Speaker Wire

[Bobby K]

Hi guys

I'm going to rewire a bass cabinet (4 x 10) and was wondering where to get the right wire from?? Any particular brands to look out for?

For that matter, which gauge of wire should i get?

16??

Any help is much appreciated

[Musky]

Hi Bobby. I've used 79 strand hi-fi speaker cable before. It's cheap, easily available and heavier than the stuff that seems to get used in most cabs.

[wrinkleygit]

2 core mains cable in 0.75mmsq section toolstation or screwfix do a 50m roll for about a tenner, used this for all my speaker leads for years, don't be fooled by more expensive imitations, always use good quality ie Neutric jacks tho, mike b.

[Bobby K]

[quote name='wrinkleygit' post='794096' date='Apr 2 2010, 10:58 AM']2 core mains cable in 0.75mmsq section toolstation or screwfix do a 50m roll for about a tenner, used this for all my speaker leads for years, don't be fooled by more expensive imitations, always use good quality ie Neutric jacks tho, mike b.[/quote]

Hi wrinkley.

I've got decent speaker leads with Neutriks on already. I was actually referring to the wire [i]within the cab[/i] which connects the drivers...

Thanks for the contributions gents

[chris_b]

You could use bell wire but you should really go for better. Give OBBM (Dave) a PM. You'll get unbiased, sensible and informed advice.

[Protium]

This stuff is pretty good, and almost identical to what is in my standard Schroeder cab:
[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=97993"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=97993[/url]

[stevie]

[quote name='Protium' post='794133' date='Apr 2 2010, 11:43 AM']This stuff is pretty good, and almost identical to what is in my standard Schroeder cab:
[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=97993"]http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=97993[/url][/quote]
That's more or less the same as 79-strand - 2.5mm flex. Because of the short lengths involved, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and .75mm cable. But if you're going to do a job, you might as well do it properly and 1.5mm or 2.5mm figure 8 cable is the right stuff for the job and will also cost only pennies more than the thinner stuff. Twin core mains flex is perfectly OK as long as it's thick enough - it doesn't have to be 'speaker cable'. That Maplin cable is a bit pricey, by the way.

[wrinkleygit]

Use the cable I mentioned in the earlier post you won't find anything cheaper,you can strip off the outer sheath when wiring individual drivers inside a cab if you prefer, mike b

[Protium]

[quote name='stevie' post='794189' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:32 PM']That's more or less the same as 79-strand - 2.5mm flex. Because of the short lengths involved, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and .75mm cable. But if you're going to do a job, you might as well do it properly and 1.5mm or 2.5mm figure 8 cable is the right stuff for the job and will also cost only pennies more than the thinner stuff. Twin core mains flex is perfectly OK as long as it's thick enough - it doesn't have to be 'speaker cable'. That Maplin cable is a bit pricey, by the way.[/quote]

Yeah, it's gone up in price since I last bought it.

[Protium]

[quote name='wrinkleygit' post='794200' date='Apr 2 2010, 12:41 PM']Use the cable I mentioned in the earlier post you won't find anything cheaper,you can strip off the outer sheath when wiring individual drivers inside a cab if you prefer, mike b[/quote]

For the sake of a few pence I'd much rather use a high quality cable, made for this application that I know can easily withstand the power.

[escholl]

[url="http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?moduleno=50"]This[/url] is all you need for the internal wiring. Fairly cheap, easy to get, works perfect. No need to spend more.

[AlanP2008]

This idea of using super thick cable so that it will "take the power" is all in the mind of the beholder...

... you only have to look at the thickness of the wire used in the voicecoil itself to see how thick that needs to be - and that has to "take the power" too.

As others have said, for the few feet of wire within the cab, wires pulled out from flexible mains cables is perfectly adequate.

Alan

[Protium]

[quote name='AlanP2008' post='795611' date='Apr 4 2010, 12:00 PM']This idea of using super thick cable so that it will "take the power" is all in the mind of the beholder...

... you only have to look at the thickness of the wire used in the voicecoil itself to see how thick that needs to be - and that has to "take the power" too.

As others have said, for the few feet of wire within the cab, wires pulled out from flexible mains cables is perfectly adequate.

Alan[/quote]

The voice coil is a different animal, otherwise we'd all be using .01" diameter speaker cables. They might get a bit warm though

[Phil Starr]

There are two reasons for using thicker wires, current handling and lower reistance. The wires you will be using internally are so short that resistance is not a factor, there won't be any noticeable power loss. any of the cables above will handle the current. I use 42 strand from maplin rather than 79 simply because it is more flexible and places less stress on the soldered joints than the thicker wires.

[Bobby K]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Here's a point though; is it normal for these cabinets (it's an old Trace 1048) to be full of fibreglass???

Had a look inside earlier and there's sheets of this stuff behind the drivers....

Hmmm.....

[Bobby K]

Ok guys

All done and dusted, just need to play the drivers in now.

Thanks a million for all your advice along the way


Bob