I am wondering what method people use for securing the cables inside their cabinets.
I am just completing my TLs using scanspeak 18w4531. I am basically wanting to avoid the wires slapping around inside for years to come. Maybe this is not a problem.
Duck tape will loose it adhesion eventually. Silicon is possible but messy. Cable ties with anchors screwed down would be ok but they do not secure all along the length.
Ideas?
I am just completing my TLs using scanspeak 18w4531. I am basically wanting to avoid the wires slapping around inside for years to come. Maybe this is not a problem.
Duck tape will loose it adhesion eventually. Silicon is possible but messy. Cable ties with anchors screwed down would be ok but they do not secure all along the length.
Ideas?
Mount your crossover part way up your enclosure so the wires go over to the drivers not up to them and keep your leads only as long as to mount the drivers easily. If you are still worried, wrap some insulation around them with tape to make them heavier and stiffer.
Here is something I've been thinking about lately, though I've never tried it.
Let's say you are building some towers and you place the crossovers in a false bottom in the speaker cabinet. Now you have to run wire up the tower toward the top where the speakers are.
I've seen a type of stiff foam tube that they use to wrap water pipes in to keep water from condensing on the outside or to keep the water inside from freezing. These are available at most hardware, home supply, and lumber stores. They do make them for small pipes as well as large.
So, you do use cable clamps, but you buy them large enough to fit the foam pipe cover, which is slit up the side, and place your wires in them. It should be contained enough to keep the wire quiet even in the areas not constrained by the cable clamps.
Since the foam pipe cover is slit up the side, you can break speaker wires out of the bundle anywhere along it's length.
Hey...it's just a thought.
Steve/bluewizard
Let's say you are building some towers and you place the crossovers in a false bottom in the speaker cabinet. Now you have to run wire up the tower toward the top where the speakers are.
I've seen a type of stiff foam tube that they use to wrap water pipes in to keep water from condensing on the outside or to keep the water inside from freezing. These are available at most hardware, home supply, and lumber stores. They do make them for small pipes as well as large.
So, you do use cable clamps, but you buy them large enough to fit the foam pipe cover, which is slit up the side, and place your wires in them. It should be contained enough to keep the wire quiet even in the areas not constrained by the cable clamps.
Since the foam pipe cover is slit up the side, you can break speaker wires out of the bundle anywhere along it's length.
Hey...it's just a thought.
Steve/bluewizard
Yes, that will work just like insulation taped to it but the real issue is to not have the wires traveling from the bottom up to the drivers in the first place as they may come in contact with the magnets or baskets.
Cal: My crossovers will be in the base (false bottom).
Blue: Nice idea, but I am trying to keep the TL cross-section as close to the designer's specification as possible. I doubt that foam is porous???
I am thinking that "glueing" the cable to the side of the cabs with silicone sealer may be the best way for me. I was looking for a neater way though, or maybe some reassurance that cables do not slap against the sides of their cabinets much.
Thank you for your replies so far.
Blue: Nice idea, but I am trying to keep the TL cross-section as close to the designer's specification as possible. I doubt that foam is porous???
I am thinking that "glueing" the cable to the side of the cabs with silicone sealer may be the best way for me. I was looking for a neater way though, or maybe some reassurance that cables do not slap against the sides of their cabinets much.
Thank you for your replies so far.
Cal, I'm not sure what you are getting at. You would fasten the 'foam' to the side or to the back corner of the cabinet with cable clamps, that would keep the wire away from everything. Since it has this slit in it, you can break the wires out at precisely the proper height to run directly to the speaker. It is impossible to run a wire to a speaker and avoid magnets completely because (more or less) the magnet is precisely where you are connecting the wire (again, more or less).
The foam tube is closed cell foam but it is still soft and flexible, and I seriously doubt that it's presence would have any acoustical consequences. Though I can see the complications in a transmission line design.
It seems to me a very contained and tidy way of controlling the internal wire in a cabinet. And this wasn't so much a solution for this individual problem, as it is just a good idea in general. It also depends on how many wires you are running.
But again...it was just a thought.
Steve/bluewizard
The foam tube is closed cell foam but it is still soft and flexible, and I seriously doubt that it's presence would have any acoustical consequences. Though I can see the complications in a transmission line design.
It seems to me a very contained and tidy way of controlling the internal wire in a cabinet. And this wasn't so much a solution for this individual problem, as it is just a good idea in general. It also depends on how many wires you are running.
But again...it was just a thought.
Steve/bluewizard
Yes Steve, I am familiar with the product and I agree with you. My point was that if you mount the XO so that the wire movement is not a problem in the first place, you don't have to consider any other sort of treatment. If that's not possible, although I can't see why it wouldn't be, then either of our ideas will work fine.
House of cards in order. 😉
House of cards in order. 😉
Hi, guys, sorry I am stealing your space for a question on the same track.
How close or far apart should the XO components be placed away from the magnets? I guess for capacitors they are fine but for inductors since they generate magnetic fields would the driver magnets and inductors interfere each other? So how far apart is needed? 150mm? 200mm?
How close or far apart should the XO components be placed away from the magnets? I guess for capacitors they are fine but for inductors since they generate magnetic fields would the driver magnets and inductors interfere each other? So how far apart is needed? 150mm? 200mm?
Got it now Cal. I agree, if you mount your crossover on the back of the cabinet, even if it is in a contained box, the wires can run directly to their respective speakers without having to touch anything along the way.
I mounted mine on my removable back, but now wish I had mounted them on the side of the cabinet. When I take the back off, the short wires are alway tugging on the speaker's terminals. If the crossover were on the side. The wire lengths would be fixed and exact, and only the wire to the main input would have had to be long enough to allow the back to be set to the side to work on the speakers.
Still I've seen a lot of projects where the crossovers were hidden in the bottom of the cabinet.
In this person's case, unless I misread, he has a transmission line and that limits the locations where he can place the crossovers and the wires. Not being able to see the actual design, it's hard to make a judgment as to the best method. I can speculate on a few, but they would just be random thoughts, not tried and true solutions.
Still, the original poster seems to have made a decision on the matter.
Steve/bluewizard
I mounted mine on my removable back, but now wish I had mounted them on the side of the cabinet. When I take the back off, the short wires are alway tugging on the speaker's terminals. If the crossover were on the side. The wire lengths would be fixed and exact, and only the wire to the main input would have had to be long enough to allow the back to be set to the side to work on the speakers.
Still I've seen a lot of projects where the crossovers were hidden in the bottom of the cabinet.
In this person's case, unless I misread, he has a transmission line and that limits the locations where he can place the crossovers and the wires. Not being able to see the actual design, it's hard to make a judgment as to the best method. I can speculate on a few, but they would just be random thoughts, not tried and true solutions.
Still, the original poster seems to have made a decision on the matter.
Steve/bluewizard
Apart from a blob of silicone or builders' adhesive where a cable runs through an interior panel, I have never fixed any cables internally, and never had a problem with them rattling, despite making some very high SPL boxes. My advice, don't worry about it.
Ditto. I use hot glue usually, but mainly in MI and PA gear as I don't want it to move even with the abuse/stupidity they suffer at the hands of customers and me: I hate load out.pinkmouse said:
HiFiNutNut said:
It can up the rating of the inductor a wee bit but only if you are within about 10 cm and only with large ceramic/ferrous magnets. Beyond that, I don't think you will find any difference.
Just to clarify, once you are beyond 10cm, there should be no effect no matter how large the magnet.
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