Speaker Cable from head to cab

#41
Gizmot said:
Now I know why our band didn’t sound exactly like Led Zepplin in 1970! Buy by 1971, we learned that proper cables made an audible difference. Since then we haven’t had any excuses.
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No idea, my svt didn't sounded noticeable louder or way noticeble better when I used a speaker cable instead of the crappy "string".
At least the speaker cable then stayed "cool" in regards of temperature issues.
 
#42
Making 1/4" speaker cable isn't a big deal if you can solder.
It's even easier of you can use Speakons.

I bought PA cable off a DJ, it was an easy 50' of cable that I chop a length and use whatever tips are appropriate.
 
#43
sawzalot said:
As others have said, use a real speaker cable. An instrument cable is designed for low current applications like the current generated by your bass pickups. A speaker cable is designed to carry the high current created by your amplifier. Don't mix the two.
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FYI pickups do not generate current.
 
#44
Tj1996 said:
Hello,

I recently bought my first non-combo bass rig. I bought it off of Kijiji nearly 8 months ago and gig around 2 per month. I’ve only been using a standard guitar/bass patch cord rather than a speaker cable to connect the rig. I’ve noticed recently that my low end isnt putting out enough power.(especially Low Ab and under) Do you guys this that the cable is the issue? Or is it possible I already fried my new purchase lol

TIA

TJ
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Simple- get a REAL speaker cable to do the job properly.

Without getting into the electrical issues that can happen, regular guitar cords are NOT designed to handle the power that the amp puts out to the speaker. AT the very minimum, crappy sound is what you will (already) get.

Since you haven't fried anything yet, consider yourself lucky. VERY lucky!
 
#45
john m said:
FYI pickups do not generate current.
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"A magnetic pickup is a transducer (specifically a variable reluctance sensor) that consists of a permanent magnet with a core of material such as alnico or ferrite, wrapped with a coil of several thousand turns of fine enameled copper wire. ... The permanent magnet creates a magnetic field; the motion of the vibrating steel strings disturbs the field, changing magnetic flux and inducing an electric current through the coil."
 
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#46
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#47
Killed_by_Death said:
never use a instrument cable as a speaker cable
The impedance of a shielded instrument cable is too high!
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The impedance isn’t an issue. The characteristic impedance rating on cables has nothing to do with loading on an amp.
The problem, as mentioned before, is that the conductors (specifically the center conductor) on an instrument cable is often too small to carry the current of an amp output. This can cause cable heating which can melt the insulation and cause a short between the center conductor and shield.
 
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#50
Killed_by_Death said:
tiny conductor = high impedance
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No. Tiny conductor = higher resistance from one end of the conductor to another. You are confusing conductor resistance with cable impedance.

If you look up cable characteristic impedance you will see that that in a coaxial cable, it's impedance is determined by the diameter of the conductors in relation to each other.

A coaxial instrument cable that has a 20 gauge center conductor can exhibit the same characteristic impedance as a coax that has a center conductor of 5/8" OD. We all know that a 20 gauge piece of wire will have a lot more resistance per foot than a 5/8" in diameter copper pipe. I have at my disposal, and work with as a part of my day job both of these types of line. They both have a characteristic impedance of 50 Ohms. I could and do, use the smaller cable to make instrument cables at work and for my bass guitar use. And as long as you don't exceed the current rating of the center conductor (20 gauge = 5 amps) you can use this for speaker cable. In fact how many speaker cables have you seen in low to moderate power systems that used an instrument cable with RCA connectors for speaker connections.

Typical instrument cable can have a characteristic impedance of 75 Ohms and lets say it has a conductor size of 26 ga. That means it can carry 1 amp of current and will work for low power speaker systems. 50 or 75 or 100 Ohms impedance makes no difference. Zip cord, aka lamp cord, is often used for speakers and it has a characteristic impedance about the same as 75 Ohm instrument cable. It's not about cable impedance. It is about current carrying capacity when it comes to driving speakers.

Characteristic impedance is not an issue at audio frequencies in spite of what some self professed audio gurus may believe. Look at what happens when you daisy chain two speaker cables. Say you have a six ft, 75 Ohm cable connecting a head to to a cab. Then you have another 6 ft, 75 Ohm cable connecting the first cab to the second cab.
What happens to the cable impedance when you add two 75 Ohm cables of equal length together to make a 12 ft cable? The resistance doubles but the Characteristic impedance stays the same.

Look at any set of cable specs that includes impedance. The impedance rating of the cable is not given in Impedance per foot. It is a fixed number based on how the cable is made. What you will see is a DC resistance number that is per foot (or meter). The total DC resistance increases with length. The impedance stays the same regardless of length.

I have built both parallel conductor (zip cord type - 300 and 600 Ohm) and coaxial lines (50 Ohms) that needed to be these certain impedance to work properly. In coax, there is a formula that uses the ratio of the diameter of the center conductor to the outer conductor. For parallel conductor (zip cord) the main consideration is the spacing. The DC resistance of the conductors does not figure into the cable's characteristic impedance.

Get inside of a speaker cab. The conductors may be inches apart and or right next to each other or any combination. That particular arrangement will exhibit some unknown, but measurable impedance. If impedance of speaker cables were important (it isn't because it is audio) then what is inside the cabs would be very tightly controlled as is done with instrument cable. Cable impedance is just not important in connecting speakers.
 
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#51
hey tj,

here's a graphic to show you the differences in these two kinds of cables:

speaker_vs_instrument_cables.jpg

and the article to go w/it:

Why Speaker and Instrument Cables are Not Interchangeable

my thoughts are you should use speaker cables for speakers and instrument cables for instruments.

one other suggest: mogami (japan) cables w/neutrik (liechtenstein) connectors are pretty happening from my experience... oops, other suggest: canare (japan) cable w/neutrik (liechtenstein) connectors is what I use for bass to amp for gigs. let me add "for what it's worth" as some qualifying spiel.



on bass, watt




mike watt's hoot page




Tj1996 said:
Hello,

I recently bought my first non-combo bass rig. I bought it off of Kijiji nearly 8 months ago and gig around 2 per month. I’ve only been using a standard guitar/bass patch cord rather than a speaker cable to connect the rig. I’ve noticed recently that my low end isnt putting out enough power.(especially Low Ab and under) Do you guys this that the cable is the issue? Or is it possible I already fried my new purchase lol

TIA

TJ
Click to expand...
 
#54
john m said:
FYI pickups do not generate current.
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There are two possible reasons why a pickup might not generate current

A) the pickup coil is not wired to a load
B) the pickup coil is broken


Without generated current there was no voltage drop along the amplifier input resistance (typical 1MOhm for MI amplifiers) thus without current there was no sound.
 
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#56
JRA said:
sure it's possible. you may have a gimpy (abused) driver. try a different cabinet to A/B.
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I don't think it was really possible to abuse a driver with an instrument cable.
If the cable wire was broken then there was no more power delivered to the driver. In this case a tube amplifier could be damaged cause the amplifier output load would equal infinite load.
If "hot" was shortened with "cold" respectively with the cable shield then there was also no more of power delivered to the driver but, then an SS amplifier power stage could be fried.
 
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