speaker cable (1 Viewer)

brianoak

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Whats the differnece between speaker cable and a guitar lead in relation to linking a head to a cab?
 
is it not the speaker cables can carry current/power?
if you look at certain cables, the speaker cables have 2 black rings on the jack part whereas normal instrument jacks only have 1.

sorry if im completely wrong.
 
is it not the speaker cables can carry current/power?
if you look at certain cables, the speaker cables have 2 black rings on the jack part whereas normal instrument jacks only have 1.

sorry if im completely wrong.
no, that just means that its stereo if theres 2 black rings instead of one. both can carry power. maybe one has a higher resistance or better shielding?

not too sure. think theyre the same bar the connection jacks.
 
I think they're the same too. Just if it's only 2 or 3 feet long then its obviously meant as a speaker cable rather than a guitar lead. Could be wrong. I know fuck all about this really.
 
Only ever use a proper speaker cable from amp head to speaker. Not using a proper one causes all the power to back up and overload the amp(or something like that) Basically,it's not worth the risk.
Proper speaker cable is always way heavier that regular guitar leads.
 
i asked the guy in the music shop in portobello this a few weeks ago.. he said it was grand to use a guitar lead for a head-cab situation, said the only difference was more plastic protection for the copper wiring in the speaker cable.

i lost my speaker cable a while ago and have been using guitar leads since with no problems. and ages ago i knew nothing of speaker cables and used guitar leads with no hass.
 
Only ever use a proper speaker cable from amp head to speaker. Not using a proper one causes all the power to back up and overload the amp(or something like that) Basically,it's not worth the risk.
Proper speaker cable is always way heavier that regular guitar leads.

Yeah, i heard that too, but I've always used guitar leads and i've never had a problem
 
I've only ever used guitar leads betwen my bass head and amp, same for the Stoat PA. Never had a problem, and can't see what the difference between the two might be. In a certain high-end studio I've frequented they often use electrical cable (that you wire a plug with) for speakers
 
I've asked a few people who have fixed amps for me this question and they have all stresed how important using proper speaker cable is.As they stand to gain nothing from telling me that I tend to trust them.
I don't know if it only applies to valve amps.
 
Guitar cables are designed to carry very low current and thus tend to have very thin conductors. A guitar cable doesen't work well as a speaker cable because at higher speaker currents they are very lossy and the center conductor can actually melt if pushed hard enough. And, in a guitar cable, the internal resistance can be high enough that the an amp's output stage thinks it's looking into a higher impedence load, which can create other problems. Unlike speaker cables, guitar cables are shielded to prevent outside intereference from getting into your amp.

You can't safely use a guitar cable for a speaker cable, because the fine conductors in this type of cable won't be able to stand the high currents and may simply melt - or damage the insulation and short out. There is also a risk to the amp even if the cable survives - because a shielded cable has quite a lot of internal capacitance, it can interfere with the correct loading of the amp.

eh? mm?
 
I reckon so, yeah.

Nope,believe it or not it is a apin in the hole to get with jack connections.
I was even told the other day by a dude who owned a certain music shop that it doesnt exist???????it does obviously.

You can get speaker cable but you will most likely have to solder the jacks on yourself.

I tried three places and couldnt get it or they never heard of it befoe someone made one for me.
 
internet says:

"Guitar cables are designed to carry very low current and thus tend to have very thin conductors. A guitar cable doesen't work well as a speaker cable because at higher speaker currents they are very lossy and the center conductor can actually melt if pushed hard enough. And, in a guitar cable, the internal resistance can be high enough that the an amp's output stage thinks it's looking into a higher impedence load, which can create other problems. Unlike speaker cables, guitar cables are shielded to prevent outside intereference from getting into your amp. Also, while guitar cables could be used in patching PA gear together, just don't use them for any speaker connections.

Speaker cables are designed to carry the higher current needed to drive a speaker and thus have thicker conductors. Also, they are typically unshielded so they wouldn't work very well as a guitar cord....unless you like lot's of noise."
 

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