Making Your Own PA Speaker Cables

paulphoenix

Hey Guys,

Wasn't sure where to post this - so mods feel free to move as you see fit. 

I'm looking for some advice on making some speaker cables for my PA.

I have a bunch of 1/4" jacks kicking around so thought about buying the cable and making my own - I regularly make my own guitar patch cables and have all the soldering equipment to hand. 

I read somewhere that you can use electrical cable for speaker wires - is this true? If so what size/type should i get?

On the advice of members here i made a speaker cable for my amp with lawn mower cable last week, so i thought the same could apply to other type of speakers? 

My local electrical factor stocks 1.5mm 2 core flex at a 1/3 the price of proper "speaker cable"  would this be ok or could/should i use smaller/bigger?

or do i just buy the real thing?

i know we're not talking £000's and it may seem petty, but we've recently spunked all our band kitty on new/used equipment to replace gear owned by a band member who quit last month (without warning) with a years worth of gigs booked. 

If it matters my pa is 400W per side into 4ohms. 


thanks if you can help. 

Danny1969

5 amp 2 core mains cable will be fine for that. Is there a better socket on the speaker rather than just the 1\4 jack ? some have both jack and speakon .... if so make the lead with a speakon connector instead

paulphoenix

Danny1969 said:

5 amp 2 core mains cable will be fine for that. Is there a better socket on the speaker rather than just the 1\4 jack ? some have both jack and speakon .... if so make the lead with a speakon connector instead

thanks for the help Danny,

all four speakers are 1/4" in/thru only (oh the joys of owing aged equipment).

i have often thought of upgrading the sockets to neutriks as my pa has speakon connections also, but this will have to wait for the meantime until funds allow. 

ESBlonde

One of the biggest faults with 1/4" jacks for speakers is the flimsey covers and solder tags. If someone (and sooner or later it happns) stands on the lead near the cabinet it pulls the terminals together and shorts out the signal. Heat shrink everything helps but you are likely to still have the plug fail in time. Neutrik jacks are more solid and have a good reputation for a reason. Jacks have worked for years on lower powered stuff but having a spare speaker lead at least is good insurance.

paulphoenix

is it easy enough to replace my 1/4" sockets with neutriks? i've made my own speakon cables before....

ESBlonde

It's about the hole. A jack socket fits through a hole maybe 9-10mm Varies) I seem to recall the Speakon panel mount is about 24mm hole needed. I had a punch for XLRs and would fettle the hole to accept the Speakon. Yoy could just buy a plate for the loudspeaker box, they are cheap enough. But the amp end will have to be cut/filed/punched in the chassis to suit. Do you have access to the tools or someone else that can do it?

paulphoenix

I'd probably replace the plate too as the existing one is plastic. The amp end already has neutrik output connectors built in. 

Danny1969

Normal size XLR and Speakon is same cut out ... this plate will do fine at £1.79


Cpc.co.uk order code LS00559

Buy the simple 2 pole speakon socket and wire pin 1- to ground pin 1+ to hot (was jack tip) 

ICBM

If you're going to make your own cables, don't use plugs just because you have them, if they aren't Neutriks. NP2s are the only kind worth using for speaker cables, because they have both the best cable grip and one-piece conductors with no rivetted joints.

2-core mains cable is ideal, because it's robust and cheap.

Haych

FWIW I used the orange two core mains flex (the stuff usually used for electrical garden equipment) for our PA speaker leads.  It's robust, cheap and quite visible and it works very well. 

I can't recall how many watts my PA is but a Flymo is anywhere between 1100 watts and 1800 watts so I think the flex should handle 400 watts

Danny1969

Haych said:

FWIW I used the orange two core mains flex (the stuff usually used for electrical garden equipment) for our PA speaker leads.  It's robust, cheap and quite visible and it works very well. 

I can't recall how many watts my PA is but a Flymo is anywhere between 1100 watts and 1800 watts so I think the flex should handle 400 watts

Your right it will be fine but it's worth bearing in mind you can't view a cables capabilities in Watt's ... at 240V your mower is only drawing  around 5 amps  ...... a 1250 watt speaker stack would draw a much higher current but at a lower voltage ...... a car starting motor needs around 3500 watts to start a car .... as it only has 12V to play with it draws hundreds of amps through it's large cables that would fry a bit of 3.2KW mains cable

Size of the cable determines the current handling and the strength \ thickness of the insulation determines the voltage rating 

ICBM

Danny1969 said:

Haych said:

FWIW I used the orange two core mains flex (the stuff usually used for electrical garden equipment) for our PA speaker leads.  It's robust, cheap and quite visible and it works very well. 

I can't recall how many watts my PA is but a Flymo is anywhere between 1100 watts and 1800 watts so I think the flex should handle 400 watts

Your right it will be fine but it's worth bearing in mind you can't view a cables capabilities in Watt's ... at 240V your mower is only drawing  around 5 amps  ...... a 1250 watt speaker stack would draw a much higher current but at a lower voltage ...... a car starting motor needs around 3500 watts to start a car .... as it only has 12V to play with it draws hundreds of amps through it's large cables that would fry a bit of 3.2KW mains cable

Size of the cable determines the current handling and the strength \ thickness of the insulation determines the voltage rating

Yes - bear in mind that 100W into a 4-ohm speaker requires a current of 5 amps. Although less if the 100W is the power of a PA amp - the average power and hence current will be much lower. For a guitar or bass amp at full tilt it could be close to that though.

The reason the mower gets far more power from the same current is because both the voltage and the motor's impedance are much higher.

Power = voltage-squared divided by impedance, or power = current-squared multiplied by impedance.

Nonetheless, for "pub PA" type setups, mower cable is fine for speaker cables… not least because 1/4" jacks and plugs are only rated for 6A anyway. If you're going higher than that, you really need Speakons and heavier-gauge cable.