Speaker wire recommendation

[Colossal]

I've got some cabs to wire up and am wondering if you guys could offer some recommendations for good quality speaker wire (oxygen free copper, heavy gauge, heavy insulation, etc) and plug hardware. I need to do both wiring from the jack to speaker inside the cabs as well as make a couple of speaker cables with 90 degree mono plugs (Neutrik? Switchcraft?).

Thanks in advance for any help.
Dave

[Masco]

I've been using this twisted pair ProCo stuff from CE Dist. Part# P-HSG-FT
Don't know if it's oxygen free...?

[Phil_S]

Any zip or lamp cord should be good. Neutrik or Switchcraft, hard to go wrong. If you want round cord, for the look of it, find some vacuum cleaner cord.

We all like a little dirt in our tone. I think O2 free is probably too pure for my electrons. I can't say about yours.

[dorrisant]

While on the subject... 16 gauge good enough?

[Phil_S]

Just how many watts are you going to pump through the speakers?

[Colossal]

Just how many watts are you going to pump through the speakers?

Hey all,

Thanks for the replies. Phil, 8R 25W Greenbacks in each 1x12 cab. Four cabs, two amps.

[David Root]

16 ga. is good for a single speaker combo (short run) of 50W or less IMHO, unless maybe it's a 2 ohm OT. Anything longer run and/or higher power I never use less than 14 ga. and have used 12 ga. too in a 4x12 cab. I have spliced 16 ga. wire to two speakers in parallel that already had 18ga wire on them (old Jensens) that works OK on a 40W combo amp.

They didn't agonize about this stuff in the '50s and '60s, but I do, up to a point, especially with long runs and/or high power.

I generally use stuff designed for 12V automotive use (cheap, easy to find, more flexible than 600V wire, designed for high current use).

Oxygen free, never knowingly tried it, but some of the pre-made speaker cables I have might use it. I would be more inclined to use that in first stage signal wire, but I generally use 20 ga. solid w/Teflon insulation for hookup wire.

[LeftyStrat]

I generally use stuff designed for 12V automotive use (cheap, easy to find, more flexible than 600V wire, designed for high current use).

Same here.

I use these for speaker connections:

[ApexJr.]

How bout 14 Awg...

http://www.apexjr.com/images/SpeakerWire50ft.jpg

50ft for $10.00

Steve @ Apex Jr

[Scumback Speakers]

I use 16 gauge zip cord (automotive wire) with red & black sheathing.

[Colossal]

I appreciate the discussion and suggestions guys; thanks for your time on this.

[bluesfendermanblues]

Start by taking a look at the OT sec. wire thickness.

IME, In a combo you don't gain anything running a thicker than OT sec wire.

[Colossal]

Start by taking a look at the OT sec. wire thickness.

IME, In a combo you don't gain anything running a thicker than OT sec wire.

That's a good point about the OT wire diameter. I've always run quite thick speaker cable as a rule, generally subscribing to the idea that larger diameter stranded copper is a good idea. To clarify for this thread, my inquiry is regarding wire choices for external speaker cabinets specifically. I've just been wondering how others select speaker wire, mostly as an academic curiosity.

[Gibsonman63]

My Marshall 4x12 cabs use pretty thin wire. To me it looks like 22 or 20AWG. I use 12AWG on all of my PA stuff and there is a noticable difference in volume over 16AWG.

For some guitar amps, the voltage drops may actually help. It might be an interesting test to see if any noticable attenuation can be achieved as a transparent way to take a little off of the top.

[Phil_S]

I'd defer to an engineer or electrician on the substance of what I'm about to say, but I believe it to be correct. I base this on the wire gauge charts that are widely available. Here's a specific discussion of voltage drop and a calculator: http://www.stealth316.com/2-wire-resistance.htm The voltage drop is considerably more just going from 14awg to 18awg.

The reason for heavier gauge wire is that over any long distance, there is a voltage drop. You can compensate for this by using the heavier wire.

If you are only using a 10' speaker cable, it probably doesn't matter very much. If you have a 50' cable, it probably matters a great deal more.