Speakon Cables - what are the advantages?

[Grand Wazoo]

Most modern amps and cabs comes with these "speakon" jacks, now I am a 40 something ol' fashion git, please can someone tell me what's it all about these type of cables versus the old style copper shield 1/4" jack to jack jobbies? And why so many manufacturers are adopting those, there must be something good about them, so what is it?

Thanks

[crez5150]

Main features are that they lock in place and you can plug and unplug speakers while connected to an amp without any short outs

[flyfisher]

In addition to the technical advantages (as mentioned above), the thing I like about them is that they are different to jacks. This means it's impossible to confuse a guitar lead with a speaker lead. Yes, speaker leads are generally heavier but that doesn't seem to make any difference when well-meaning bandmates are 'helping' to set everything up. Speakons avoid any confusion, which can only be a good thing in my book.

[Cat Burrito]

I'm a recent convert too. Supposed to be a better sound quality but I always used high quality cables anyway so the difference is fairly minimal. You won't get left behind if your sticking with good quality jack to jack though

[Al Heeley]

[quote name='Grand Wazoo' post='929614' date='Aug 19 2010, 11:53 AM']Most modern amps and cabs comes with these "speakon" jacks, now I am a 40 something ol' fashion git, please can someone tell me what's it all about these type of cables versus the old style copper shield 1/4" jack to jack jobbies? And why so many manufacturers are adopting those, there must be something good about them, so what is it?

Thanks[/quote]
Not the cables, but the connectors themselves are more secure, more robust, bigger, firmer contact area and they lock in place.

[zero9]

Check out Phil Jones' article here:

[url="http://www.philjonespuresound.com/about/documents/PJPS_WP_CableDifference.pdf"]http://www.philjonespuresound.com/about/do...eDifference.pdf[/url]

[stevie]

[quote name='zero9' post='929731' date='Aug 19 2010, 01:11 PM']Check out Phil Jones' article here:[/quote]
Why? There's no mention of Speakons in there.

[crez5150]

[quote name='zero9' post='929731' date='Aug 19 2010, 01:11 PM']Check out Phil Jones' article here:

[url="http://www.philjonespuresound.com/about/documents/PJPS_WP_CableDifference.pdf"]http://www.philjonespuresound.com/about/do...eDifference.pdf[/url][/quote]


Its a load of PR Bullsh*te.....

[franzbassist]

[quote name='crez5150' post='929973' date='Aug 19 2010, 04:16 PM']Its a load of PR Bullsh*te.....[/quote]

Light the blue touch paper and stand well back

[crez5150]

[quote name='walbassist' post='930003' date='Aug 19 2010, 04:33 PM']Light the blue touch paper and stand well back [/quote]

[flyfisher]

Can anyone understand that graph? Specifically, the left-hand scale of, presumably, cable length.

And, in a typical band situation, what's the point of a scale showing characteristics of cables between 100m and 500m in length?

[E sharp]

[quote name='crez5150' post='929973' date='Aug 19 2010, 04:16 PM']Its a load of PR Bullsh*te.....[/quote]
I agree - I'm just suprised he doesn't use gold plated ends and directional cable also

Best to just go to OBBM - job done

[chris_b]

There's a whole Hifi world out there that thinks cable technology is worth the money and effort, but when you've got a drummer and guitarist's stack within 20 feet of you the subtleties will be hard to spot! 20 years ago I certainly could tell the difference between my previous rubbish instrument cable and the Whirlwind cable that replaced it. So I don't believe you can dismiss all cable technology as "bullshit".

Speakon connectors are supposed to have more metal in contact between the plug and amp so are better at conducting the signal and as they lock they make a more secure connection. I never had a problem with jack plugs but I use Speakon cables because I can, and was given the cables when I bought the cabs.

[Clarky]

I recently may have destroyed an amp through accidentally using an instrument jack-to-jack cable rather than an amp cable (fortunately I got the amp replaced).

I could not have made this stupid error with speakon ended cables.

For that reason alone I just ordered some nice new speakon cables from obbm

[BigRedX]

Personally I don't think that the traditional ¼" Jack connector is suitable for anything other than the lowest powered speaker connections - those for amps of 50W or less output.

As the others have said the Speakon connector is much better for connecting amps to speakers - it's heavier duty and can carry a higher current. Locks into place and doesn't short out when being plugged in or unplugged.

I wouldn't take a modern bass amp seriously unless the speaker connections were Speakons.

[franzbassist]

[quote name='flyfisher' post='930075' date='Aug 19 2010, 05:27 PM']Can anyone understand that graph? Specifically, the left-hand scale of, presumably, cable length.[/quote]

I think it's actually showing impedance in Megohms.

[Al Heeley]

Yep deffo ohms on left side of graph, however, this has absolutely nothing to do with the O/P's question about Speakon connectors

[franzbassist]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='931077' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:13 PM']Yep deffo ohms on left side of graph, however, this has absolutely nothing to do with the O/P's question about Speakon connectors [/quote]

I know; was simply responding to flyfisher's question, 'cause I'm a helpful soul.

Back on topic: I think Speakons are terrific and would never use 1/4" jacks unless I absolutely had to.

[Al Heeley]

Speakons are a lot less use getting the earwax unlodged from your lugholes though.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='Al Heeley' post='931077' date='Aug 20 2010, 04:13 PM']Yep deffo ohms on left side of graph,[/quote]

Doh! The image isn't very clear to me and I was reading it as 100m to 500m

OK, ohms vs frequency makes much more sense . . . but what's the right-hand scale?

[gafbass02]

i was really lusting over the PJB speaker cables but in the end sense prevailed and i went to OBBM and im well chuffed, i swear there was more volume and punch than the cheapo no brand speakons i A/B'd with too. and they look PHAT, yeah thats right i said Phat, like fat, but with a 'p'.

and im 34 so i should know better, but thats how cool they look

[Al Heeley]

Looks like Drg to me but no idea what the relevance is. Graph is showing the increase of cable resistance with the frequency

[obbm]

Back to the original post, there are Speakon cables and Speakon cables.

All the comments about jack versus Speakon are valid however no-one has said anything about the wire in between.

A Speakon to Speakon wired with 1.5-sq.mm. cable will be inferior to a jack to jack wired with 4-sq.mm. The resistance of the cable has a direct effect on the damping factor of the rig, i.e the amps ability to control the speaker close to it's resonant frequency. The higher the damping factor, the better the control. The contact resistance of the connectors is a part of this so the larger contact area of the Speakon helps.

FYI. Jacks were designed for low voltage/current telephony in the 1920s. Speakons have been designed for the high voltage/current of modern power amplifiers.

Edited August 20, 2010 by obbm

[Alien]

It's all about the power handling.

Jacks have a current capacity of around 5 Amps, which equates to 100W @ 4 Ohms, 200W @ 8 Ohms and 400W @ 16 Ohms. That was all well and good when the biggest amps were 200W Marshall Majors, but times have changed.

There was a trend in the late 70's / early 80's to use XLR connectors for high power speaker connections. Most 3-pin XLR's are rated around 15 Amps, which gives 900W @ 4 Ohms, 1800W @ 8 Ohms (we can ignore 16 Ohms from this point on, as it's only valve amps that output into 16 Ohms)

Speakons can handle currents of up to 30 Amps, in fact the new 4-pole versions are rated for 50. 30 Amps equates to 1800W @ 2 Ohms, 3600W @ 4 Ohms and a ridiculous 7200W @ 8 Ohms.

With modern bass amps commonly putting out upwards of 500W into 4 Ohms (and let's not even get into power amps, many of which can deliver over 2000W in bridge mode, why would you use a jack? In 1963 it was the best that was available, but since then the rest of your rig has moved on, so why not the speaker connectors?

A

[Grand Wazoo]

[quote name='Alien' post='931446' date='Aug 20 2010, 10:35 PM']It's all about the power handling.

Jacks have a current capacity of around 5 Amps, which equates to 100W @ 4 Ohms, 200W @ 8 Ohms and 400W @ 16 Ohms. That was all well and good when the biggest amps were 200W Marshall Majors, but times have changed.

There was a trend in the late 70's / early 80's to use XLR connectors for high power speaker connections. Most 3-pin XLR's are rated around 15 Amps, which gives 900W @ 4 Ohms, 1800W @ 8 Ohms (we can ignore 16 Ohms from this point on, as it's only valve amps that output into 16 Ohms)

Speakons can handle currents of up to 30 Amps, in fact the new 4-pole versions are rated for 50. 30 Amps equates to 1800W @ 2 Ohms, 3600W @ 4 Ohms and a ridiculous 7200W @ 8 Ohms.

With modern bass amps commonly putting out upwards of 500W into 4 Ohms (and let's not even get into power amps, many of which can deliver over 2000W in bridge mode, why would you use a jack? In 1963 it was the best that was available, but since then the rest of your rig has moved on, so why not the speaker connectors?

A[/quote]

Good explanation, and well put, I am sold. I shall get some of these speakon cables then.