Rich newby Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Hi I am looking into buying 100m of van damme cable to cut into 2 50m lengths, to extend the distance of my pa from my speakers. I would also like to use it for mic cable when I'm putting the speakers closer to the pa, what cable can I use for this. Do mics use all 3 pins of an XLR? if so will mic cable be OK for running amplified power down to the speakers? The cables will be XLR. Will I need 3 core speaker cable so I can use it as mic cable as well? Cheers Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 You can have speaker cable OR mic cable, they have completely different requirements. Mic cable should be flexible and screened, whereas speaker cable needs to be big fat cable and doesn't need a screen. And don't get me started on XLR connectors on speakers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronicsuk Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I am looking into buying 100m of van damme cable to cut into 2 50m lengths, to extend the distance of my pa from my speakers. I would also like to use it for mic cable when I'm putting the speakers closer to the pa, what cable can I use for this. There are no such cables. As Jon said above, you either have one or the other, not both. Don't be tempted to run speakers via mic cable, its far too weedy and not up to the job. Do mics use all 3 pins of an XLR? if so will mic cable be OK for running amplified power down to the speakers? A full balanced microphone will use all 3 cores in the cable, whereas technically unbalanced equipment only requires two. Some cheap microphones from the likes of argos use an XLR despite being unbalanced. Also, for us to be able to recommend you a suitable cable for your speakers, we'd need to know how many cores you require and how much power the cables will be expected to handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich newby Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 No I am aware of the connector business, I will be using speakon connector on the amp end and on the cable will be a female connector, the male connector will be on the speaker, so no risk of shock. Rich I will be using this van damme for the speaker cable. There will be 750w per cable or 1.5kw in total. Do I need 2 or 3 core for speakers, I thought 2 but I'm certainly no expert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Rich, mate - you have us all confused. If you want to use mic cable for speakers, ignoring the size of the cable for the moment, they need different connectors, as you've said - so a speakon fitted cable isn't much use for mics, is it? 50m is a damn long way - what people are saying is really just basic ohms law - you can run your pa down a 50m mic cable, main problem is that not a lot comes out the other end, and you can MELT the inner cores. This is perfectly possible - I have a few turbosound 2 x 12" monitors, that I haven't got around to re-fiting with speakons, and have, when pushed used mic cables to run them. One night, one went very quiet during a 3 min drum routine - the cable melted and the conductors shorted - luckily, decent amp protection kicked in! If your idea is based on cost - then use some hefty pvc 2.5 or 4mm - a 50m drum doesn't break the bank. It's a bit stiff and awkward to recoil, but affordable. I suppose you could get away with speakon to XLR adaptors, but it's a bodge really Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich newby Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 yer sorry I am being confusing. I am using speakon connectors now I know that I cant use the cable for mics. Budget is not an issue within reason, hence the reason with the van damme black series. I am making up 2 50m lengths. I thought J Pearce was referring to the XLR's being dangerous because of the uncovered powered pins in a male connector. I am now forgetting the mic cable idea, it was only as a thought, I will never need that much anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronicsuk Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 You'll only need 2 cores, but at that power over such a distance you'll need some pretty hefty cable. Even with 4mm I expect you'll drop about 100w through the cable at full power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Agreed. Why can you not put the amps at the stage/speaker end? Then you can use those 50m mic cables to get from the mixer to the stage... as well as using them for mics if neccesary, when the PA isn't being used that often. Or you could use the return lines on your snake, that is what they're there for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbuckley Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I still have speakers with XLR in my inventory, and to stop the cable confusion all speaker XLR cables are orange. 1.5mm two core stuff. Sticks out a mile :blink: Mic cables are grey or black. Proved effective over nearly two decades. The speakon cables s are a less obnoxious black, and most power cables blue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich newby Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 I could remount the amp in a few 4u gator cases I got kicking around. Would I be able to use mic cable to go from my Eq to my Amp? Merry Christmas Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 That is correct, and a better way of doing what you want than having long speaker cables. Balanced line level signals will travel for ages- like kilometers- over good cable with no problems, which is more than can be said about speaker signals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted December 25, 2005 Share Posted December 25, 2005 Rich, as others have suggested, a good rule of thumb is to keep your speaker cables as short as possible. Even using the 2.5mm Van damme stuff you mentioned, you're going to end up with a 50m speaker cable with a resistance of well over 1 ohm. Compare that with the impedance of your speaker system - I'm guessing 4 ohms - and work out what percentage of your power is going to be lost in the cables... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 Out of interest, what sort of diameter would be appropriate for a 20m speaker cable? We have a full range cabinet on each side of a studio (about 12m wide), but the shortest run for the cable is about 20m. This is the cable we're using, and I am unsure of it's diameter, but what would be ideal (other than moving the amp closer, as this cannot be done)? The cabs are 600W 4ohm being run off an EP2500. Ta,Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
electronicsuk Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 At a guess I'd say the cables you linked to are probably 1.5mmsq. A bit small for your application IMO, I'd have used 2.5mmsq to try and keep losses down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Langfeld Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 The reason I'm asking is that the cable is loose atm, so I was planning on buying something else and running it in trunking to a speakon socket on the other side of the room. Wanted it a bit more permenant, so I'll use some 2.5mm cable. Ta,Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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