Lamp cord for speaker wire?

[timrocker]

Hi DIY Forum,

I need to make two speaker cables, each with a dual banana plug at one end and a quarter inch plug at the other. I'm going to be testing three different power amps in my guitar rig and want to get this done this week.

 

I don't want to buy expensive Monster or Dayton cable, by the spool, since I only need three feet times two. What will happen if I use lamp cord from Home Depot? I don't need this to be terribly durable, just to not color the sound. Any advice appreciated.

[Belva]

 

Hi DIY Forum, I need to make two speaker cables, each with a dual banana plug at one end and a quarter inch plug at the other. I'm going to be testing three different power amps in my guitar rig and want to get this done this week. I don't want to buy expensive Monster or Dayton cable, by the spool, since I only need three feet times two. What will happen if I use lamp cord from Home Depot? I don't need this to be terribly durable, just to not color the sound. Any advice appreciated.

 

Lamp cord is what to use. Don't waste money on anything else. 18awg is fine for banana plugs. I don't care if you're running 30 feet times two. Anything but lamp cord is a waste of money. For a run that long I'd use 16awg, but it's a bit harder to get good solder connections. Use some 18 and you'll be fine.

[isaac42]

As customtele says, lamp cord, or zip cord, is the stuff to use. I also agree that 16 gauge is about ideal, and use it whenever I can, even when it's overkill, but I have never noticed a difference when forced to use 18 gauge.

[Belva]

I agree with Isaac. But I have a harder time soldering it. Especially with them bananas. Many of us DIY'ers are severely afflicted with Pack Rat Syndrome or PRS. If I have, say, a busted toaster, I'll cut off the cord for later use. I prolly have enough to run speaker wire from here to da moon!

[katillac]

 

I agree with Isaac. But I have a harder time soldering it. Especially with them bananas. Many of us DIY'ers are severely afflicted with Pack Rat Syndrome or PRS. If I have, say, a busted toaster, I'll cut off the cord for later use. I prolly have enough to run speaker wire from here to da moon!

 

 

I do the same thing. Why waste resources, especially the copper? It'll end up in the landfill otherwise. If it has a motor, I salvage it. Any other usable parts, I save them. I save old circuit boards and take them to a local shop that sells them to a reclamation service. They only make a few bucks on it, but the reclamation service reuses *everything*. There's gold (literally) in them thar circuit boards.

 

On the advice of the guys here, not only did I use lamp cord for a speaker cable, I made three of them so I have backups or loaners. If you want to make it look fancy, there is plastic sleeving like the hot rod guys use on engine wiring.

[Belva]

 

I do the same thing. Why waste resources, especially the copper? It'll end up in the landfill otherwise. If it has a motor, I salvage it. Any other usable parts, I save them. I save old circuit boards and take them to a local shop that sells them to a reclamation service. They only make a few bucks on it, but the reclamation service reuses *everything*. There's gold (literally) in them thar circuit boards. On the advice of the guys here, not only did I use lamp cord for a speaker cable, I made three of them so I have backups or loaners. If you want to make it look fancy, there is plastic sleeving like the hot rod guys use on engine wiring.

 

I'm not a packrat. I'm, uh, being environmentally friendly. Yeah, that's it.

I like the plastic sleeving idea. I think I have some braided stainless looking sleeve left over from doing the vacuum hoses on my truck project. And I didn't want to just throw it away to pollute stuff. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

SRS, I never did look at the environmental benefits I'm making by keeping off the wall {censored}.

[katillac]

I like to take as much into consideration as possible. It also comes in handy when people question your having PRS. I'm being thrifty, not cheap. I'm recycling/repurposing and in the process being environmentally friendly.

 

See how that works?

 

Now, about that braided sleeving you have... could that cause any ground issues? I remember when we were discussing using lamp cord before, that was one reason to use it and not a shielded cable. Something to do with interference, I think. That has me wondering if using the metal sleeving will produce the same effect (if that's what the issue was). Maybe we need a word from the guys who are more in depth with this stuff? That is the type of material I was referring to, except to use the nylon stuff. I have some of it from when I did radio control stuff and liked to pretty up my nitro fuel lines and wiring.

[WRGKMC]

I like to take as much into consideration as possible. It also comes in handy when people question your having PRS. I'm being thrifty, not cheap. I'm recycling/repurposing and in the process being environmentally friendly. See how that works? Now, about that braided sleeving you have... could that cause any ground issues? I remember when we were discussing using lamp cord before, that was one reason to use it and not a shielded cable. Something to do with interference, I think. That has me wondering if using the metal sleeving will produce the same effect (if that's what the issue was). Maybe we need a word from the guys who are more in depth with this stuff? That is the type of material I was referring to, except to use the nylon stuff. I have some of it from when I did radio control stuff and liked to pretty up my nitro fuel lines and wiring.

 

I dont think the sleeving CT mentioned would be grounded, just for looks. I personally think ot would be a waste of time myself.

If it were grounded I dont think it would hurt much. The main conductors are balanced and can handel high enough current to do the job which is the main concern.

the reason why you dont use guitar cords to connect to a speaker is they're designed to carry a volt or less and will melt inside if you try to pump speaker voltage through them.

If you ever com across a cord that microphonic, crackley, or has the wires separating inside, its a good chance the cord was improperly used with a speaker.. The insulation melts into the wire and lest oxygen in too which allows the copper to oxidize and thats what makes them crackle and noisy.

 

I prefer a heavier zip cord for speakers. Some of the cheezy dollar store type extension cords are pretty lame for a speaker cord and for soldering. Something like computer cords work very nicely. They usually have heavy 100% copper and hold up well for speaker applications. For my PA I bought a few 100' extension cords then cut them up and soldered jacks on to them. Other than them being orange, they are heavy duty and have lasted me for 15 years so far. You just need to be sure you use big solid jacks. The ones designed for guitar cords have sleeves that are too small for the cable.

[timrocker]

Thanks for the good advice!

[Wayne2]

 

Hi DIY Forum, I need to make two speaker cables, each with a dual banana plug at one end and a quarter inch plug at the other. I'm going to be testing three different power amps in my guitar rig and want to get this done this week. I don't want to buy expensive Monster or Dayton cable, by the spool, since I only need three feet times two. What will happen if I use lamp cord from Home Depot? I don't need this to be terribly durable, just to not color the sound. Any advice appreciated.

 

 

I'm doing something similar and have been all over the internet in the last couple days.

 

One site (http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm) said that years ago Home Depot was selling a wire where the insulation reacted with the copper and turned green.

 

Another nice thing about using actual speaker wire is that one side will have a stripe or a groove in it so you don't get the sides mixed up. Though in a 3' segment I imagine you could figure it out.

 

I had a spool of 18 gauge Archer (RadioShack) speaker wire left over from my stereo project that I'd been holding onto for eight years. It's been working fine.

[Belva]

The sleeving is plastic with the braided steel look. I just thought about it because I need to find a use for it and it would just look cool. Really it, uh, would protect the end of the cable from getting bent. Yeah, that's. Yeah.

[isaac42]

 

I'm doing something similar and have been all over the internet in the last couple days. One site ( http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm ) said that years ago Home Depot was selling a wire where the insulation reacted with the copper and turned green. Another nice thing about using actual speaker wire is that one side will have a stripe or a groove in it so you don't get the sides mixed up. Though in a 3' segment I imagine you could figure it out. I had a spool of 18 gauge Archer (RadioShack) speaker wire left over from my stereo project that I'd been holding onto for eight years. It's been working fine.

 

 

Regular lamp cord also has a "stripe or groove" to identify which side is which.

[Wayne2]

 

Regular lamp cord also has a "stripe or groove" to identify which side is which.

 

 

You're right!

[Belva]

 

You're right!

 

Sometimes it's the sire gage thats imbedded in the insulation, but almost always there is some kind of marking to identify which side is which.

[timrocker]

Success! I made up two good cables with dual banana plugs to quarter inch plugs. Now, is it necessary for positive on the amp out to go to tip? Thanks all!

[Belva]

 

Success! I made up two good cables with dual banana plugs to quarter inch plugs. Now, is it necessary for positive on the amp out to go to tip? Thanks all!

 

Yes. As long as you have + to + you won't change impedance to the speakers.

[WRGKMC]

 

Yes. As long as you have + to + you won't change impedance to the speakers.

 

 

I think you mean polarity, not impediance.

[ashasha]

It's nice to see useful and accurate advice given on here.

 

I was kind of scared that there'd be some Monster Cable BS floating around in here.

 

As for polarity you could always get some small colored heatshrink tubing to put on the ends to make positive and negative.

[Belva]

 

I think you mean polarity, not impediance.

 

Correct. But it would cause impedance issues if he runs two speakers. Having one backwards: well wouldn't that potentially cook a tube amp?

[Belva]

It's nice to see useful and accurate advice given on here. I was kind of scared that there'd be some Monster Cable BS floating around in here. As for polarity you could always get some small colored heatshrink tubing to put on the ends to make positive and negative.

The heatshrink idea is a winner. I don't like bananas. Well, not the type you use on speaker connections. I prefer 1/4" jacks and would change that if it were mine. But in lieu of doing that, colored shrink, like say white on + would make it easy to hook up on a dark stage.

[katillac]

The heatshrink idea is a winner. I don't like bananas. Well, not the type you use on speaker connections. I prefer 1/4" jacks and would change that if it were mine. But in lieu of doing that, colored shrink, like say white on + would make it easy to hook up on a dark stage.

 

White heat shrink is a no-no. We're talking about musicians here. Think about it. Dirty hands will turn that white heat shrink to ugly in nothing flat. Plus, unless you have a heat gun for shrinking the tube, forget about it. Go black and red if you want to indicate polarity.

 

That reminds me. I need to find purple and pink heat shrink.

[Belva]

I have had that problem with white. Nuttin' an alcohol swab or three doesn't take care of. Plus the secret to keeping them clean is to keep the knuckle draggin' drummer away from 'em.

[WRGKMC]

 

Correct. But it would cause impedance issues if he runs two speakers. Having one backwards: well wouldn't that potentially cook a tube amp?

 

 

No that cause a phasing issue, One speaker pulling in while ones pushing out not an impediance issue. Impediance is an AC ohms issue. Having one speaker wired in reverse will still have the same impediance it will just sound like {censored}.

 

Very long cables have DC resistance and therefore signal and fidelity loss that can load an amp more. This is why heavier cable is recomended if you're going to use longer cables. Over 50 feet you start having some major frequency losses. This is why with PA applications the power heads are on stage to reduce the speaker cable lengths. Then the mics are sent to the mixer through a snake low impediance (high voltage low current) and then the mixer outputs a signal back through the cables low impediance line level to the power heads on the stage. This keeps the cable length from the power amps to the cabs short and provides maximum power and fidelity.

[WRGKMC]

It's nice to see useful and accurate advice given on here. I was kind of scared that there'd be some Monster Cable BS floating around in here. As for polarity you could always get some small colored heatshrink tubing to put on the ends to make positive and negative.

 

Monster cable makes some good stuff but they also chage 10X more than its worth. You can buy bulk Beldin cable and buy connectors and have the exact same thing for a lower cost.

Manufactures have caught on to the whole DIY thing though and are raping DIYers to make pocket change off those trying to save a buck. You can buy mic and guitar cables cheaper than you can make them these days. They still overcharge for speaker cables though so you can often save making your own. It still comes down to buying good connectors though. The bargan brand $2 connectors are complete garbage, especially for speakers.

 

Speaker wire is thick and requires alot of heat to get them to solder and it will melt the plastic cores of cheap connectors and either short them, cause them to loosen up and have the sleeves spin around and make a bad connection. Good single piece sleeve 1/4" speaker plugs cost about $5 each. I only use use the one piece switchcraft jacks now. They have a military build and wont fall appart in pieces or have problems loosening up by overheating. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=093-128 Thay cant get wiped out when you push an amp against the wall with a jack sticking out. I'm able to use right angle jacks on all my cabs and heads so I've been replacing all the cheezy straight jacks with those.

 

For big cables you got to use the big foots http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-202

 

These are garbage. Stay away and Dont waste you money.

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-106

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-147

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-140

 

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=092-105

 

The ground sleeve is not welded to the stopper.

Those kinds of connectors are rivited together and the ground sleeve is a loose tube and connects to the rest of the jack through rivit pressure.

If you overheat the tip connector the rivet melts into the insulator and the entire plug loosens up and makes a bad connection.

Bad news So beware and pass up the cheezy $2 crap, it wont last and you'll be replacing them over and over.

[katillac]

So, no word on the topic of not using shielded wire for speaker cabling? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?