Binding posts - Insulated or not?

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Which should I go: 4 connector cable or 2x 2 connector cable with sleeving? High quality, large gauge, 2 connector cable is cheap. 4 connector cable is not so.

Are you talking about wire or the ends?

There's no requirement to use all of the poles on a Speakon. You can just wire up two on the 4-pole connector.

If you think you ever might go active, use the 4 connector. Otherwise, the 2 connector will suffice. (I've always used the NL4, because it seems to be more readily available than the 2-connector model.)

As for the wire, if you're using active crossovers (miniDSP, etc.) then get 4-conductor wire.

If you're using an outboard passive crossover, then get 4-conductor wire.

If you're using a passive crossover in the box, 2-conductor wire is fine.
 
1 gauge = 3,3 mm2 .... looks great, and more than adequate (pro people would be satisfied using it for critical subwoofer use, with thousands of watts) ;)

Where are you getting 1AWG? I didn't see anything about specs on their site other than that it is 12AWG and they recommend it for use with speakon parts.

Are you talking about wire or the ends?

There's no requirement to use all of the poles on a Speakon. You can just wire up two on the 4-pole connector.

If you think you ever might go active, use the 4 connector. Otherwise, the 2 connector will suffice. (I've always used the NL4, because it seems to be more readily available than the 2-connector model.)

As for the wire, if you're using active crossovers (miniDSP, etc.) then get 4-conductor wire.

If you're using an outboard passive crossover, then get 4-conductor wire.

If you're using a passive crossover in the box, 2-conductor wire is fine.

I'm already active and will be bi amping these speakers when done. I was wondering if anyone had ever just taken two strands of normal 2 conductor speaker wire and put them in some sleeving, thereby effectively making a 4 conductor wire for cheap instead of buying expensive 4 conductor wire.
 
Where are you getting 1AWG? I didn't see anything about specs on their site other than that it is 12AWG and they recommend it for use with speakon parts.

I wouldn't use 12AWG unless your cable runs are very long. Especially with active speakers, which as a rule won't have the impedance troughs of passive crossover speakers. 16AWG will be more than sufficient, in addition to being cheaper, easier to run (more flexible, thinner, etc.), and so on.

. I was wondering if anyone had ever just taken two strands of normal 2 conductor speaker wire and put them in some sleeving, thereby effectively making a 4 conductor wire for cheap instead of buying expensive 4 conductor wire.

Oh. That won't be an issue, so long as you keep track of which is which and take care in wiring them properly to the connector.

Best to select two different-looking wires to make it easy. The multiconductor ones tend to have four different jacket colors/designs to make it obvious at each end which wire is which. That, and the fact that you don't have to "assemble" then yourself, are the only advantages.

You can find inexpensive multiconductor wire, though. And, again, a 16/4 or even smaller will be fine. If your runs are under 10' and your drive units don't drop below 4Ω, then you could even use 20AWG with no penalty.
 
I wouldn't use 12AWG unless your cable runs are very long. Especially with active speakers, which as a rule won't have the impedance troughs of passive crossover speakers. 16AWG will be more than sufficient, in addition to being cheaper, easier to run (more flexible, thinner, etc.), and so on.



Oh. That won't be an issue, so long as you keep track of which is which and take care in wiring them properly to the connector.

Best to select two different-looking wires to make it easy. The multiconductor ones tend to have four different jacket colors/designs to make it obvious at each end which wire is which. That, and the fact that you don't have to "assemble" then yourself, are the only advantages.

You can find inexpensive multiconductor wire, though. And, again, a 16/4 or even smaller will be fine. If your runs are under 10' and your drive units don't drop below 4Ω, then you could even use 20AWG with no penalty.

It seems that 20AWG would be cutting it a bit small. I'd love to use it, though, since it is so cheap (half the price of 16, and 1/4 the price of 14). The canare 4s6 and 4s8 look quite nice. Are you sure 20AWG won't be too small?
 
You'll find that 20 AWG seems very small in the speakon connecter!

I myself don´t see any reason to go lower than 1.5 mm2 for speaker purpose (which is somewhere around 16 AWG) .... but yes 20 would work .... but what are we talking about, saving a $ per meter or so? ...... we are not talking about super expencive snake oil gold-carbon cabels ;) (which of course don't make any sense in the first place :) )
 
You'll find that 20 AWG seems very small in the speakon connecter!

I myself don´t see any reason to go lower than 1.5 mm2 for speaker purpose (which is somewhere around 16 AWG) .... but yes 20 would work .... but what are we talking about, saving a $ per meter or so? ...... we are not talking about super expencive snake oil gold-carbon cabels ;) (which of course don't make any sense in the first place :) )

True that. I just ordered 30ft of Canare 4s8 so hopefully it'll be what I want.
 
I didn't say I would use 20AWG, only that there would be no sonic penalty for you doing so if your runs are under 10' or thereabouts. Especially in an active system where one needn't worry about impedance drops from the interaction between components.

I like my wires a little thicker than that. Typically use 16AWG or 14AWG. But I typically also use passive crossovers.

The Canare wire you bought will sound the same as anything else, so I wouldn't worry about it.
 
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