Using mains cables for speakers

guano_jim

whats the general opinion on wiring a pair of stereo speakers using mains cable with live neutral & earth, live to left, neutral to right, earth common to both grounds as opposed to running two separate signal & ground cables?

this is a very simple and low-fi application.

ZENER

Definitely NOT a good idea !! The (-) or ground connections on a lot of amplifiers are not common. Amplifiers that use bridging to increase power output do not use a "ground".

Ground is generally accepted as 0v so in the true sense of the word most modern amplifiers cannot be assumed to use 0v for a speaker ground or (-) connection. You could cause serious damage to your amplifier by doing what you propose.

What's the make model of the amplifier ?

Ken

dharn

why would you want to do that ,if the speakers are apart you would need 2 cables anyway, so if you want to use mains cable why not use 2 runs

ZENER

dharn wrote: »

why would you want to do that ,if the speakers are apart you would need 2 cables anyway, so if you want to use mains cable why not use 2 runs

I can understand why he would want to do this. Running 1 cable to the back of a room then splitting it to feed 2 rear speakers would be a neater job. But for the reasons I've posted above it might not be a good idea.

Ken

dharn

if he is running cables at all then he would be definitely better off using speaker cable something like qed 79 strand or equivalent course he could always use a bit of nordost valhalla at 3000 per meter

guano_jim

as always, the internet has spoken... . gentlemen, i thank you.

richiek67

I agree with Ken. I also work in broadcast and would recommend that if your looking for 'earth' there is usually a stud on the amp that clearly has it marked.
However, the common on speakers may NOT be at earth potential so I wouldent go there.
If its not Hi-fi then the plain old pair of wires per speakers is fine.

By the way , the biggest money racket on the planet regarding the speaker cable quality is this business of 'the more you spend on the cable the better the sound' Its a load of rubbish. Our hearing drops from being able to hear frequencies of 20Khz at the age of 12 to 18Khz roughly after the age of 21-25 or so. You'll notice no difference in a state of the art HI-FI set up whether you use 300euro/metre cable or mains cable at a few euro/metre!!!!;)
They say it makes a difference in labs etc, of course it does, but we wont hear it.....

Cheers

Rich

dharn

to above comment, it is an age old debate i have been at many hi- fi demos, and whether it is blackmagic or brainwashing i dont know, but differences can be heard when interconnects speaker cables etc are changed now mains conditioners, mains leads etc are another story

ZENER

dharn wrote: »

. . . . but differences can be heard . . .

Yep !! The sound an empty wallet makes is definitely different to the sound a full one makes . . . I'd better be careful or Slaphead will give out to me again !!

Ken

richiek67

Hi-Fi people prefer to pay the big $$$ just for the sake of it ...lol
Brainwashing I'd say .....:rolleyes:

Slaphead07

ZENER wrote: »

. . . I'd better be careful or Slaphead will give out to me again !!

Ken

nah, I've always said cables make a difference but it's up to the buyer to decide if it's a positive or negative one... if at all.

But I'm not getting into a debate on the issue.


But since I'm here I'll get on topic.

Nothing wrong with using mains "twin & earth" as speaker cable just ignore the earth cable. It's solid copper so will give decent rounded bass and a bit of warmth, certainly if you have some already it's worth trying out before you pay for "proper" commercial cables.

The Ritz

Mod Comment:

Appreciate the useful and informative contributions, as well as the obvious restraint . The issue of cables has the potential to surface opposing and seemingly irreconcileable viewpoints, please bear in mind that there is a "Cables" stickey in all the HE Fora which is intended to try to avoid this.

Again, the constructive, informative and helpful approach of posters is much appreciated.

Thanks,


Ritz.