Which Cables To Use?

I'm connecting a new sound system, adding a Mackie mixer between mic, keyboard, and Barbetta speaker. I've read "Never use guitar cables to connect amplifiers to speakers" What would happen if I did? Aren't they all the same - 1/4" male on each end? And if there's nothing printed on the cord, how can you tell one kind from the other? Does it really matter? Thanks...

hi glenn, it's the impedance of the instrument/mic cable, it won't blow anything up if you use them but you don't get your full juice from the amp..i have used them in emergencies only..if you do get speaker cable get the heaviest you can..what i have found is that 1.2 and above SWG electrical cable works really well with my P.A, which is around 3000 watts RMS, plus its cheap and pretty indestructible. the 6.3mm (1/4") jacks still wire up the same, tip hot sleeve cold..but be aware that if you use XLR connectors the 2 pin is not used..3 is hot(+) and 1 is cold (-)....hope that helps

dennis
peace, out

Use TRS or XLR - they have 3 sections +, - and ground, as opposed to a guitar cable which only has 2.

What happens with TRS and XLR is that the sound signal is sent twice - on the + and -. Only the sounds which are identical on both the + and - get used - any additional noise coming on either channel gets dropped. Therefore, any interference which happened on the way, gets removed.

Also remember that a long copper wire makes a great antenna. Antennas pick up lots of noise and frequencies. In essence, a sound cable is essentially that. Therefore if you want clean and honest sound - you gotta use balanced (ie TRS or XLR) cables.

Chony

Sorry, just read your original posting again.

What I said applies to connecting everything BUT the amp to speakers.

For some reason, amps to spkrs are not balanced. I'm not sure why, because it could only increase the quality. What they do instead to make it up, is that have really thick cables with strong protection. This allows the sound to be carried longer distances as well as protecting from outside noises.

Chony

The Barbettas are not like passive speakers. They have balanced inputs, or you can also use unbalanced cables, but they should definitely NOT be speaker cables. Guitar or mic cables are fine. I think they sound a little better with balanced cables, and Tony Barbetta agrees.
Sometimes I go directly from my keyboard outputs to the Barbettas. For this I use unbalanced guitar cables. Sometimes I go from the kb to the mixer and then to the Barbettas. For this I use balanced XLR to balanced TRS cables.
You CAN use the XLR "mic" input on the Barbettas, but be careful because it is hot and would make it possible to overdrive the amps in the Barbettas.
DonM

are the barbettas powered speakers? if so then in that case they are only looking for a line input signal and in this case the instr.cable is fine. if as donM says they have the balanced or XLR connectors it IS definately worth the extra cost (or effort if making yourself) to run the balanced cables, but i would double check that they are not XLR connectors being used in place of 1/4' or speakons..many high quality passive speaker manufacturers use the XLR connector (but moreso the Speakon these days)because of its strength (physical) and the solid positive connection, but they are still only wired up as hot and cold (thru pins 1 and 3, with pin 2 not used) in normal balanced cables 2 is hot 3 is shield and 1 is cold.

peace, out

Glenn,

DO NOT use speaker cables--they're heavy duty, but not shielded, therefore subject to interference from outside sources. Heavy-duty, shielded, instrument cables (20 gauge wire or heavier), will provide you with all the power requirements necessary, plus provide you with interfence protection.

Good Luck,

Gary

Thanks again, guys. Boy, things were so much easier in the good ol' Shure VocalMaster days.

A short article about it....

http://volcanoboy.com/modules/articles/article.php?id=18

-mike

It's a little confusing. The Barbettas ARE powered. They have 1/4-inch balanced inputs in addition to an XLR. The XLR is intended for direct insertion of a microphone, and it is labeled as such, so it is a hotter input.
I'm speaking of the Sona 32C or 31C.
DonM

I've self-made my speaker cables many years ago. I took two wires and turned them against each other. In technical terms today we call it 'twisted-pair'. Each of the two channels is connected to the box via a 10 meters cable. I don't really know if 'twisted-pair' for analog signals makes any sense but digital signals are very happy about this circumstance...

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Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

Sheriff,

Twisted pair cables work fine for both analog and digital signals, however, only shielded cables provide protection from spurious radiation, such as cellular telephones, nearby radio stations, and wireless communication systems such as those used by some fast-food restaurants.

I have a friend who lives a quarter mile from a radio tower who had similar problems using speaker cables. The radio station's music was coming over his speakers--loud and clear. Turns out that when he switched to shielded cables the problem went away.

I played a big job in a major hotel for the Saint Andrews Society (400 old guys wearing kilts and tuxedo tops, all fairly drunk) and when the nearby McDonnalds fired up their system, I clearly heard someone say "Do you want fries with that?" Pretty scary. Fortunately, when I was playing, the amp overpowered the signal from McDonalds, and when I was not performing, I quickly turned down the amp to help eleviate the situation.

Gary

Ah, now I see! Twisted-pair is used to reduct noise from its own signals only and a shielding is used to reduct strange signals only. For that case it could be very helpful to combine both technics (I thing that some newer SCSI connections are using this combination).
Also it's good to use thicker cables for a lower impedance (to lower the noise level). But thick cables are not easy to twist so that we normally won't get a twisted-pair speaker cable. Engineering is quite fantastic...

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Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

thanks for explaining that don, i must admit to not having heard of them, but here in Oz theres quite a few brands we either cant get or dont hear about..

dennis

I want wireless speaker connections!

Cassp,

This technology is already available, but you still have to plug them into the wall outlet. Kinda' expensive though!

Gary

YES YES YES YES.....

...but if your using wireless technics then you have neither shielding nor twisted-pair. I would like to hear your concert with all the knick-knacks and beeps caused by handies and wireless LANs...

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Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)