Speaker Wire?

[dd12939]

What kind of wire would I need if I were going to cut the speaker connections in a combo and run it to an external cabinet?
Thanks

[joelap]

Re: Speaker Wire?

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/cgi-bin/mojotone/4132725.html?id=3GMg2j4o

Is that what you're looking for?

[SlyFoxx]

Re: Speaker Wire?

"Speaker" wire is a bit of a misnomer because there is nothing special about it.

I take it your combo has no 1/4" jack and that the wire to the speaker is connected directly to the amp circut.

Unplug the amp. Disconnect the wires from the speakers. Snip off the little connectors and strip the wires about 1/2". Get a length of regular household wire like is used on lamps or extension cords and two yellow wire nuts and a 1/4" plug. Use the wires nuts to attach to the combo and solder the 1/4" plug so you can hook up to the extenstion speaker jack. This would probably be cheapest.

You could just get a length of "speaker" wire from the music store that has 1/4" ends...snip off one plug and use wire nuts to connect to the combo. Probably more expensive but if you can't/don't solder it would be a bit easier.

Make sure your new cab has an impeadence that the amp will tolerate before you do any of this.

[dd12939]

Re: Speaker Wire?

Thanks guys -
for some reason I thought speaker cable was necessarily different than standard wire (though I don't know what else it would be). I will get it fixed up tonight. And the impedence does match. It's a question worth asking though.

[RW James]

Re: Speaker Wire?

Lamp cord wire is generally 18 ga, which I would consider minimum size for any fair distance. Resisitance is not only futile, but also a function of wire size and length. While the wire size within the combo may not be great, it dosen't have to go very far. You are probably looking at extending the length to something like 4 to 6 feet.

I have a similar situation - bought professionally made speaker cord and it looks like at least 12 ga.

The other thing you really need to concerned about is polarity. If you reverse the polarity, the speaker cone will be pulling into the magnet instead of pushing awa. You will not only NOT get the performance you want from the speaker, you may damage the cone.

Not a really difficult problem... just note the '+' and '-' on the back of your combo speaker and make sure you hook up your new speaker the same way.

Good luck

[KLINKDETROIT]

Re: Speaker Wire?

Voodoo amps 50/50 cable or Monster cable at Radio shack. 12 guage

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Speaker Wire?

Never use a guitar-to-amp cable to connect your amp to your speaker(s). A guitar cord requires the use of a SHEILDED CABLE, to help reject Radio Frequency Interference (RFI, aka "noise") from entering the amplifier. Using a sheilded cable between amp and speaker can damage your amp.

Speaker cable is two conductor wire, without a sheild. It may come as "twisted pair", or lamp cord (aka "zip" cord). Some companies like Monster Cable have made big bucks by selling premium quality, large gauge zip cord for use in audiophile and pro-sound applications.

Bigger gauges are better, as are shorter runs.

I hope this helps.

Bill