PA Leads confusion

midiman1962

Hi all,
Can anyone explain what the technical  difference is between an instrument lead and a PA lead.
I'm aware you can't use guitar leads for instance to connect a PA cab.
I'm talking about passive speakers not active in this instance.
Back in the day i used to make PA leads from 10amp mower cable which reduced the price somewhat. Is this still valid?
Or is there another way to economise ie buy a reel of cable?

Thanks in advance for any explanations

robinbowes

You're talking about the different between signal cables and speaker cables.

Signal cables carry low-level, low-current signals.

Speaker cables carry high-current signals.

Signal cables will be optimised for low level signals, ie. low capacitance, low noise.

Speaker cables are optimised for high current signals, ie. low resistance to reduce heat. Basically, they use more copper.

10 amp mower cable should be fine for speaker cable, as long you're not using them on loads that produce more than 10 amps.

R.

midiman1962

thanks for explaining that Robin - makes sense now!