Power Cords for Speaker Wire

[Mudcat]

Just a thought, figured someone knowlegable may have some info.

How well do "power cords" compare to dedicated speaker wire?

I've seen 10 awg power cords (10/4) for less than 16 awg zip cord speaker wire. The construction is twisted conductors, and you can dress it in flexopet polytester wrap and have a real nice looking cable. 465 strands of 36 awg per conductor should be good for something. Any thoughts?

 

[jeffsg4mac]

It would be absolutly ok; just remember the longer the run the larger the guage you need. 10 or 12 for long runs.

 

[Unregistered]

Just a thought, figured someone knowlegable may have some info.

Why limit it to those people, it makes me feel like I'm butting in where I don't belong..

How well do "power cords" compare to dedicated speaker wire?

I've seen 10 awg power cords (10/4) for less than 16 awg zip cord speaker wire. The construction is twisted conductors, and you can dress it in flexopet polytester wrap and have a real nice looking cable. 465 strands of 36 awg per conductor should be good for something. Any thoughts?

I've been using #12/3 for about 3 years now. Found some really sweet, neon colored heavy duty 90 footers at Sams Club..they fit perfectly into Neutrik 4's, and cost only 17 dollars apiece..bought 6 the first day I saw them..I know a deal when I see it..

I run black as 1+...white as 1-...and green as 2+. That way, if I plug it into a speaker that is wired for bridged operation, it automatically connects at both ends..

My opinion? This is one of the most robust cables I've ever used for my mobile rigs..The insulation is capable of being run over by a forklift without batting an eye..That is the most important aspect of these cables...well, ok, the heavy guage copper with high strandcount for flexibility does mean something..

And color coding for length is a godsend..green is 90 feet, purple 45, orange 25, yellow 10..

Cheers, John

 

[jneutron]

Darn it..

Forgot to put a moniker in...now I can't edit the post..

I run 300 WPC typically for most of my setups, and 1400 w bridged into 4 ohms on occasion..at 1400 w, I'll try to use the 45 footer maximum if possible... if need warrants, I'll move the amp closer to that load, but that forces me to use balanced signal runs because of ground loops.

Cheers, John

 

[Shinerman]

Here is an interesting thread from another forum. Looks like Absolute Sound tried it out.

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=4339

Shinerman

 

[Mudcat]

Great

This is all good news to me, because I found 100 feet of this cable (10/4 @ 465 strands of 36 awg) for $25.00. The cable is covered in a heavy duty black rubber with an OD of almost 3/4 of an inch. I had some mylar braided wrap and some carbon color Flexopet braided wrap, and now I have a speaker cable bigger than a fire hose and very good looking (someones locking bananna plugs terminate the cable), and very heavy.

I just liked it because it was cheap, large diameter, low awg, and easy to impress the neighbors with when dress up.

P.S. Hey Jnuetron, I've read a lot of your previous postings. I kneel before the altar of your knowledge.

 

[jneutron]

P.S. Hey Jnuetron, I've read a lot of your previous postings. I kneel before the altar of your knowledge.

Thanks..but I walk and talk just like everybody else...and can be wrong also..

I tend not to post my results when I blow sumptin up...that way everybody thinks I know what I'm doin...but it's a facade..I keep a fire extinguisher handy, and they don't let me handle sharp objects at work..

But those speaker wires I talked about? My 18 yr old is using the 90 footers now..playing all sorts of parties with my equip...talk about your trial by fire...so far so good.

Cheers, John

 

[Dan Banquer]

Speaker Wire

"P.S. Hey Jnuetron, I've read a lot of your previous postings. I kneel before the altar of your knowledge."

Mudcat; if you keep this up it is only going to make his head swell larger than it already is I'm surprised he didn't catch the misspelling of his name, are you slipping jimmy, johnny, joey or is it jerry, neutron?
d.b.

 

[jneuteredonoey]

jneuteredonoeyrry(are you jimmy ray??)

Fraid it's way too late for that...but you already knew that, didn't ya??

Hey....someone finally agreed to try my newfangled dual braid coaxial wire thingy..you know, the 10 nanohenry per foot/288 pf per foot stuff.

Maybe I'll make up a 240 picohenry per foot cable to give to Gene someday, to test whether his inductance measurements techniques are "good enough for government work"...hee hee...(why make it easy for him?)..

Cheers, John

 

[gene]

288pF/ft? Are you trying to make amps oscillate? Impressive inductance spec, but how bout increasing it a bit and lowering capacitance.

BTW when I finally publish Speaker Cable Face Off II, I will be doing a DIY Speaker Cable Face Off which will include:
1) DIY designs that a forum member submitted me
2) Infamous Cross Coax
3) Dan Banquer Design, 10AWG Zip
4) Perhaps a few of yours as well

How about registering on our forums Johnny boy? It only takes a few minutes

 

[jneutron]

288pF/ft? Are you trying to make amps oscillate? Impressive inductance spec, but how bout increasing it a bit and lowering capacitance.

What the heck does an amp have to do with speaker wires...you expect me to actually connect them to something????

Impressive inductance is a misnomer..the geometry simply defines the inductance as L*C=1031 * Dielectric coefficient..I can generate a cable with .24 picohenries per foot, and 17K pf per foot, using a 1 inch inner dia, and 1 mil kapton dielectric..kapton is 6kilovolt per mil withstanding capability.

The person testing my wires has no such amp instability issue. But yes, that capacitance has to be considered, especially for high bandwidth amps.

BTW when I finally publish Speaker Cable Face Off II, I will be doing a DIY Speaker Cable Face Off which will include:
1) DIY designs that a forum member submitted me
2) Infamous Cross Coax
3) Dan Banquer Design, 10AWG Zip
4) Perhaps a few of yours as well.

Hmmm..how about a twisted pair of 500mcm..you can pay the shipping charges..Honestly, it would be rather useless to compare my double coaxes using your equipment, I can give you the numbers right from the jump. The only thing you'll be able to measure that I can't define by equation will be the skin effect dropoff at the higher frequencies because I'm using a finite thickness braid..But for the most part, It'd be more useful to give you a ridiculously low inductance cable to help you baseline your meter setup for the nutso level inductances..

Did pick up two spools of #12 from home depot..ul listed, 600 volt, 15 mil insulation (don't know what type). I'm putting a turntable together with a payup reel, to make a 500 foot twisted pair outta that stuff, cause I'm gonna make my auditorium setup a 5.1 system, with the 12 by 5 speaker panel arrays on the back sides, and my feed snake only works with the amp at one location. I'll be putting all the amps in one rack, and this time feeding the speakers via the 12/2 twisted pair..

How about registering on our forums Johnny boy? It only takes a few minutes

That's just what they're expecting me to do.....just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not after me...

Cheers, John

 

[footman]

heavy duty outdoor extension cords

Check out the last two issues of The Absolute Sound. They gave a very positive review of Home Depot 14 gauge outdoor extension cords for use as speaker cable. I gave it a try as a tweak and I was impressed.