Speaker Cables (amp to cab)?

DrGonzo

I have been using normal cheapo patch cables, connecting my head to my cab (8Ohm 2x 12)...
I have now recently been informed that this is bad and you need special cables to connect the 2.

Apparently the cable needs to be able to handle large amounts of power...

Anyone who can back this up or argue against it???

Dave

raithza

holy crap!

get speaker cables NOW!!

killafo

raithza wrote: holy crap!

get speaker cables NOW!!

+1 to what he said x infinity ^ infinity.

Gearhead

Speaker cables need not be coaxial like instrument cables and must indeed be large cross section. For a short lead it does not matter as much as for a longer one obviously, but it still matters. For a 50W guitar amp with 2m leads I would go for no less than 2.5mm2 but for my 10W hifi at 5m cable I use 4mm2.
A thin cable will give power loss, but more importantly loss of damping factor of the amp. It is as if the amp is trying to control the motion of the cone through a rubber band instead of a steel wire. The highs will be relatively unaffected but your lows are going to be muddy and woofy.

DrGonzo

Shit! what a noob!

I havent been doing any damage have I??

I suppose I can just pick up a speaker cable at most music shoppes?

Gearhead

DrGonzo wrote: I havent been doing any damage have I??

Nooooo, the loss of damping factor and power is just because of the increased DC resistance and nothing actually changes in either amp or speaker :yup:

DrGonzo wrote: I suppose I can just pick up a speaker cable at most music shoppes?

I'd go for the smaller cable you can buy at the car audio places, but no need for the arm-thick stuff eh.

nicovlogg

Gearhead wrote: I'd go for the smaller cable you can buy at the car audio places, but no need for the arm-thick stuff eh.

About 12 AWG?

Reinhard

I actually got some speaker cable after reading this, I'll try it at practice.