To run a long speaker cable or not to run a long speaker cable?

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Myriad_Rocker

Myriad_Rocker

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Okay, so I need to evaluate if I can run a long speaker cable for guitar cabs so I can keep the amp head in my control room. I need about a 75' cable, but I've only found 100' ones. So, just assume I need a 100' speaker cable to run from the control room to my live room.

Should I do this? Long cable runs are typically bad. I read one guy on another forum say that it took some of his high end and low end out. My question is this...don't studios do long cable runs for this already? And possibly longer than 100'? And why can't you just turn some knobs to add more of the low and high that you lost?

Also, when it comes to brand on these long cable runs...what should I go with? Horizon is quite a deal cheaper than Monster? Is a cable a cable? As long as it's fairly thick, does it matter? The Horizon cables have a lifetime warranty, too. Is there a sound quality difference?

Comments? Suggestions? Advice?
 
Why don't you just cut that 100 foot cable down to 75 feet?

If it is a critical application, use the best cable you can afford.
 
With a good quality cable there should not be too much of an issue. Personally, I have never been a fan of the Horizon stuff. It seems to be pretty mediocre. You may lose a little resolution on a longer speaker run, but yes you can counter for some of that by using the head to make some adjustments. Every time you change a peice of the signal chain things will change a little. Some things will obviously affect it more. This is not necessarily good or bad or even a quality issue, just a difference. This is also assuming nothing drastic is changing and its just a little tone shift and not added noise. If you really do want a 75 foot cable, shoot me a PM with exactly what you want and I can get you a quote.
 
So the head being in the ctrl Room is a must. I just figured you wanted something so you could play the guitar in there.
 
Myriad_Rocker said:
But why? The Horizon stuff seems good, right?
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I like the Horizon Lo-Z cable. But really Mogami and Canare cable is not that much more expensive. Depending on where you buy it, it might even be cheaper. I do think that Monster cable is overpriced.

Cable does make a difference. But for one speaker cable it maybe becomes a little less critical than wiring a whole studio. Still, if it was me, I'd buy the best I could afford.
 
you should be fine running a 100 ft. speaker cable...remember that speaker cables carry a lot of voltage, and therefore aren't as prone to signal loss as an instrument/mic cable
 
http://www.redco.com

Select the pages to build your own cable, and then price out a SPEAKER cable w/ the 16gauge (correct me on what it should be, I think this is good enough), and 1/4" large-opening adapters on the ends. The cable I priced out was 26 bucks for a 75' cable. Not to steal business from anyone who previously posted, its just another option
 
I do this all the time. I have a 4x12 cabinet semi-perminently mic'd in my cabinet room (on the other side of the building) and I always have the heads in the control room so that I can tweak the sound to what the mics hear without having to walk back and forth.

I hear no difference in sound. And I'm running a speaker cable out of the head into a wall outlet-> out of a wall outlet in another room-> into a wall outlet on the other side of that room-> out of the wall outlet in the cabinet room-> into the cabinet. There has to be well over 100 feet of cable plus 4 jackplates.

Speaker cables are carrying big signals, it would really take a lot to start losing signal to the point that you would notice.
 
Ironklad Audio said:
you should be fine running a 100 ft. speaker cable...remember that speaker cables carry a lot of voltage, and therefore aren't as prone to signal loss as an instrument/mic cable
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It's more about the impedance of the system involved, which is very low compared to a mic or instrument situation. Low impedance means cable capacitance is basically meaningless, and cable capacitance is the main culprit in signal degradation in instrument and mic situations. More voltage by itself doesn't mean better quality at the end of the line.:)

Use 12gauge cable, the brand is fairly unimportant.
 
Farview said:
I do this all the time. I have a 4x12 cabinet semi-perminently mic'd in my cabinet room (on the other side of the building) and I always have the heads in the control room so that I can tweak the sound to what the mics hear without having to walk back and forth.

I hear no difference in sound. And I'm running a speaker cable out of the head into a wall outlet-> out of a wall outlet in another room-> into a wall outlet on the other side of that room-> out of the wall outlet in the cabinet room-> into the cabinet. There has to be well over 100 feet of cable plus 4 jackplates.

Speaker cables are carrying big signals, it would really take a lot to start losing signal to the point that you would notice.
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This is what I suspected. I mean, really...it's done all the time in "pro" studios. Just as long as the cable is decent then it shouldn't be a big deal.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!
 
only two concerns... heavy wire 10-12 gauge... and try to route it away from other audio lines...
 
Good cable for sure -- But a 100' speaker run is nothing.
 
This may help. Visit www.yorkville.com and click on resources and browse all their documents. Alot of good info. Below is a speaker cable chart from one of their documents.

Speakercablelength-1.jpg
 
Nice table.

The things to notice are that lower load impedances result in more loss, and that even in the worst case scenario listed, 100ft of 18ga. running into a 4ohm load, the loss is less than 50%....that is, less than 3db.
 
I put the speaker signal through one of the returns on my snake. I get a little signal loss but its barely noticable. And if anything it's always tweakable on the head. It's definatly over 100 feet to the cab. A good speaker cable should be fine.
 
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