Cables for higher current patching?

    What type of cable is needed to carry the higher current signals like between the amp>DI>speaker and the speaker out from the powered KPA?

    • I assume a guitar cable is the wrong option, but do these need to be shielded?
    • Is there a significant advantage to using really thick wire as the volume goes up?

    I have an old part roll of monster speaker cable, but before I go to town soldering up phone plugs I want to be sure.


    Thanks! :D

    All I know is I cooked (smoke and flames) a guitar lead back in the day when using it to hook my Peavey MkIV head to my 1810 bin (1x18" and 2x10" speakers) that I was bass-gigging with at the time. Learned the hard way, you might say.


    I haven't made them up myself, only bought them, but my guess is that shielding is the least of your worries when it comes to "conventional" leads; it's gotta be about the current-carrying ability of the wire. How-much thicker it needs to be than "normal" lead wire, I don't know, but logically you'd be able to buy it (the wire itself) according to rating, matching (IOW, making sure it exceeds) the max current your amp's capable of generating.

    Quote from Finally

    What type of cable is needed to carry the higher current signals like between the amp>DI>speaker and the speaker out from the powered KPA?

    • I assume a guitar cable is the wrong option, but do these need to be shielded?
    • Is there a significant advantage to using really thick wire as the volume goes up?

    I have an old part roll of monster speaker cable, but before I go to town soldering up phone plugs I want to be sure.


    Thanks! :D


    Hello finally,


    You must use a dedicated Speaker Cable for handling the high voltage, high power signals from an amplifier output (i.e. speaker level). Shielding is not required due to the signal strength. The reason guitar / instrument cables are shielded is due to the low signal strength being carried through the cable, which can easily be affected by E-M interference. This is not the case with a post-amplified, speaker level signal.


    Cheers,
    John

    Would Finally be able to use his Monster speaker cable to make the lead, John?


    I don't know what gauge it is or if they're (Monster) all the same, but I used it back in the '90s from an Alesis RA-100 amp to speakers, and it was way-thicker than the various bought amp->speaker leads I used for bass rigs.

    Quote from Monkey_Man

    Would Finally be able to use his Monster speaker cable to make the lead, John?


    I don't know what gauge it is or if they're (Monster) all the same, but I used Monster back in the '90s from an Alesis RA-100 amp to speakers, and it was way-thicker than the various bought amp->speaker leads I used for bass rigs.


    Absolutely. I would recommend 16 AWG as a minimum, but he might want to consider 14 AWG if using with a powered KPA connected to an 8 Ohm monitor.



    Cheers,
    John

    Dear god, whatever you do, don't use Monster.


    12 gauge speaker cable, all that you'll ever need:
    http://hosatech.com/product/skj-200/


    You can get away with 14 gauge at times but anything less and you're basically using lampwire, as Scott Grove says.

    Thanks a lot folks! I'll grab the speaker wire from storage and make up some leads. The stuff I have is really thick by my limited standards - the actual core is about 2.5mm in diameter. We used to use it power our 1000 watt PA speakers with no problems.


    I assume that the solder connections need to be really good to prevent heat as well. I might get my brother to do them actually, since he's good like that. :)


    Grant