal conductors running in parallel, like a lamp cord. Sometimes this pair is inside a sheath, making it look like one round cable instead of a molded-together pair (so you have to look inside the sheath to be sure).

Audio cable has a central conductor that is surrounded by an insulator and then a braid of meshed wired all around the insulator. The central conductor and shield are the +ve and -ve of the signal. The braid works as an RF shield, keeping high frequency interference from getting to the central conductor, which has a much, much lower signal than a speaker cable would (and is thus more likely to have interference induced into it).

And as jb said, don't cut costs on connectors. With tube amp speaker cables, an open or a short cct can be very hard on your equipment, killing tubes and OT's. Even solid state amps are at risk with a short cct. That's when you find out that transistors are full of smoke - because when you let the smoke out, they quit working.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

fretzel said:


> In the listing I posted under details it says it is a speaker cable.


I don't see that anywhere? It shows a shielded cable and gives a description of it.
Is there a glitch in the website? Can you post a screen shot of where you see 'speaker cable' in that link?


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)




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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

fretzel said:


>


IMO, this is not appropriate cable for speakers.

I would be happy to make you one with Neutrik TS plugs and ship it to you, as I'm presently making several guitar cables as it is. 
PM me if you want me to do this for you.

Cheers

Dave


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

If we call it speaker wire, it may be less confusing. Years ago, I made some out of 12/2 GA wire because I needed 50 ft lengths. Cost me a fortune back then. Prices are much better today.

http://www.primecables.com/c-1016-speaker-wires?commit=&term=speaker+wire&utf8=✓


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I have also bought these on sale in 14 or 16 guage. 
Chopped off the ends and put 1/4" TS plugs on them. 
The (3rd) green wire is just left unconnected.
As you know, you can also get these in some wild colours...yellow, orange, blue.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Guitar101 said:


> If we call it* speaker wire*, it may be less confusing.


Good point.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

fretzel said:


>


I would not buy from anyone who's ad is so confusing. Perhaps it's just the top blurb that's wrong - but I get no confidence from this ad.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

I wonder if they are talking about powered speakers where you use typical shielded cable?
Agree with High/Deaf about the confusing ad. Are they using the wrong picture which seems so typical these days? Is it shielded cable or speaker wire? If it is shielded, 16awg is not likely. If it is 16awg, then I doubt it is shielded.
Why not ask them? They'll either realize their mistake, or prove to you they are clueless.
Shielded cable should never be used for carrying power to speakers (non-powered). The capacitance can cause oscillation among other issues.
The gold-plated thing usually implies cheap plugs which are not designed to carry power to speakers.


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## fretzel (Aug 8, 2014)

Thanks for all the info. In the end I have decided to keep the console closer to the speakers for now.

Also like to say thanks to @greco for the offer.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Here's a key thing to remember: amplifiers expect to see typical loads in the range of 2-16 ohms. In other words, the load imposed by a speaker. While in the grand scheme of things wire does not provide all that much resistance per linear foot/metre, running 20ft of thinner gauge wire can add up to at least a couple of ohms, such that speaker+wire may now become a 7ohm, rather than 4ohm load for the amplifier, with the result that the amplifier may now behave off-spec. This is why one is generally recommended to use as thick a gauge of wire to connect speakers as is feasible, and keep the lengths short and equivalent. You want the wire to contribute as little linear resistance as possible, but if need be make the wire+speaker loads the same for each amplifier channel.

In the case of running line-level signals between something with an output impedance of <1k, going to something with an input impedance of >50k, the few extra ohms of linear resistance that the cable provides will have minimal impact. However, if it is shielded cable (and it should be for line-level signals on their way to being amplified), then the quality of shielding and capacitance per linear foot now starts to become a much greater concern than the linear resistance of the cable. Tacking 20 ohms of linear resistance onto the output won't have much impact, but tacking 700pf of capacitance _will_.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

jb welder said:


> I wonder if they are talking about powered speakers where you use typical shielded cable?
> Agree with High/Deaf about the confusing ad. Are they using the wrong picture which seems so typical these days? Is it shielded cable or speaker wire? If it is shielded, 16awg is not likely. If it is 16awg, then I doubt it is shielded.
> Why not ask them? They'll either realize their mistake, or prove to you they are clueless.
> Shielded cable should never be used for carrying power to speakers (non-powered). The capacitance can cause oscillation among other issues.
> The gold-plated thing usually implies cheap plugs which are not designed to carry power to speakers.


I have seen some speaker cable that is coax (sheilded) vs standard UTP.

It surprised me as I always thought that was not only unnecessary, but actually a bad thing in high power applications, but yeah. IIRC it was mostly in wall/outdoor stuff for long pro installs (venues and theatres etc).


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

Granny Gremlin said:


> I have seen some speaker cable that is coax (sheilded) vs standard UTP.
> 
> It surprised me as I always thought that was not only unnecessary, but actually a bad thing in high power applications, but yeah. IIRC it was mostly in wall/outdoor stuff for long pro installs (venues and theatres etc).


As long as both the center conductor and braid have the capacity to handle the current, I don't see a problem. More capacitance than UTP, but at those low impedances I don't think that matters much (although Mr. Hammer may correct me on this).

I have a Sunn/Fender amp that has a 3 button f/s that uses speaker cable to connect to the amp (a combination of diode drops / voltage steps to allow the possible combinations usually requiring 4 conductors). It doesn't work well with shielded cable - I assume because of the stray capacitance. 50' speaker cable works fine though.


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