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[ Is it possible to use power cable as speaker cable? ]

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Old 11-15-2004, 01:31 PM   #1 of 12
David K.
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Thats a 4 awg power cable, Recently I purchased some locking bananas that do not fit with 8-9 awg cabling,
I was thinking about using those? Can I just twist two runs and sleeve them together?

what is the difference between these and regular speaker wire?
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Old 11-15-2004, 02:09 PM   #2 of 12
Mitch N
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The difference other then being a pain to work with, would be nothing. You could use lamp cord if you wanted to. I would though be worried in the added stress added to your binding posts from the weight of those cables.

If I may suggest some good inexpensive wire, www.partsexpress.com always has good deals on quality wire. Sound King and Belden are common well known brands that compare to many "brand names."
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Old 11-15-2004, 04:53 PM   #3 of 12
chuckg
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Speaker wire is just wire. As long as you've got enough diameter to avoid any unreasonable resistance, you can use it. 4 gage sounds awfully huge -

When I put in my system I looked at fancy speaker wire, then found that plain old 12 gage extensions cords have the very same oxygen-free copper and fine strands as the monstrously large expensive stuff. So, instead of over $100 for big fancy wire, I bought a 100 foot cord for $17.50. After cutting it into five pieces for my five speakers, I still had some very nice molded plugs on shorty cords left over.



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Old 11-15-2004, 05:49 PM   #4 of 12
Allen Ross
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4 gage is way to much, you will just be wasting your money, unless you need to handle that much power, if so i want to see pics of your set up.



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Old 11-15-2004, 06:50 PM   #5 of 12
David K.
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nah I bought a lot of 20 locking banana plugs, I was going to use them to terminate some canare 4s11, but these plugs have shafts that are too large, so I decided to fit two 14 awg conductors which results in 11 awg total and it was way too small for the plug, then I doubled up the 11 awg copper lead and plugged it in, I must be well over 10-9 awg now, and its still too small.

its more of a waste not using these plugs then to buy the 4 awg power cable which is fairly cheap and make use of them. As long as it does not have a negative effect.

I have another question, can dual wall heatshrink be used to safely cover the conductive metal of banana plugs? Ive been using polyfin heatshrink for the plugs but I want some stronger strain relief, Ive always had a fear that the adhesive material inside the heatshrink would have a bad reaction if it were to come into direct contact with the metal plug?

Also can pet tech flex touch the metal part of the plugs too? since I want to flex the leads leading up to the plugs. Thanks

I dont want to wast these plugs so I was looking around and found those 4 awg cables. They also sell 8 awg but from the looks of the doubled up 11 awg lead.. 8 awg will still be too small.

Thought I might go with 4 awg and dress them up real nice.
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Old 11-15-2004, 07:55 PM   #6 of 12
Mattak
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Those must be some gnarly banana plugs...it seems to me that would be awfully excessive...

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Old 11-15-2004, 11:24 PM   #7 of 12
Brian Bunge
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Actually, doubling up 11 gauge wire would result in an 8 gauge conductor.



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Old 11-16-2004, 03:05 AM   #8 of 12
David K.
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really? Then I guess 4 gauge is the way too go, thats some monsterous cabling. i wonder If I would hear any sonic differneces form the canare 4s11 I use right now.

can some answer my dual wall flex question though? thanks!
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Old 11-16-2004, 08:34 PM   #9 of 12
Brian Bunge
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I've used the adhesive lined heatshrink on soldered joints with zero trouble so I wouldn't expect it to be an issue on the bananas either.

BTW, what do you mean about the shafts being too big for the wire? I haven't seen the bananas so I'm not sure what you're referring to.



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Old 11-17-2004, 12:01 AM   #10 of 12
David K.
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the barrel of the banana is humungous. I took a sample plug to my local good guys, they carry 4 awg power cable, and placed it next to it. The barrel is the same with as the 4 awg power cable! the the shaft inside the barrel (entry for the copper strands) seems to be a perfect fit.

the bananas advertised on ebay as taking up to 6 awg cabling. which is incorrect. It actually requires 4 awg! to even have a tight enough fit so the screws can get a grip.

I can make some monstrous cablins with these, I already found an online distributer that has both the red and block translucent power cables for 4 awg. I will buy two runs and twist them then use some clear flexing. = some hardcore looking speaker cables.

Ill probably sell some online, I just need some qualioty strain relief, so thats why I want to know if its safe to use dual wall heatshrink on these all metal plugs. Ill post pics when I finish them.
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Old 11-17-2004, 11:17 PM   #11 of 12
Brian Fellmeth
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You can make those bananas work with smaller wire by just folding over the strands 2x or even 3x to get enough bulk.
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Old 12-01-2004, 01:19 AM   #12 of 12
Rob Bird
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Not to rattle any cages, but