Members Tony474 Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 I've been volunteered to acquire a new pair of 10- or 11-metre (33-36 ft) speaker cables to connect the band's Dynacord Powermate 1000 powered mixer to a pair (occasionally two pairs) of EV SX300 cabinets. I've already decided to use 2.5 sq. mm. (roughly 13 AWG) twin cable but it comes in two grades, Tour (black) and Studio (blue). Tour has fewer and thicker strands, Studio more and finer. The Tour grade is supposed to be somewhat tougher but the Studio grade is more flexible and easier to handle. Our bass-player, who does most of the PA roadie-ing, is not known for his care and delicacy in treating the cables kindly (which is probably why the existing cables have gone kaput). Can anyone say from experience whether Van Damme's Studio grade speaker cable is up to the rigours of regular gigging with the likelihood of a certain amount of abuse? Yes, I know I could always deploy and put away the cables myself but I already have plenty of other stuff to concentrate on... BTW, I've specified Van Damme cable in particular as it's good-quality and readily available on the UK market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 Are you looking to purchase bulk cable and assemble the ends on yourself, or pre-assembled? Can you post a link to the proposed product? And I'll suggest some education on care & handling of cables would likely be a good investment... easily as good of an investment as investing in good tools. Cables go kaput for only a few reasons, most of which can be minimized... by: 1) Properly coiling: Over-under coil in comfortably sized coils. 18" diameter coils should be suitable for 2 x 2.5mm speaker cable. Secure the coils with some sort of wrap... velcro, trick-line, etc... 2) Properly stow: Stow in a road truck, large suitcase, or other type of tote that protects the cables in transit & storage. 3) Deploy cables out of harms way. Route them to avoid foot traffic. 4) When possible, employ strain relief for the connections. 5) Apply some suitable modicum of mantainance... occasionally clean, inspect, and check for damage or loose components. 6) Keep cables out of heat, direct sunlight, high moisture & corrosive situations if possible. Also, keep the kinks out... lay them straight, coil them straight. If the cables are subjected to high moisture and/or corrosive environments, treat the connections with some protector stuff... Caig makes some very good connector protector spray goo. 7) Don't get in a hurry. I'll suggest that the run for the barn at the end of the night puts more wear & tear on cables than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members W. M. Hellinger Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 Are you looking to purchase bulk cable and assemble the ends on yourself, or pre-assembled? Can you post a link to the proposed product? And I'll suggest some education on care & handling of cables would likely be a good investment... easily as good of an investment as investing in good tools. Cables go kaput for only a few reasons, most of which can be minimized... by: 1) Properly coiling: Over-under coil in comfortably sized coils. 18" diameter coils should be suitable for 2 x 2.5mm speaker cable. Secure the coils with some sort of wrap... velcro, trick-line, etc... 2) Properly stow: Stow in a road truck, large suitcase, or other type of tote that protects the cables in transit & storage. 3) Deploy cables out of harms way. Route them to avoid foot traffic. 4) When possible, employ strain relief for the connections. 5) Apply some suitable modicum of mantainance... occasionally clean, inspect, and check for damage or loose components. 6) Keep cables out of heat, direct sunlight, high moisture & corrosive situations if possible. Also, keep the kinks out... lay them straight, coil them straight. If the cables are subjected to high moisture and/or corrosive environments, treat the connections with some protector stuff... Caig makes some very good connector protector spray goo. 7) Don't get in a hurry. I'll suggest that the run for the barn at the end of the night puts more wear & tear on cables than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lonotes Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 Originally Posted by Tony474 Our bass-player, who does most of the PA roadie-ing, is not known for his care and delicacy in treating the cables kindly (which is probably why the existing cables have gone kaput). What has "gone kaput" on the old cables? It's likely just the connections to the plugs. What connectors are you using? If they're Speakons, it may be as simple as opening them up and tightening a screw or two. At worst, regardless of Speakon or 1/4" TS, it's a bit of soldering to repair. Unless the wire itself is physically cut there's not much to go wrong with it. Even if there is a cut, just make a couple of shorter cables out of the damaged one. Besides, a nice soldering iron and a bit of practice is a lot cheaper than new wire, and comes in real handy in a band situation. And if you make the bass player responsible for fixing the cables, he might also learn to be a bit more careful with them. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lonotes Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 Originally Posted by Tony474 Our bass-player, who does most of the PA roadie-ing, is not known for his care and delicacy in treating the cables kindly (which is probably why the existing cables have gone kaput). What has "gone kaput" on the old cables? It's likely just the connections to the plugs. What connectors are you using? If they're Speakons, it may be as simple as opening them up and tightening a screw or two. At worst, regardless of Speakon or 1/4" TS, it's a bit of soldering to repair. Unless the wire itself is physically cut there's not much to go wrong with it. Even if there is a cut, just make a couple of shorter cables out of the damaged one. Besides, a nice soldering iron and a bit of practice is a lot cheaper than new wire, and comes in real handy in a band situation. And if you make the bass player responsible for fixing the cables, he might also learn to be a bit more careful with them. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 It appears that the marketing capabilities of the company are preying on the perceived desired of the consumer. Any performance difference is likely to be so far to the right of the decimal point as to be unrecognizable in any real world application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 1, 2013 Members Share Posted January 1, 2013 It appears that the marketing capabilities of the company are preying on the perceived desired of the consumer. Any performance difference is likely to be so far to the right of the decimal point as to be unrecognizable in any real world application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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