I've been razzed on this one.
I understand the strands in the extension cord are coarser, but what's the overall effect and why shouldn't I use them?
They sure are durable, have extra shielding and are 1/4 the price of good 14 ga.
These are not used in my home!
Thanks
Cal
I understand the strands in the extension cord are coarser, but what's the overall effect and why shouldn't I use them?
They sure are durable, have extra shielding and are 1/4 the price of good 14 ga.
These are not used in my home!
Thanks
Cal
Depends. If you remove the plugs and sockets and just use the wire, they'll work fine. If you decide to get cute and retain the plugs, it's only a matter of time until somebody accidently plugs the out put of your amp into the mains. Or does that with the speaker.
Don't worry about the razzing, enjoy the music.
Don't worry about the razzing, enjoy the music.
I was born at night but not last night
Thanks Sy,
I needed to hear that.
Female end is cut off and wires go to crossover. Male is plugged into that and those wires go to the amp. So unless you have a male to male cord then the speakers should be safe.
And if I need the wires to be longer well I just head off to the hardware store for another extesion cord or two.
Cal
Thanks Sy,
I needed to hear that.
Female end is cut off and wires go to crossover. Male is plugged into that and those wires go to the amp. So unless you have a male to male cord then the speakers should be safe.
And if I need the wires to be longer well I just head off to the hardware store for another extesion cord or two.
Cal
To finish off
Read it a second time before you reply my father told me. So I did.
The wires to the amp are taken out when the system is put away. The wires to the speakers are permanent.
Cal
Read it a second time before you reply my father told me. So I did.
The wires to the amp are taken out when the system is put away. The wires to the speakers are permanent.
Cal
Cal, Da5 brings up a good point. I assumed from your post that you meant heavy duty extension cable- like 14 gauge or thicker (8-12 gauge if you're doing a longer run or your speakers are low impedance or highly inefficient). If you're thinking of lamp-cord type wires, they'll work but compromise the performance somewhat. Big, heavy, ugly orange stuff (like what we use for power tools) works fine; I use it in my indoor system and it gives me the same results as the fancy cables I've tried from time to time.
If you want to get the cable guys gritting their teeth, hook the ground lead in parallel with one of the other two. It will decrease the loop resistance and won't "unbalance" anything, this being AC. You paid for the copper, may as well use it.
I regulary use this sort of cable for Pro Audio without any problems, BUT for safety's sake DON'T use the originally fitted plugs/sockets for any non ac power usage - cut the plugs off and chuck 'em in the bin.
Cheers
Cheers
Unless one day you would like to hear what 60Hz @ 150db sounds like for about 5 second. Oh, BTW have a fire extingusher handy.Centauri said:
Hmmm good stuff good stuff, I should use that on my pro audio system (with the proper connectors of course), they can come in all sorts of colors too.
I actually heard that alot of PA manufacturers (EV, Cerwin Vega, I dunno bout JBL or others) destructive test their drivers by directly plugging them into 120 V 60 Hz AC or even 220 V 50 Hz AC.
I actually heard that alot of PA manufacturers (EV, Cerwin Vega, I dunno bout JBL or others) destructive test their drivers by directly plugging them into 120 V 60 Hz AC or even 220 V 50 Hz AC.
eRiCdWoNg said:
Urban myth I suspect, after all, if you're going to destruction test a driver in a meaningful way, you want to hang on as much measuring kit as possible to get data about tolerances etc. not just plug it into the mains and see if it goes bang. 😉
The 220VAC (310V peak) scenario would put ~6kW through a 16ohm driver or ~12kW through an 8ohm driver. I tend to doubt they would do this on purpose.eRiCdWoNg said:
plugging into wall
I guess we all have wanted to plug one into the wall just for the fun of it.
Well i did just that about 25 years ago. It should come with a warning. "Don't try this at home!"
When I plugged in this old 6 1/2' car speaker I was careful not to touch the basket while attempting this stupidity. When I plugged it in, I got about 1 second of this beautiful 60Hz buzz, then a bang and a small flame from the coil area, probably the glue on the former. That's it. The breaker blew when the coil melted down about three seconds into this idiocy.
I am yet to gain the desire to try this lunacy again. Once is more than enough thank you.
Sy, I like your idea about doubling one of the wires up. As you said, I paid for the copper.
Cal
I guess we all have wanted to plug one into the wall just for the fun of it.
Well i did just that about 25 years ago. It should come with a warning. "Don't try this at home!"
When I plugged in this old 6 1/2' car speaker I was careful not to touch the basket while attempting this stupidity. When I plugged it in, I got about 1 second of this beautiful 60Hz buzz, then a bang and a small flame from the coil area, probably the glue on the former. That's it. The breaker blew when the coil melted down about three seconds into this idiocy.
I am yet to gain the desire to try this lunacy again. Once is more than enough thank you.
Sy, I like your idea about doubling one of the wires up. As you said, I paid for the copper.
Cal
AC cable is not twisted so it won't provide those benefits. You could also choose 12ga cable (I believe it's rated at 15A instead of 14ga/13amps). It may also be cheaper to go to the DIY store and buy lengths off a spool and you'll get that nice rubberized black stuff that looks like "pro" cables.
🙂ensen.
🙂ensen.
Another Vancouverite
Hey there purplepeople.
I've found the premade extension cords (with the same gauge wire) are cheaper than buying off the spool. Strange huh? Not so if you consider the wire is made in North America and the cords made overseas. Can you say sweatshop?
Nice to see another BC'er here. I'm new to the site but I was wondering if you have some pics of your system(s) that are posted somewhere. Any interesting projects underway?
Cal
Hey there purplepeople.
I've found the premade extension cords (with the same gauge wire) are cheaper than buying off the spool. Strange huh? Not so if you consider the wire is made in North America and the cords made overseas. Can you say sweatshop?
Nice to see another BC'er here. I'm new to the site but I was wondering if you have some pics of your system(s) that are posted somewhere. Any interesting projects underway?
Cal
I know I’m late to the party, so no comments about that, but for anyone else with the same problem:
I do this all the time, since 100’ speaker cords are cumbersome and seldom needed, and 100’ extension cords are commonplace. I just make adapters from the SPEAKON or 1/4” , (most amps and speakers nowadays use the SPEAKON connectors) to standard Edison AC male and female plugs. I only use the ground and neutral wires in case some moron might actually stick it in a power outlet, it won’t shoot 110 volts into my speaker or amp.
This way, for those rare events where you do need to run a speaker 50-100 feet away, you can use an ordinary extension cord, something you probably already have around, instead of making a special one-use item. I’m making some right now for a gymnasium event next week.
I do this all the time, since 100’ speaker cords are cumbersome and seldom needed, and 100’ extension cords are commonplace. I just make adapters from the SPEAKON or 1/4” , (most amps and speakers nowadays use the SPEAKON connectors) to standard Edison AC male and female plugs. I only use the ground and neutral wires in case some moron might actually stick it in a power outlet, it won’t shoot 110 volts into my speaker or amp.
This way, for those rare events where you do need to run a speaker 50-100 feet away, you can use an ordinary extension cord, something you probably already have around, instead of making a special one-use item. I’m making some right now for a gymnasium event next week.
Sorry, but if you use a power cord for speaker wiring, you MUST remove the 120VAC connectors on both ends of the cord for safety.
If the speaker wires CAN be plugged into 120VAC, they WILL be. Using adapters on the ends is an extremely risky idea, to say the least.
And believe it or not, some AC outlets are not wired correctly. Sometimes even an entire house is not wired correctly. Guess how I know.
If the AC cord is such a good idea, make a set of permanent speaker wires with it, and be done. They're cheap.
If the speaker wires CAN be plugged into 120VAC, they WILL be. Using adapters on the ends is an extremely risky idea, to say the least.
And believe it or not, some AC outlets are not wired correctly. Sometimes even an entire house is not wired correctly. Guess how I know.
If the AC cord is such a good idea, make a set of permanent speaker wires with it, and be done. They're cheap.
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It's now called "Post Mortem Communications"
Necromancy is so yesterday.
Nice blast from the past anyway.
I've been doing this for as long as I can remember but NEVER using the attached plug or socket and I parallel the green and yellow Earth wire to the blue return. I started doing this when the place I worked for retired long extension leads after 10 years use and I scored a half dozen for free
Necromancy is so yesterday.
Nice blast from the past anyway.
I've been doing this for as long as I can remember but NEVER using the attached plug or socket and I parallel the green and yellow Earth wire to the blue return. I started doing this when the place I worked for retired long extension leads after 10 years use and I scored a half dozen for free