Will this amp blow my speakers?

  • Thread starter Thread starter arcadeko
  • Start date Start date
Using instrument cables for PA speakers.

moresound said:
Oh ...... for monitors!
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Well - monitors is all we have - they are 100watt 15" wedges with horns that can be used as PA speakers or monitors. It's just rehearsal so it works.

Anyway - everything went smooth - dude came and picked up the PA, new amp came via UPS.

Now, I realize I don't have SpeakON connectors! So my option is to spend $25 for adapters locally, spend $29 for 25' speakON to 1/4 inch cables via ebay and wait till next week (locally the cables are $32 each!), or buy 1/4 to bare wire.

Can I just buy a regular 18' guitar cable and take off one of the 1/4 TS ends and use the bare wire in the speaker outs on the amp? That would be the cheapest option...
 
arcadeko said:
Can I just buy a regular 18' guitar cable and take off one of the 1/4 TS ends and use the bare wire in the speaker outs on the amp? That would be the cheapest option...
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You can . . . but it is a bad idea. Guitar cable is designed for low level signals coming from guitars. With power amps you are dealing with significant amounts of power, and you should be using heavier gauge wire. The two main problems with using guitar cable are (a) loss of signal through internal resistance of the cable, and (b) the potential for shorting or cable breaks because of the generally lighter construction of the cable.

Speakon connectors were developed to deal with a number of problems associated with conventional and past speaker connections. They are non-shorting (unlike 1/4 jacks), they prevent the use of mike cables and their XLR connectors as speaker leads, and they are more suited to handle the significant power outputs of contemporary amps. l
 
gecko zzed said:
You can . . . but it is a bad idea. Guitar cable is designed for low level signals coming from guitars. With power amps you are dealing with significant amounts of power, and you should be using heavier gauge wire. The two main problems with using guitar cable are (a) loss of signal through internal resistance of the cable, and (b) the potential for shorting or cable breaks because of the generally lighter construction of the cable.

Speakon connectors were developed to deal with a number of problems associated with conventional and past speaker connections. They are non-shorting (unlike 1/4 jacks), they prevent the use of mike cables and their XLR connectors as speaker leads, and they are more suited to handle the significant power outputs of contemporary amps. l
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Makes sense - I will bite the bullet - I guess I will just order them on ebay - they have 25ft 14 gauge for $15 shipped 25 FT FOOT SPEAKON TO 1/4 PA 14 GA GAUGE PREMIUM CABLE | eBay
 
So... I REALLY wanted to hear my new amp :p so... I decided I would throw together some temporary cables. Went to radio shack and bought a pair of 1/4" connectors (screw on - no soldering required) and grabbed two old 16 gauge standard home extension cords out of my garage.

Clipped off the ends, attached the 1/4 inch connectors on one end (to insert into my monitors) and bare wire on the other end (for the bare wire connectors on back of the amp) and hooked it all together.

Well all I can say is that I am really really glad I bought this amp :D it's so freaking crystal clear it makes me feel like I am on good drugs. I can't crank it up very high cause my grand-daughter is sleeping upstairs, but I set the amp on about 75% volume, turned the high pass cross-over on, hooked my 250 watt sub up to the pass through and turned my mixer up to about 50%

it's like butter :p

sounds almost as good as my monitors! Man - quality equipment makes such a huge difference.

Thanks everyone for all the feedback. I wonder if I even need the SpeakON cables, these 16 gauge wires seem to be working fine?
 
arcadeko said:
Can I just buy a regular 18' guitar cable and take off one of the 1/4 TS ends and use the bare wire in the speaker outs on the amp? That would be the cheapest option...
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no .... don't do that.
As gekko said ..... the cable's not made for that. The inner conductor is quite small and could easily get hot enough to melt it's insulation leading to a dorect short and amp damage.

If you wanna cheap out for the time being. .... what I use for speaker cables is two conductor extension cord.
You can usually get a 100 foot extension cord and Wal Mart for maybe 20 bucks. Now you have 100 feet of wire .... stick a 1/4" on one end and use the bare wires on the other.

haha .... I just saw your post about using the extension cords. :D

But I'm talking about a bit heavier ..... I think these are 14 guage. But same principal.
 
Yeah and now I need to build a little rack cart! I don't even have a rack!!! I got a lot of plug ins though :p

Luckily I gots me a wood shop in the garage. Just need to buy the little rack rail thingy's.

I'm gonna build some more bass traps this month too... Man I like just listening to music in the studio, sounds so damn good in here! :D Got some Zepplin What is and what should never be cranking at the moment.

I might invest in some 14 gauge wire - If I can get it in black running through a single sleeve so it looks like a proper cable that would be awesome as opposed to my ghetto ass white extension chord wire!
 
arcadeko said:
I wonder if I even need the SpeakON cables, these 16 gauge wires seem to be working fine?
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The extension cable will work fine, and so will the hooking the wire ends straight into the back of the amp. But . . . security is very comforting, and Speakons will give you security (and convenience).
 
arcadeko said:
I might invest in some 14 gauge wire - If I can get it in black running through a single sleeve so it looks like a proper cable that would be awesome as opposed to my ghetto ass white extension chord wire!
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you can. I get bright green ones because at gigs I wanna be able to easily identify my cords but you can get drop cords at Lowe's or Home Depot or even WalMart. You can get three conductor ( they have a ground) and just use two of the wires but it's cheaper to tale a few minutes and find some with no ground ..... just two conductor and they will be 14 guage and you can get them in black.
 
For stage use you should buy cable with a non-"J" rating. For example SO cable is good, SJ is bad.
 
Enlighten us, Boulder- what is a J rating, and why is it bad?
 
I think I am lazy enough to stick with the 16 gauge extension cords since they will probably never leave the basement. But I am interested in the O vs J rating. I am always at HD so maybe I will pick some up.
 
stevieb said:
Enlighten us, Boulder- what is a J rating, and why is it bad?
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J = "junior" grade cable. It's not so bad in general but for entertainment use it's best to avoid J grade cables. For arkadeko's basement application good old lamp cord is probably fine.
 
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