Chienmortbb Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 As a cable maker I often get requests for 4mm speaker cable to connect heads to cabinets, usually 0.5-1m in length. I always advise that this is both expensive and unnecessary. Here is my explanation. The reason thinner cable is OK for shorter lengths is the lower resistance/impedance. The current carrying capacity becomes the most important here as over 0.5-1m it is irrelevant for most cable CSAs. I always argues that 4mm is way overspec'd for bass heads to bass cab connection. The cable current carrying capacity is far higher than even the speakOn connectors and the output of bass amplifiers. 1mm = 10A 1.5mm = 16A 2.5mm = 25A 4.0mm = 32A 10A at 4 ohms = 400 watts 16A at 4 ohms = 1024 watts 25A at 4 ohms = 2500 watts 32A at 4 ohms =4096 watts If your load is 8 ohms the power limit is twice those figures and remember that these are continuous ratings at 25C. If you look at Sommer Meridian Mobile speaker cable, the resistance is 7.5 ohms per kilometre or 1000 meters. So the resistance is less than 8/1000s of an ohm. So of 2500 watts you would dissipate just under 5 watts in the cable of 1 metre. Of course none of us are using 2500 watt amps... 4mm cable was is useful for those massive line array PA systems but not useful for bass amps IMHO. So why do I recommend 2.5mm and why not mains flex of the same size and rating? Well I have it in stock. However the real reason is that the Sommer Meridian Mobile cable 2.5mm is very flexible, unlike either mains cable or many competitors speaker cables. Sommer use 140 strands of copper while some well known competitors use 50 in their 2.5mm cable. So they bend more easily and are a delight to use. 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itu Posted September 11 Share Posted September 11 Everything @Chienmortbb wrote, was good stuff. Here's my tiny addition. A touring bassist makes easily 100 gigs = 200 dis-/connections yearly to the cab and the amp. If that cable is bent a lot, it means that the strands will be cut = the cable ages and deteriorates. Therefore some extra diameter does not harm. But if the cables are quality and handled decently, their age can be decades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted September 12 Author Share Posted September 12 I do agree, in my opinion Van Damme Studio, the Blue one is the worst. It is stiffer than most power cables. To be fair to Van Damme, it is designed for Studio installations. As the name implies. However many sellers on eBay sell it for use between heads and cabs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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