I have two speaker cables that are 25 ft. long each and 12 gauge. I bought them that length to use them in my previous house to keep the 4X12"s in the third garage and the head in the house.
My question is this, I have a Power Soak coming soon for use as an attenuator between my 2005 Marshall 1959HW 100 watt Super Lead head and the 16 ohm Metropoulos True Replica 4X12" cab loaded with Celestion Creamback H-75's.
Will the lengths of the two speaker leads increase the impedance that the amp and or the Power Soak sees? Do I need to shorten the cables length?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
yngwie308
Speaker Cable Length
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yngwie308
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Speaker Cable Length
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JimiJames
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Re: Speaker Cable Length
Good question, Mr. Dave. How do big arena's do it? 
I was told by a reputable Sound Engineer that line cables should be no longer than 20'-25' (depending on
manufacturer or otherwise quality) for signal loss, but was always curious on speaker length & gauge after 25'.
I was told by a reputable Sound Engineer that line cables should be no longer than 20'-25' (depending on
manufacturer or otherwise quality) for signal loss, but was always curious on speaker length & gauge after 25'.
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yngwie308
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Re: Speaker Cable Length
Thanx JimiJames anyone else? I think the heavy gauge of the cable helps with the length, ect.
I really don't want to shorten the cables plus no soldering iron..
yngwie308
I really don't want to shorten the cables plus no soldering iron..
yngwie308
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Re: Speaker Cable Length
That's line cables, low voltage and low current (with the exception of XLR's running phantom power). Speaker cables should be kept considerably shorter since they are considerably higher on both counts. Anything you don't need, get rid.JimiJames wrote:Good question, Mr. Dave. How do big arena's do it?
I was told by a reputable Sound Engineer that line cables should be no longer than 20'-25' (depending on
manufacturer or otherwise quality) for signal loss, but was always curious on speaker length & gauge after 25'.
So I like purple, okay!!!!!!
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83.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot!
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yngwie308
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Re: Speaker Cable Length
I like the effect of the longer 12 gauge speaker cable and they have big massive plugs. Just adds that certain something with the Power Soak that tames the Marshall head nicely.. 
yngwie308
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dirtycooter
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Re: Speaker Cable Length
If you want length without the loss (and it is very noticeable at 25ft) grab yourself some pro co 8guage and if you can compare it to the same 25ft length of 12guage.
Bass is deeper and tighter with 8guahe at that length. However this is not good or bad but simply a difference and it is very hearable.
Keep in mind crazy spec'd out foo foo cables didn't exist back in the glry days of the inception of the most heralded guitar tones as well so that can weed out out some if the tones you shoot for came out before something like say monsters multi pair twisted time correct hooba hooba magic snake oil cable promotions. Think of logical alternatives that were there during the times your desired tone target was on scene to narrow down the prospects as of your tone hunt choices.
I would say a 25ft 8g sounds about like a 6ft 12g though. And that was suprising to me as I could easily hear it. No magic-just straight up honest physics. Even the power company uses hodackin sized cable to move more current where its critical and smaller where there is less load/current. Take note of the small wooden poles in your close by neighborhood vs the huge steel frame giant carriers you might see stretchin across the plains and wide open desert that you see heading to a major large populatiin center-Consumers energy knows its true. Bigger cables move more current.
The kick in the balls is how heavy the 8g is. Its hard as shit to terminate into a plug and the other issue and just as deadly for your amp is it weighs so much it will either easily unplug itself or break the dogshit out of your jacks especially if they are mounted in some pastic cheap mount.
In the case of bass performance the 8g will make you happy. But I play guitar and not a subwoofer box and am fine with 12g. I uave good tone and zero headaches that I had with the above issues with 8g.
A bass player might like 8g for the tightness in bass it can give but for guitar its rather .....un-neccassary really.
But as a rule of thumb the longer the run the bigger guage you should use.
If your running 50ft or more then 8g is something you will definitly want by then. Here the difference is goo goo staggering against 12g.
The 8g is made from 4 seperate 11g conductors-2 for positive and 2 for negative in one cable.
Pro Co used to jave a good article about this as they produced the Fat Max 8g cable back in the 90's-they had a chart explaining this and it really was pretty much the gospel-25ft and longer the 8g was the cats ass selection to maximize current flow and dampening ability of your power amp. You can read this thinkin whatever-but you CAN audible hear they aren't f'n with you when you compare because it sonically really is there.
Again this stuff is like a garden hose its so fat and big as well as cumbersome.
My 3 25ft 8g cables have been collecting dust for a few years now-I do like them but what a PITA! So I am happy with 12g under 25ft.
Bass is deeper and tighter with 8guahe at that length. However this is not good or bad but simply a difference and it is very hearable.
Keep in mind crazy spec'd out foo foo cables didn't exist back in the glry days of the inception of the most heralded guitar tones as well so that can weed out out some if the tones you shoot for came out before something like say monsters multi pair twisted time correct hooba hooba magic snake oil cable promotions. Think of logical alternatives that were there during the times your desired tone target was on scene to narrow down the prospects as of your tone hunt choices.
I would say a 25ft 8g sounds about like a 6ft 12g though. And that was suprising to me as I could easily hear it. No magic-just straight up honest physics. Even the power company uses hodackin sized cable to move more current where its critical and smaller where there is less load/current. Take note of the small wooden poles in your close by neighborhood vs the huge steel frame giant carriers you might see stretchin across the plains and wide open desert that you see heading to a major large populatiin center-Consumers energy knows its true. Bigger cables move more current.
The kick in the balls is how heavy the 8g is. Its hard as shit to terminate into a plug and the other issue and just as deadly for your amp is it weighs so much it will either easily unplug itself or break the dogshit out of your jacks especially if they are mounted in some pastic cheap mount.
In the case of bass performance the 8g will make you happy. But I play guitar and not a subwoofer box and am fine with 12g. I uave good tone and zero headaches that I had with the above issues with 8g.
A bass player might like 8g for the tightness in bass it can give but for guitar its rather .....un-neccassary really.
But as a rule of thumb the longer the run the bigger guage you should use.
If your running 50ft or more then 8g is something you will definitly want by then. Here the difference is goo goo staggering against 12g.
The 8g is made from 4 seperate 11g conductors-2 for positive and 2 for negative in one cable.
Pro Co used to jave a good article about this as they produced the Fat Max 8g cable back in the 90's-they had a chart explaining this and it really was pretty much the gospel-25ft and longer the 8g was the cats ass selection to maximize current flow and dampening ability of your power amp. You can read this thinkin whatever-but you CAN audible hear they aren't f'n with you when you compare because it sonically really is there.
Again this stuff is like a garden hose its so fat and big as well as cumbersome.
My 3 25ft 8g cables have been collecting dust for a few years now-I do like them but what a PITA! So I am happy with 12g under 25ft.