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RE: Best PA speaker cords with both 1/4 inch and Neutrik speakons?

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In Reply to: RE: Best PA speaker cords with both 1/4 inch and Neutrik speakons? posted by hukkfinn on October 26, 2011 at 11:51:11

It's not so much the cable as it is the connection at the connectors. Guitar Center carries a brand called Hosa. I won't buy anothe Hosa cable if I can avoid it. Two out of eight cables have failed (with light usage), as I noted in another thread. That's not good.
Look back through the recent threads. There were a couple posts which suggested a few brands. My experience is that the most reliable cables I have are the ones I made. 'Course, I build everything so it will never fail. (Maybe it's just me. lol)
14 gauge is plenty if you're using 1/4" on the end. 16 would even be enough. The contact area of a 1/4" connector is tiny, and will be the weak spot.

Edits: 10/26/11

Follow Ups:

Great post, thank you. one last question: - hukkfinn 18:24:24 10/26/11 (5)
Is 12 gauge speaker cable likely to sound or perform better than 14?

-Hukk
- RE: Great post, thank you. one last question: - Pro Sound Guy 14:28:17 10/27/11 (2)
  Again...the longer the run the more resistance
  
  A 25ft run can easily be done with 14gauge cable
  
  No sonic difference between that and 12gauge at 25ft
  
  Unless you are running a HUGE amount of power and then you would go
  with 10 gauge
  
  Im suspecting you are not and thus 14/2 will do the job fine
  - each cable carries 300 watts going into an 8ohm speaker - hukkfinn 14:53:59 10/27/11 (1)
    Don't know if that ranks as a ton of power or not.
    
    Thanks,
    Hukk
    - RE: each cable carries 300 watts going into an 8ohm speaker - Pro Sound Guy 06:58:10 10/28/11 (0)
      The 25ft 14/2 wire will work just fine for your application
- RE: Great post, thank you. one last question: - Inmate51 11:03:42 10/27/11 (0)
  Keeping in mind that we're talking about a 25 foot cable...
  
  12 gauge twisted pair is the bomb. It has all the right curves. ;) Big, cheap. But, by comparison, 14 isn't going to sound like crap. Heck, it's only a knat's hair smaller. 12 gauge has been shown to effectively be the upper limit on speaker cable. Use 12, 14, or 16.
  
  There's way too much hype about cables and their effect on the signal. I'd challenge anyone to prove an audible difference between 12 gauge and 18 gauge for the average high end stereo system at average levels.
  
  Alpha Al is correct in that the larger the wire, the less resistance. The question is, does it matter? In most cases, the answer is no. Now, if you're pumping a bunch of watts into a low efficiency speaker at a high SPL, big wires will help.
  
  I use 12 gauge twisted pair for my home speakers, not because it sounds better, but because it's one less thing to think about. :)
- RE: Great post, thank you. one last question: - Alpha Al 20:20:32 10/26/11 (0)
  Bigger is always better.
  
  It depends on the load impedence, and the cable length.
  
  #14 might be OK for 8 Ohms, whereas for 4Ohms or less, #12 would have less loss.

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