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Speakon cables, Which one..??


bubinga5

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4 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

Speakon cables are simple to make. Just make sure you buy genuine Neutrik Speakons (cheap copies don't always fit well and can jam) and decent cable - Van Damme or similar. Get at least 2.5mm for all but low power applications. No soldering required. Just cut the cable strip to the correct length (the Speakon packet has a diagram to guide you) and screw them in. Takes 5 mins tops. You only need two pole 99% of the time.

You are correct except about the choice of cable. For a bass rig no one really needs more that 1.5mm2 cable.  2.5mm2 and 4mm2 are for high power PA rigs with long cable runs.

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On 27/12/2020 at 01:59, bazzbass said:

I dunno, I prefer 1/4" connectors. No one walks behind my amp that can accidentally kick a speaker cable, it's only 2 feet long, doesn't hang. My amps are 500w or under, not really high powered.

I' m sure 1/4" jacks are only recommended for up to 150w.

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Speakon connectors were a great breakthrough for bands, if only to stop the guitarist using his instrument leads to connect his cabs. After reading this I was unaware of some of the compatibility issues between 2 and 4 pole versions, so everyday’s a school day etc. There is something very satisfying about connecting your bass cab with speakons, that click when you know it’s locked in is reassuring. Not had one problem with using them ever, unlike jacks which can so easily fail. Strange to think that prior to their invention in 1987 we all used jacks - my SVT rig included! Also using Bose PA cabs which IIRC had XLR connections which seemed a step up from jacks at the time.

 

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6 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

I think you're ok if you make sure the power is off when connecting/disconnecting

You are right that you should never connect or disconnect a jack speaker cable with the power on. Yoy are wrong in that  very few Plug/Jack combinations can happily work with a 500W amp safely. Many Jack uockets and plugs are made for signals and are good for only 0.5 amps. Using the power law, that is only 2 watts into 8 ohms and 1 watt intio 4 ohms. 

The best jack socket for speakers is the one in the Neutrik combo speakons (the green ones) these are good for 10 amps or 800 watts with an 8 ohm speaker and 400 watts with a 4  ohm speaker. But why use a jack cable when you have a speakon socket capable of 20 amps, that is 3200 watts into 8 ohms and 1600 watts into 4 ohms.

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54 minutes ago, Chienmortbb said:

But why use a jack cable when you have a speakon socket capable of 20 amps, that is 3200 watts into 8 ohms and 1600 watts into 4 ohms.

unfortunately older amps like my Trace Elliot's only come with jack sockets the same with my Fender V2 speaker cabs

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5 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

unfortunately older amps like my Trace Elliot's only come with jack sockets the same with my Fender V2 speaker cabs

And my Little Mark amp has one jack and one combo Speakon so if I want full output and two 8Ω speakers connected to the back (as opposed to daisy chained cabs) then it’s either two jack leads or one jack + one Speakon!

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On 28/12/2020 at 00:20, Chienmortbb said:

You are correct except about the choice of cable. For a bass rig no one really needs more that 1.5mm2 cable.  2.5mm2 and 4mm2 are for high power PA rigs with long cable runs.

Perhaps, but it doesn't hurt. As I have a fairly powerful PA, I just use offcuts of 2.5mm cable to make my bass rig cables. 4mm is overkill, I agree.

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29 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

Neutrik make a fat-bodied jack plug which will accept heavier speaker cables.

It is possible to get 2.5mm2 2-core into a standard Neutrik mono jack, I made some adaptors recently. Van Damme cable I think, although it was just kicking around the workshop so it might have been Canford. I’d have to check to be sure.

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