[jdsmodulus]

This has probably been covered but I need a little help hooking up my new cabs.
2 2x12 webers and jbls
1 3x12 jbls
Anyways Ive been reading alot about impedence and ohms and the like. This Im starting to understand fairly well my question is anyone have thoughts on what kind of speaker WIRE to use? These are brand new HT style cabs and Ive seen cable for high end speakers at local stores "HIFI " and their camp is thinking any good quality cable is fine but I dont think they underrstand guitar applications. Best Buy tried to sell me a spool of cable for like 10 bucks which would be fine I just need some opinions on quality. I want the best or near it! thanks in advance JD

[Chuckles]

I used Radio Shack 14g unshielded speaker wire for my cab. Works like a champ.

[playingdead]

This depends on a few things ...

First off, are the cabinets going to be internally wired to a jack on the back of the cabinet? If so, 14 gauge is good, I think HT uses a Belden cable. If you're not going to use a jack on the back of the cabinets, rethink that decision, it will make life much easier and reduce the chances of you damaging the speaker wire or wiring when you are moving it around (as if you'll be able to move around that 3X12 by yourself ...) and if you wire everything directly and that wire gets closed in a car door or crimped or damaged at a gig, you will be SOL. It's a real b---- to be connecting and disconnecting speakers after they are mounted in the cabinet, too. So a good, solid, safe connection from speakers to jack that will never be disturbed is your best option there.

Once you have the speakers wired to the jack in the cabinet, you need to look at the other end of the equation, which is your power amp. (For the 3X12, you're checking to make sure your amp will be happy pushing a 2-ohm load, right? Don't try it with a Twin or something. If your power amp can handle it, it will have a power rating for it.)

Most power amps designed for sound reinforcement are going to use a banana connector or a Speakon connector. The Crown 402 I used to use only had a banana connector on it. The AI Focus I used up until I abandoned everything had a Speakon. If you are occasionally planning to use the 2X12 with something like a Fender Twin or other conventional guitar amp (not the 3X12), you can buy a heavy gauge 1/4 to 1/4 speaker cable (get it a little longer than you think you need, trust me) and buy a couple of the necessary adapters -- 1/4 to banana and 1/4 to Speakon. Then you are covered in multiple situations. Or you can buy (or make) the cables you need with the appropriate ends.

Don't go thinner than 14 gauge though, you will hear the difference, I had to borrow a longer 1/4 to Speakon cable from my bass player at a gig where the stage was so cramped my cabinet had to be unusually far from my power amp and the thinner cable sounded ... well, thinner. (This is why getting a good cable that is a little longer than you need is a good idea.)

That cable is going to be handling a lot of power from your power amp. Whatever you do, don't use a guitar cable. Buy two cables (you always need a spare) and spare connectors, too.

[jdsmodulus]

Thanks for the invaluable info Vic, the 2x12s will be K120s and will be pushed by the crown 402 similar to your setup used to be. I bought adaptors for the xlr ins to 1/4 inch and then the speaker outs are going to be speakon to trs 1/4 in and there will be permanant 1/4 in ins on each cab much like the HTs. The 3x12 though is going to be wired and sit for a minute until I get my MC2300 and make the mods this could be near the end of summer. All of the PA>speaker cable is new Belden speakon>neutrix 14 gauge cable. The main thing is the wire from speaker to speaker in the cabs, this is where my concern is I think i'll use belden but what gauge and does cheaper wire do the trick ie earlier post if this is true Ill save money because they will be mounted in the cab and not moved.

[jdsmodulus]

I used Radio Shack 14g unshielded speaker wire for my cab. Works like a champ.

really that sounds like what I thought you could use!

[Chuckles]

I used Radio Shack 14g unshielded speaker wire for my cab. Works like a champ.

really that sounds like what I thought you could use!

For the short runs from the input jack (assuming you're using one) to the speaks, you don't need anything more substantial. If you look at the light gauge wiring that comes stock in most cabs, it's already a huge step up.

Though Vic's dead-on about the amp -> cab cable. The longer run requires more though about capacitance/shielding, etc. I used the same wire from power amp to a 1X12 direct (no jack) and it was fine in a short run, but anything longer than a few feet and there was a definite difference... degraded lows and occasional r/f interference.

[Emoto]

Whatever you do, don't use a guitar cable.

Eh???

A musical instrument cable is bad to use?

[playingdead]

Between amp and speaker, definitely ... if you've ever soldered a guitar cable, look at how thin the wire is, just a few strands. Compare that to a big ol' fat speaker wire, and you'll see the difference.

The fat cable carries the power from the amp, so it's a lot of juice. A guitar signal is tiny in comparison.

[Emoto]

Between amp and speaker, definitely ... if you've ever soldered a guitar cable, look at how thin the wire is, just a few strands. Compare that to a big ol' fat speaker wire, and you'll see the difference.

The fat cable carries the power from the amp, so it's a lot of juice. A guitar signal is tiny in comparison.

Damn, you're right!!!

Know of anyplace local to us that carries good ones?

[playingdead]

Crossroads usually has some ...

[Emoto]

Thanks. They had some nice ones so I grabbed a couple of them.

So glad this topic appeared, or I'd still be using a dopey guitar cord.

[Chuckles]

Revisiting this because I'm re-wiring the insides of my cab and have a question:

Is there any difference/advantage/disadvantage between using stranded vs. solid core wire from jack to speakers?

[jdsmodulus]

Revisiting this because I'm re-wiring the insides of my cab and have a question:

Is there any difference/advantage/disadvantage between using stranded vs. solid core wire from jack to speakers?

I would like to know this as well. A few weeks ago I wired my cabs with plain old speaker wire, I would love an upgrade!

[Chuckles]

Well, I've currently got each E120 running its own 14g wire to a common banana plug that goes into the power amp (which I guess is actually the equivalent of running a shared 7g run?). The whole idea is to have a wide pipe for the signal to get to the speakers without the 1/4" jack serving as a choke point. What I'm trying to get away from is the exact thing Vic was talking about with the cable being an actual attachment to the cab, rattling around and whatnot - it's also not aesthetically pleasing. I'm planning on replacing the 1/4" jack with a Speakon, which doesn't have the choke point the small connection the tip of the 1/4" makes.

I have ample supply of the 14g wire stranded/braided, but also have some 12g solid core left over from some household electrical work that was recently done. Looking around, I found the following site, which said to use stranded wire, but thought I'd ask here to see what folks with an actual knowledge of how current is carried might think (very informative site, btw) and what the reason might be...

http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/speaker_wiring.html

[jdsmodulus]

NIce link I will have to check that out more closely, I ended up ordering jacks from USSpeaker. I installed them into each cab and wired 2 jbls to the jack (1/4) inch. My power amp is Speakon so I bought 14 gauge speakon>1/4 inch this seems fine. The upgrade for me will be inside the cabs themselves. The wires from the speaker posts to the mounted jacks. I also should remind everyone using JBLS that red is negative and black is positive. This was never meant to be easy Ill tell ya!