DIY speaker cables out of extension cables and 1/4" jac

[jmpizzoferrato]

i'm making some 40' speaker cables out of heavy duty extension cables and 1/4" jacks. the cables are 3 prong so i just clipped the third lead and soldered the white lead to ground and the black lead to tip. it didn't work. i did sort of a sloppy job and am going to redo it tomorrow but i was wondering if there's any other reason it might not have worked.

thanks!
-justin

[jmpizzoferrato]

still doesnt work even with clean soldering. any reason why it wouldnt? i guess there could be no continuity between the two jacks but it's a brand new extention cables and i don't think it's the case. anyone?

[Rodgre]

I'm baffled as well. I've thought about this for a year now, meaning to make 1/4" to AC plug male and female adapters so I could use an extension cord for stupid long speaker cables. Seems like an simpler way to do this, without having to commit to using that cable JUST as a speaker cable. You never know when you might need an extension cord in a pinh!

Does your meter see clear continuity from end to end of the cable? I can't see how it wouldn't work, even if there is a lot of high freq. loss from a long cable like that.



Roger

[redear]

I have in fact done this. No idea why this would not work, unless some how it is wired wrong or there is a break in the cord. Did you test the cord without any jacks?

[Scodiddly]

I'm baffled as well. I've thought about this for a year now, meaning to make 1/4" to AC plug male and female adapters so I could use an extension cord for stupid long speaker cables. Seems like an simpler way to do this, without having to commit to using that cable JUST as a speaker cable. You never know when you might need an extension cord in a pinh!

Seems like a good idea until somebody gets electrocuted, or blows out your speakers by plugging the end into an outlet.

Not to be preachy, but wire is cheaper than a lawyer or a hospital bill.

[Bill @ Irie Lab]

The Absolute Sound (the Hi-Fi mag with the $15,000 amps and 6,000 CD players) swears by Homey Depot heavy gage orange extention cords as speaker cables for nuts-on-a-budget. So you might have a project worth pursuing.

Tin the twisted tight exposed conductors mightily.

Bill

[ashcat_lt]

I've done this for years. Never had a problem, except that they're 100' long and i'm notoriously bad about properly coiling my cables after a gig.

[KilledByAlbany]

12/2 stranded cable is THX approved if I recall correctly. That's usually what you'll find in heavy duty extention cables like that.

Rodgre, that Plug to 1/4" adapter is a great idea! I'm going to start on one tonight!

[Bill @ Irie Lab]

Mixing mains and audio connectors gives me the willies.

Be careful everyone - Having to open a ""Tragedy" forum would be unfortunate.

Bill

[jmpizzoferrato]

i got it to work. turns out i just had a shit solder connection. anyway.. i love my new $7 40' speaker cables. [/i][/list]

[Neve Studer]

I love this idea, and yet it's completely stupid at the same time. I'm guessing you don't have interns... Reminds me of a far side cartoon, where the Rat family is at the breakfast table and the mother is getting down a box from the cupboard and saying "Whoa, this isn't cereal; it's rat poison. Say, why do we keep that around anyway?"

[redear]

So maby I am a little confused here, but why are you going to be less careful with an orange cable than with a black one? Are you thinking that one end of the cable gets pluged into the wall and the other into my mouth? I understand being careful as there is power in mains cables but no more in it because it is orange, or green whatever, than if it were black.
Yes, be careful everyone. But be carefuls cose there is all this electicity around. Big deadly power. Cable black or orange or whatever, be careful.
Now, if you realy need an extra extention cord as well. Just buy another $7. cord. That is being safe.

[ashcat_lt]

I think he was talking about the 3-prong to 1/4" adapter that people above were talking about. I don't know how much you're likely to hurt somebody with it, but I can see where it's a potential to destroy a speaker or amp.

I had the idea years ago, and abandoned it for exactly that same reason. Occassionally, when I'm running a gig I "conscript" people to help me with the grunt work. Some of them aren't particularly bright.

[Neve Studer]

So maby I am a little confused here, but why are you going to be less careful with an orange cable than with a black one? Are you thinking that one end of the cable gets pluged into the wall and the other into my mouth? I understand being careful as there is power in mains cables but no more in it because it is orange, or green whatever, than if it were black.
Yes, be careful everyone. But be carefuls cose there is all this electicity around. Big deadly power. Cable black or orange or whatever, be careful.
Now, if you realy need an extra extention cord as well. Just buy another $7. cord. That is being safe.

Sorry- I may have misunderstood. Someone was discussing making a couple of AC to 1/4' adapters so that you could add one at either end of an AC extension cable to make a speaker cable.That's the idea I meant was brilliant/ dumb. Brilliant, because you could make it any length, even adding two together, and you could still use it as an extention cord. Dumb because someday, someone might plug either your speaker or your amplifier head into the wall socket.

Re-reading the posts, I don't think that's what you were doing. I think putting new 1/4" ends on an orange extension cable is a fine idea. no problems...

(edit sorry I'm a slow typist)

[The Scum]

A related idea that isn't a UL/CSA etc violation:

Those orange reels for putting extension cords on are also great for keeping live sound cables organized.

I knew a company that used different reels for each length of mic cord. Really easy to find what you needed, and also easy to put them away at the end of the gig: just plug into the previous cord and reel it in.