Members greenglaze Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 HiI'm in the UK.I'm looking for cable to make my own speaker leads.I'm getting a quote for some speaker cable which reccomends a current of no more than 9 amps through each conductor.How do I work out the current I might be putting through them?The amps I'm using supposedly put out the following RMS into an 8 ohm load(1) 380w per channel(2) 420w per channel(3) 500w (bridged - which is how I'll be using it)Each amp powers a pair of 8 ohm speakers apart from (3) which will power a 600w sub.I've looked in the amp specs for an output voltage - if there is such a thing - but no luck. Is that what I need to find out?Any help appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mkfs9 Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 A cable with 2.5mm cores will be ok for you application. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 4, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 How long will the cables be? For speaker cable, the variables are power, impedance load, and distance. In general, longer runs are bad, lower impedance is bad, and higher power is bad. In other words, the longer the run, the higher the power, and the lower the impedance, the larger the cable must be. I'm not going to look up the conversions, but in the states, a 500w 8-ohm system can comfortably go 50ft or more with 14AWG cable. Another factor very worthy of consideration is the cables ends. Neutrik Speakon can handle up to about 11AWG before you have significant difficulty getting the strands inside the clamp cups. Whenver possible, locate the amps as close to the speakers as possible, and use longer signal cables instead of longer speaker cables. Lighter, cheaper, easier to store and transport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greenglaze Posted January 4, 2011 Author Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks for advice.The cable is indeed 2.5mm squared which is 14AWG. I'll be using speakons. I'll keep the leads as short as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 Something is wrong with the amp ratings you posted... can the amp drive 4 ohms bridge mono mode? If so, your numbers do not match any amp I am familiar with nor with any amp principles I know of and I design amps for a living. Exactly what amp is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 4, 2011 CMS Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Something is wrong with the amp ratings you posted... can the amp drive 4 ohms bridge mono mode? If so, your numbers do not match any amp I am familiar with nor with any amp principles I know of and I design amps for a living.Exactly what amp is it? By his wording I think he's referring to three separate amps, and listed the power for each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 4, 2011 Members Share Posted January 4, 2011 By his wording I think he's referring to three separate amps, and listed the power for each. Reading it again, I'm not sure what's ment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted January 5, 2011 Members Share Posted January 5, 2011 OP: you're overthinking this. For 50ft or less 14ga (13ga / 2.5mm) is more than fine. Use a flexible jacket in black, something like SJ, no zip cord. Try using Neutrik NL2FC cable ends and NL4MPR for speaker cabs and NL4MP for patch panel stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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