Cable to connect head to cab

danbond · Post by **danbond** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:01 pm

Hi, I searched the forums and didnt find the answer, hope its not been done to death..

Up till now I have been connecting my TT to my 1x12 using a normal guitar cable, but I read somewhere online that I shouldn't be using a guitar lead and I should be using a speaker cable. Can anyone shed any light on this? What damage could I/have I done, and what cable should I be using?

Thanks a lot.

ECWeagles · Post by **ECWeagles** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:02 pm

Correct you should use a speaker cable.

Not sure about damage, but you do want a proper speaker cable

LeonC · Post by **LeonC** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:03 pm

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You must use an unshielded speaker cable. It's not a regular guitar cable. You can damage your amp using a guitar cable!!!!

tugartheman · Post by **tugartheman** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:03 pm

Probably not too much damage...its just you need a better cable (bigger gauge). Just go get a cable...their like $20.

bc1 · Post by **bc1** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:03 pm

using an instrument cable is going to be much much noisier for one thing

dylan · Post by **dylan** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:05 pm

and welcome to the forum!!!;)

LeonC · Post by **LeonC** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:05 pm

You need to use a cable that is intended to provide the a resistence connection between the output transformer and speakers. You can ruin your amp using a guitar cable!!! Stop it and get a proper speaker cable right now!!!

danbond · Post by **danbond** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:07 pm

Thanks for the quick responses. How about this cable? Would it do the trick?

http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/sta ... ad--/10679

Phate · Post by **Phate** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:08 pm

Hey!

You must use a speaker cable. Speaker cables have two cores with the same size and are symetric.

They are built to take a lot of power from the top (or any other poweramp) and pass that signal to the speaker. (a lot of watts can be involved)

Guitar cables are not symetric, they have a core in the middle and the other contact is wrapped around the core. The are built to pass the low power signal from a guitar to the top.

You could have damaged your output transformer. Switch the cable to a proper speaker one. If everything runs fine, you didn't damage anything I would say.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Yes that cable would do the trick!

danbond · Post by **danbond** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:13 pm

Thanks all, I'll order today and resist playing until it arrives. So far i have only played a low volume and only for a few hours, do you think it will all be ok? My TT didnt come with a manual at all, is that normal or should I have words with the shop?!

Thanks again.

Phate · Post by **Phate** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:23 pm

Unfortunately it is normal that you don't get a manual for the Tiny Terror.

They should make a manual since the Tiny Terror is a valve amp which can be bought even on budget for most people.

At low volumes the possibility of you having damaged the amp should be very low.

Another important point is the speaker impendance. Did you match it?

You can run one 16 Ohm cab plugged into the 16 Ohms output. Or two 16 Ohm cabs plugged each into one of the two 8 Ohms outputs. Last possibility is to run one 8 Ohm cab plugged into one of the two 8 Ohms outputs.

If you don't match the impendance it can quickly kill your output transformer.

dylan · Post by **dylan** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:26 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by danbond
 Thanks all, I'll order today and resist playing until it arrives. So far i have only played a low volume and only for a few hours, do you think it will all be ok? My TT didnt come with a manual at all, is that normal or should I have words with the shop?!

Thanks again.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

my AD30TC didnt come with a manual either unfortunately thats the norm for orange amps!

danbond · Post by **danbond** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:29 pm

Yep, the speaker is a private jack 8ohm, so its going into the 8ohm socket. Frustrating because all my research into which amp i was going to get and I totally missed out on reading up about how they connected...a manual would have helped! Thanks for the replies, I'll let you know if I have any problems!

TheOrangeJuicer · Post by **TheOrangeJuicer** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 12:22 am

You won't have any problems with the amp. It's OK to use the guitar cable in a pinch but you really should ue a proper speaker cable. Instrument cable can break and leave an open circuit which might very well fry your output tranny. Speaker cable is more durable and offers a lower impedance to better match the tranny to load. The other thing is that a microphone/guitar cable is also capacitive. That should not really hurt anything either when you are using a very short length from the head to the speaker cab. A much longer length, like over 20' for instance, would be a bad idea and may possibly cause the amplifier to ocsillate. A coax cable (well any insulated cable pair really but especially a coax) will have its capacitance increase proportionally to its length. They are rated as having so many pf per foot. A lower figure is better as it has less attenuation of power bandwidth and less high frequency roll off. This applies to guitar cable really because you should not even be using the stuff for speaker cable in the first place, remember?

.

a.hun · Post by **a.hun** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:58 am

http://aga.rru.com/FAQs/general.html#cable2

Cable to connect head to cab

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