Ampeg V-4B -to SVT 212 Unshielded Speaker Cable?

[woodywyatt]

I've just purchased and Ampeg V-4B and an SVT 212 cab, the manual suggests using an 'unshielded' Speaker Cable (18 gauge cable or heavier 16, 14, or 12)
Can anyone recommend one that's ready made?

From Ampeg:
"Using instrument cable to hook up your speakers can cause intermittent power loss, cause your amp to oscillate and damage the amp and/or your speakers"

Thanks

Edited May 12, 2018 by woodywyatt

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

All speaker cables are unshielded, or at any rate they should be.

[woodywyatt]

Not sure about that, some speaker cables say shielded. Seems to be a lot of confusion..

I found these on Amazon, maybe they'll do http://amzn.eu/7r1dsiU

[billynoband]

Must be oxygen free don't forget. He he. I use those one metre lengths of immersion heater cable you can get from Screwfix.

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited February 26, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[jezzaboy]

The Amazon one looks ok. Van Damme cable and Neutrik connections are decent materials.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

1 hour ago, woodywyatt said:

Not sure about that, some speaker cables say shielded. Seems to be a lot of confusion..

Any manufacturer who sells a shielded speaker cable is confused. Shielding gives high capacitance, which can cause amplifier instability. High capacitance is less of an issue with instrument cables and interconnects, with the exception of passives, where high capacitance dulls the highs. You still need a shielded cable, but you should search out one with lower capacitance.

[woodywyatt]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll go ahead and order the Amazon one

[stingrayPete1977]

How can you shield a speaker cable? 

A phono 1/4 jack and socket has two connections, if you connect the shield to either of the speaker conductors it isn't shielding anything! 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I've seen it done, with stupidly high priced 'audiophile' cables aimed at the way too much money/way too little intelligence market. I doubt there are many marketed at musicians, but there are likely some.

[stingrayPete1977]

How would you physically do it? , you can't. 

You'd have to use a TRS jack and plug on both the equipment and the lead. 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

1 hour ago, stingrayPete1977 said:

How would you physically do it?

With a drain wire, like so:

[stingrayPete1977]

And what are you draining it to? A phono speaker plug has two connections. 

 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The drain wire is connected to the same terminal as the ground wire. BTW, 1/4" connectors are phone, not phono (RCA).

[BreadBin]

Don't most people call them jack connectors? 

(I know they were used by telephone operators back in the day)

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

A jack is the part that a plug is inserted into.  The 1/4" phone jack and plug were invented for use on telephone switchboards.

[stingrayPete1977]

19 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

The drain wire is connected to the same terminal as the ground wire. BTW, 1/4" connectors are phone, not phono (RCA).

That would be no different to using an instrument cable, the positive to the speaker would get one core and the negative /ground would get the same wire core plus the braid creating the same imbalance as a guitar lead. 

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The difference is that instrument cables don't use large enough gauge wire to handle the current that an amp delivers to a speaker.

[Matt P]

i can't believe that this question has had all these replies and no-one has mentioned OBBM !

he is our resident cable merchant and renown for his excellent high grade and sensibly priced cables.

 

He trades as rock-wire and his wares are available here - http://www.rock-wire.co.uk/

i have no connection to him other than using his speaker cables for the past 5 years at least (as do a large proportion of members of this forum i believe)

 

EDIT - ive just had a quick look at the cable in the link and it doesn't look like their using very large cable, the standard plugs will only accept cables up to about 7mm ish (going by my shaky memory here might be a little more)  the 2.5mm sq and larger cables that i've used have all required the oversized neutrik plugs.

if the OP's amp will take Speakon connectors i'd always recommend them as they mean that the cable is dedicated to amp-cab duty (i've come across people "borrowing" speaker jack-jack cables for short runs between pedals before)

 

Matt

Edited May 14, 2018 by Matt P
additional text

[stingrayPete1977]

18 hours ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

The difference is that instrument cables don't use large enough gauge wire to handle the current that an amp delivers to a speaker.

I think guitar leads have thicker cores than my Ashdown combo had inside, lol. 

 

I still say you can't shield a speaker lead in a way that can just be sold off the shelf to work with an existing conventional amp. 

[DrBike]

20 hours ago, Matt P said:

i can't believe that this question has had all these replies and no-one has mentioned OBBM !

he is our resident cable merchant and renown for his excellent high grade and sensibly priced cables.

 

He trades as rock-wire and his wares are available here - http://www.rock-wire.co.uk/

I can highly recommend the cables that OBBM makes, he also sells on ebay http://stores.ebay.co.uk/bassic-bits

They're the best quality speaker cables I've used.  He's also a very nice guy, I had the pleasure of picking up one of my orders in person and having a quick chat.

Edited May 15, 2018 by DrBike

[MOSCOWBASS]

I've used these guys, nice cables, reliable so far, would use again. https://www.designacable.com/musician-leads/head-to-cab-leads.html

[Dan Dare]

On ‎12‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 17:24, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

I've seen it done, with stupidly high priced 'audiophile' cables aimed at the way too much money/way too little intelligence market. I doubt there are many marketed at musicians, but there are likely some.

There are, I'm afraid, Bill - https://www.chord.co.uk/product/chord-cream-instrument-cable/. I'm sure there are other Snake Oil cables being peddled, too. A fool and his money and all that.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The link is to instrument cables, where shielding is required. The sales pitch is pure Monster, and just as silly. Not that there aren't factors to consider with instrument cables, mainly capacitance when used with passives. But low capacitance cable is both common and inexpensive. I found on their site shielded speaker cables, predictably aimed at the home theater/audiofool market. FWIW no one has ever come up with a speaker wire that works any better than lamp cord. Quite the contrary, expensive/complicated constructions tend to work worse. As it this case with all cable crooks what's completely lacking on their site is definitive data to back up their claims, because there is none.

[stingrayPete1977]

Audiofools, lol