guitar speaker cable

[rodrigo]

I'm planning on getting an Avatar 2 x 12 cabinet so I can use my amp head in the control room and mike the cab in the studio room. What kind of cable do you recommend? Mogami preferred. The cable will be about 13 ft long, the amp is a Fender stage 112 (8 ohms, 400 W) and the cab will be Avatar G212H premier cab (8 ohms, loaded with one Celestion Vintage 30 and one G12H30 70th Year Anniversary)

I'm using Mogami for the rest of the studio, but I don't know what model would best serve this application. I'm thinking of W3103 studio speaker cable.
MOGAMI - Superflexible Studio Speaker Cables

Do you recommend a different model?

Thanks,

Rodrigo

[Blast9]

How about standard 2-core mains cable?

it might not be flexible enough for your needs, but I'm certain it will do the job properly from an audio point of view.

(Cue Can o'worms)

[Farview]

The one you are looking at will be fine.

Speaker cable doesn't make as much of a difference as mic cable does. As long as it's the proper size, you should be OK. But, if you are really into Mogami, go for it.

[Yuri Kogan]

Actually it make a hell of a difference (just ask any hi-fi nut). We did alot of testing and the difference is obvious. The best bang for the buck was the planet waves speaker cable.

Yuri

[rodrigo]

thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I'll get the one I was looking at.

[gigantorbuzz]

Mogami makes great cable, but if you can afford it, i would recommend Evidence Audio cable... the Siren II is the speaker cable and its great, very smooth and clear

[Farview]

Originally Posted by Yuri Kogan

Actually it make a hell of a difference (just ask any hi-fi nut). We did alot of testing and the difference is obvious. The best bang for the buck was the planet waves speaker cable.

Yuri

I've never tried the Planet Waves speaker cable, but every time a band comes in here with the PW guitar cables, at least one of them craps out during the session. Those ends with the on/off switch are a great idea, but they are not the least bit durable.

[megl]

Originally Posted by Farview

I've never tried the Planet Waves speaker cable, but every time a band comes in here with the PW guitar cables, at least one of them craps out during the session. Those ends with the on/off switch are a great idea, but they are not the least bit durable.

I agree - I used some PW guitar cables live ... I'll never do that again

But I agree with Yuri that speaker cable quality means a lot! But if the internal wiring is crap - you should change that too if you want to benefit from a better cable. Many cabs and combos have really bad speaker-wires

/megl

[filthyrich]

I have a p.a. setup with many instrument cables in the mix. These are 1 conductor, one ground setups..unless I'm crazy. I've made an instrument cable or two and used them also on the pa when i ran out of other cables that weren't crap.

What's the difference between using a 2 conductor speaker cable or a regular instrument cable? Both seem to work fine.

Thanks.

[Farview]

Originally Posted by filthyrich

What's the difference between using a 2 conductor speaker cable or a regular instrument cable? Both seem to work fine.

An instrument cable has a shield, a speaker cable does not. Having a shielded cable running between and amp and a speaker is asking for trouble.

[filthyrich]

this is very interesting to me. How could I tell by looking at a cable if it was originally intended to be speaker cable??

Most have the rubber shrink over the 1/4" jack.

[filthyrich]

An instrument cable has a shield, a speaker cable does not. Having a shielded cable running between and amp and a speaker is asking for trouble.

What about after the first speaker?

As in..what If I have speaker cable to my mains and use instrument cable to chain the additional speakers off the mains?

Also..what kind of trouble might I be asking for if I leave things as is?

[nandoanalog]

Originally Posted by filthyrich

this is very interesting to me. How could I tell by looking at a cable if it was originally intended to be speaker cable??

Most have the rubber shrink over the 1/4" jack.

A speaker cable is thick and heavy. I dont know the exact measures, but each wire on a speaker cable has something like 1,5 milimeter. While an instrument cable has much less than that.

An instrument cable is lighter, softer, thiner. Running a guitar cab on an instrument cable is asking for serious trouble. Those cables are meant to pass litle voltage. If you plug an instrument cable between an amp and a cab, and if it burns, you will probably damage you amp and it won`t be cheap to repair.

Not to mention that impulse electronics need oversized cables to perform at it`s full potential.

[filthyrich]

So then...how are the 1/4" jacks wired on the inside of instrument cable?

There are 2 wires..but yet the ends look like TS.

So..is it wired like unbalanced?

hook one side up to the 1 place to solder to and then the other goes to the jack base where the shield would go on an instrument cable?

thanks.

[Farview]

Originally Posted by filthyrich

So then...how are the 1/4" jacks wired on the inside of instrument cable?

There are 2 wires..but yet the ends look like TS.

So..is it wired like unbalanced?

hook one side up to the 1 place to solder to and then the other goes to the jack base where the shield would go on an instrument cable?

thanks.

On an instrument cable, the conductor is wired to the tip and the shield is wired to the sleeve.

On a speaker cable, one conductor is wired to the tip and the onther is wired to the sleeve. There is no shield.

[filthyrich]

thanks. the base of the jack is the sleeve right. It's the part that you bend at the end to grip the wire..yes?

The part where you normally solder the thick shield to on a TRS..yes?

thanks again.

I still would like to know the science of why you can mess things up using a guitar cable on speakers.

[eaudio]

Originally Posted by filthyrich

I still would like to know the science of why you can mess things up using a guitar cable on speakers.

Guitar cables present a capacitive load on the amplifier not present with unshielded twisted pair (or parallel run) speaker cables.

Some amplifiers can be driven to oscillate, become unstable, etc. Not very healthy for them.

The other reason mentioned is simply heat build up. Lower gauge wires with higher resistance will turn more of the output to heat instead of moving the driver. Heat can lead to melted insulation and eventually a short.

Tony

[Farview]

Originally Posted by filthyrich

thanks. the base of the jack is the sleeve right. It's the part that you bend at the end to grip the wire..yes?

The part where you normally solder the thick shield to on a TRS..yes?

thanks again.

I still would like to know the science of why you can mess things up using a guitar cable on speakers.

The sleeve is connected to the long thing that you bend around the cable.

Shielded instrument cable doesn't have two equal conductors. The one that it does have is too small to handle much current. That will cause heat, which can cause fire if you send too much power through it. Most instrument cable is only 22 gauge. 14 gauge would be about the minimum for 100 watts at 8 ohms.
10 gauge would be more like it for 100 watts at 4 ohms.

There is also a capacitance issue. Some power amplifiers do not like the additional capacitave load that most instrument cables present. Depending on the length and construction, some amplifiers can oscillate and then fail.


You can use thick lamp cord and solder the ends on it. It doesn't have to be monster, super-expensive cable.

[filthyrich]

thanks for explaining that. It makes more sense to me now.

[GregoryC]

Originally Posted by gigantorbuzz

Mogami makes great cable, but if you can afford it, i would recommend Evidence Audio cable... the Siren II is the speaker cable and its great, very smooth and clear

+1 Evidence Audio

[univalve]

I found in another thread here, that someone recommended Kimber 4 VS. I installed the first one in my tweed deluxe 5E3 clone and it really brings more out of the speaker - not louder, but a lot clearer and more detailed. I like it a lot.

greetz
univalve