PA speaker cable advice

dilithium85

Just got some LD system speakers where i have xlr or 1/4inch jack to work with (no speakon). What cables should I get/use to connect to my mixer? All suggestions welcome

John_P

Any decent xlr mic cables will work fine. Just connect to the xlr main outputs on the desk.     

dilithium85

John_P said:

Any decent xlr mic cables will work fine. Just connect to the xlr main outputs on the desk.     

I heard that microphone xlr cables wouldn't be able to handle the load/hot signal or would at least be damaged doing so. 
Is there a speaker xlr cable more suitable

mrkb

Are they powered or passive speakers? If they are powered, then they only need a line level signal from the mixer, so standard xlr mic cables will be ok. Assuming your only talking about 20m or so long cables?

dilithium85

They're active. The cable will probably 6-10m long

Stratavarious

If active speakers, standard shielded audio XLR for the signal is all that is needed.

dilithium85

Thanks guys

ICBM

Not only is standard shielded mic cable fine - for active speakers they're only carrying signal, not current - if you used speaker cable it would add a lot of noise because it isn't shielded.

shufflebeat

I suspect it was the mention of Speakon connectors that muddied the waters. They would only be used for passive speakers where un-screened cable would be appropriate.

In this case, as suggested, two-core shielded cable (mic cable) is perfect.

My speaker cables are more robust and slightly stiffer (as well as being an awful lot longer) than my mic cables which makes them easier to lay, easier to coil and, I would predict, longer lasting.