Cabinet Wire and Gauges

[baron55]

I may get tarred and feathered for this, but I think the size/BRAND of wire inside the cab isn't that big of a deal. Here are things I think affect the tone a hell of a lot more than the stock wire on your speaker cabs:

1) construction of cab/materials. I tried to cheap out in the early 90s with a Crate cab - put new celestions in it, still sounded like shit. Construction/materials DO matter.
2) construction of the BACK of the cab - MDF vs plywood. I prefer plywood.
3) GRILL CLOTH - Cloth is going to affect the highs. Basketweave Marshall cloth attenuate highs quite a bit, for example
4) general tightness/seal of cab back and associated parts.
5) whether or not cab is on casters on direct on floor, also placement in the room (and the room!)
6) slant cab vs straight
7) Tolex. One of the best sounding cabs I ever heard was an old marshall that literally had the tolex torn off of it from years of abuse. I think the tolex can dampen the sound a bit

I just think the entire 'heavy gauge wire inside the cab' is a rabbit hole to fall into. Ditto for guys who use speaker cables that look like a garden hose. If you're going to beef those up, why not go into the amp and put 12 ga wire off the output transformer to the speaker jacks? Oh hell, how small is the wire in the windings on the output transformer?

Reminds me of the guys who get the several hundred dollar power cords for their boutique amps, not even thinking about the shitty wire in their WALLS and the miles of wire running to the power company. Changing out a few feet isn't going to make a difference!

How dare you use factual and logical information on a music forum!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Aristocat]

I may get tarred and feathered for this, but I think the size/BRAND of wire inside the cab isn't that big of a deal. Here are things I think affect the tone a hell of a lot more than the stock wire on your speaker cabs:

1) construction of cab/materials. I tried to cheap out in the early 90s with a Crate cab - put new celestions in it, still sounded like shit. Construction/materials DO matter.
2) construction of the BACK of the cab - MDF vs plywood. I prefer plywood.
3) GRILL CLOTH - Cloth is going to affect the highs. Basketweave Marshall cloth attenuate highs quite a bit, for example
4) general tightness/seal of cab back and associated parts.
5) whether or not cab is on casters on direct on floor, also placement in the room (and the room!)
6) slant cab vs straight
7) Tolex. One of the best sounding cabs I ever heard was an old marshall that literally had the tolex torn off of it from years of abuse. I think the tolex can dampen the sound a bit

I just think the entire 'heavy gauge wire inside the cab' is a rabbit hole to fall into. Ditto for guys who use speaker cables that look like a garden hose. If you're going to beef those up, why not go into the amp and put 12 ga wire off the output transformer to the speaker jacks? Oh hell, how small is the wire in the windings on the output transformer?

Reminds me of the guys who get the several hundred dollar power cords for their boutique amps, not even thinking about the shitty wire in their WALLS and the miles of wire running to the power company. Changing out a few feet isn't going to make a difference!

How dare you use factual and logical information on a music forum!!!!!!!!!!

Bust out the ban hammer.

Guy was just trying to help

Thanks

 

[JTyson]

I use lamp chord.

This^
16G stranded from lowes on a roll for pennies a foot.

 

[50MkII]

Some of the posts here make me One thinks some hearing checks are in order.

 

[rocknrolla]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

 

[Aristocat]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

A lot of this is general curiosity. Some guys care about minor impacts. I didn't start this asking about how some bullshit thing will effect anything. I guess beam blockers, fiberglass panels don't work period.

I asked while disclosing that this may be pure cork sniffin' at it's finest.

Some people would prefer (such as myself) a cheaper fix vs. buying a new rig, set of pickups etc.

I guess if someone already practices 3-5 days a week and 1-3 hours at a time then it's not enough.

Whoops.

 

[snowdog]

Keep in mind people really like the sound of old Marshall cabinets and they certainly didn't use any special wire.

 

[rocknrolla]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

A lot of this is general curiosity. Some guys care about minor impacts. I didn't start this asking about how some bullshit thing will effect anything. I guess beam blockers, fiberglass panels don't work period.

I asked while disclosing that this may be pure cork sniffin' at it's finest.

Some people would prefer (such as myself) a cheaper fix vs. buying a new rig, set of pickups etc.

I guess if someone already practices 3-5 days a week and 1-3 hours at a time then it's not enough.

Whoops.

Clean the sand out of your vag man. I wasn't addressing you specifically.
I was making a point about how silly tone chasing gets. A treble knob and your fingers can alter your sound more drastically than 99% of this kind of crap.

 

[Red_Label]

The wire inside my Bogner cabs was HUGE (like pinky thickness huge). My soldering irons just couldn't do much with wire that thick. So I replaced with thinner, Marshall style wiring. Didn't hear an ounce of difference in the cabs.

 

[Aristocat]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

A lot of this is general curiosity. Some guys care about minor impacts. I didn't start this asking about how some bullshit thing will effect anything. I guess beam blockers, fiberglass panels don't work period.

I asked while disclosing that this may be pure cork sniffin' at it's finest.

Some people would prefer (such as myself) a cheaper fix vs. buying a new rig, set of pickups etc.

I guess if someone already practices 3-5 days a week and 1-3 hours at a time then it's not enough.

Whoops.

Clean the sand out of your vag man. I wasn't addressing you specifically.
I was making a point about how silly tone chasing gets. A treble knob and your fingers can alter your sound more drastically than 99% of this kind of crap.

Easy guy. It's the Internet; relax.

 

[rocknrolla]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

A lot of this is general curiosity. Some guys care about minor impacts. I didn't start this asking about how some bullshit thing will effect anything. I guess beam blockers, fiberglass panels don't work period.

I asked while disclosing that this may be pure cork sniffin' at it's finest.

Some people would prefer (such as myself) a cheaper fix vs. buying a new rig, set of pickups etc.

I guess if someone already practices 3-5 days a week and 1-3 hours at a time then it's not enough.

Whoops.

Clean the sand out of your vag man. I wasn't addressing you specifically.
I was making a point about how silly tone chasing gets. A treble knob and your fingers can alter your sound more drastically than 99% of this kind of crap.

Easy guy. It's the Internet; relax.

I am relaxed. You were addressing me, remember?

 

[Aristocat]

Next thing you know some of these guys are going to debate what color of ink on their preamp tubes sounds brighter. We are getting to the point of ridiculous on some of this shit.
"Dude, I painted the wall green and it's like someone took a blanket off my amp!!!"

Quit worrying about these make believe nuance you think you're hearing and try practicing a bit.

A lot of this is general curiosity. Some guys care about minor impacts. I didn't start this asking about how some bullshit thing will effect anything. I guess beam blockers, fiberglass panels don't work period.

I asked while disclosing that this may be pure cork sniffin' at it's finest.

Some people would prefer (such as myself) a cheaper fix vs. buying a new rig, set of pickups etc.

I guess if someone already practices 3-5 days a week and 1-3 hours at a time then it's not enough.

Whoops.

Clean the sand out of your vag man. I wasn't addressing you specifically.
I was making a point about how silly tone chasing gets. A treble knob and your fingers can alter your sound more drastically than 99% of this kind of crap.

Easy guy. It's the Internet; relax.

I am relaxed. You were addressing me, remember?

Gotcha.

Must be all that sand in my vagina. Sorry it clouded my judgement

 

[The Traveller]

Going along with my other thread, what kind of speaker wire/gauge do you guys use in your cabs?

Any benefit to the tone from a 14ga vs a 20ga wire?

Right now I'm using some cheap RadioShack 18ga wire. It's soldered in (as I prefer) but I've heard of guys like Bogner using 14ga wire.

Or is this all this talk of wire gauges just corksniffin' at its finest?

What brand of cab are you using? I think the 18ga wire is fine as long as the wire it's self is of good quality. You said Radio Shack and for some reason that just threw up a red flag lol. But like Steve_K said I have heard many people just going to a hardware store and getting some lamp cord (aka zip-cord) and use that to wire up their cab.

 

[Aristocat]

Going along with my other thread, what kind of speaker wire/gauge do you guys use in your cabs?

Any benefit to the tone from a 14ga vs a 20ga wire?

Right now I'm using some cheap RadioShack 18ga wire. It's soldered in (as I prefer) but I've heard of guys like Bogner using 14ga wire.

Or is this all this talk of wire gauges just corksniffin' at its finest?

What brand of cab are you using? I think the 18ga wire is fine as long as the wire it's self is of good quality. You said Radio Shack and for some reason that just threw up a red flag lol. But like Steve_K said I have heard many people just going to a hardware store and getting some lamp cord (aka zip-cord) and use that to wire up their cab.

Mid 90's Marshall AX (Heritage) cab.

Loaded with Scumbacks.

I'm just looking for less expensive tonal upgrades. It sounds great now but I was wondering if changing wire etc. would help.

 

[Shark Diver]

I'm just looking for less expensive tonal upgrades. It sounds great now but I was wondering if changing wire etc. would help.

Only way to know is to try it.

Some people tone chase. Most of the greatest artist tone chase and try everything out there.

Some people poo on "new" things because, "if they didn't need it in 1970, then they don't need it now."

Fortunately, the later isn't the majority - or I'd still be rockin' 8 tracks and buying leaded gas for my Trans Am.

Give it a shot and let us know if you hear a difference.

 

[rlord1974]

Some people poo on "new" things because, "if they didn't need it in 1970, then they don't need it now."

Fortunately, the later isn't the majority - or I'd still be rockin' 8 tracks and buying leaded gas for my Trans Am.

You're still driving a 70's Trans Am?

 

[glip22]

This works great for me.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2104177

 

[PhloridaMan]

I would stick with 16awg. It seems to be the standard in most cabinets and pro audio applications.

 

[thegame]

The brand new Wizard cab I bought from the factory in 1997 or so had measly 20 awg wire. How un-boutique Sounded so good that I never messed with it.

 

[Shark Diver]

Some people poo on "new" things because, "if they didn't need it in 1970, then they don't need it now."

Fortunately, the later isn't the majority - or I'd still be rockin' 8 tracks and buying leaded gas for my Trans Am.

You're still driving a 70's Trans Am?

Prototype