Which gauge PA bass horn wiring?

Pro Audio Asylum

Pro studio recording equipment and music production/industry.

195.10.46.67

Greetings,
I need your opinion on this particular subject of loudspeaker wire gauge for this particular project, please read on
and respond if you wish ... perhaps it is interesting for more people ...
For years I have used Hi-Fi and studio monitor cables that were huge and were separated, so I did not encounter making
PA loudspeaker wiring for some time and thoughts about that subject.
Now I am building folded bass PA horns that I do DIY-style, with each enclosure housing one 15" cone speaker.
Speaker is rated 600 Watts RMS, continuous, 8 Ohms. I expect instant peaks of up to, oh, say, 4000 Watts, max. There
is about 1.2 meter (4 feet) of cable to be installed between the cone terminals and the terminal on the back of the
enclosure. Terminal is to be Neutrik 4-pin, the standard type that is used for professional PA enclosures.
Now, I am asking the panel, are my calculations of up to 22 Amps for up to 180 Volts instant peaks OK and
whether a 12 gauge wire can do it? Charts give about 20 Amps for 12 gauge. It is obvious that a 10 gauge can
make it, but I am curious as to whether 12 gauge is OK or what would you recommend? What gauge exactly? And, whether 4-wire (2x2
of that 1.2 meter stretch) arrangement (for lower skin effect) is preffered to 2 wires going from Neutrik to cone
terminals? Should I go with 2 wires from Neutrik to cone or with 4 wires, and which gauge should they be in each case? Do you have any definite opinion and recommendation for this setup. Do you have a definite specific
RECIPE, with exact specs, brand names, model, etc.?
I have been looking at cables these days. Mogami offers a 12 gauge, but it states that it is split into two wires
(total of 4). It does not say whether two of these wires that would be used for "+" (or "-") are 2x12 gauge, or
smaller diameter which total, in effect, to a single 12 gauge cross section area?
What would you do here? Any specifics, brand names, etc. ONce again, the terminal has to be Neutrik 4. It is
going to have split, parallel, for linking to another enclosure of the same type, fo course. Would you bridge that
one meter from terminal to 15" cone with 2 or with 4 wires, and how large are the cross-sections of those wires to
be (all in metric, kindly)?
What is this oxyget free, silver plated cable, Teflon coated, that I have seen today being sold on some Web page? Oxygen free helps, but I wander if silver plating is neccessary? It is not expensive at all.
Thanks.
Sven

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

Topic - Which gauge PA bass horn wiring? - Sven 15:00:33 05/26/01 (4)

Re: Which gauge PA bass horn wiring? - Frost 18:18:50 05/28/01 (3)

Re: Which gauge PA bass horn wiring? - Sven 16:54:07 05/31/01 (2)

Re: Which gauge PA bass horn wiring? - Frost 04:41:16 06/02/01 (1)

Re: Which gauge PA bass horn wiring? - Sven 15:16:56 06/03/01 (0)

You can not post to an archived thread.