help me out here someone told me this was a bad idea..........
I am currently running a powered board and i run my mains and monitors off my snake, and also i send signal from my snake to an amp placed next to my sub.......i see no problem in it. a friend said it wasn't a good idea to run out from my board through the snake to an amp i don't see why not.
also need to know... when an amp says it has Binding Posts for output does that mean bananna jack???
No matter where you go.... There You are! Law of Location
What kind of snake is it? are the cables shielded or unshielded. Speakers shouldn't be run with shielded cables. Is the snake designed for high watt power amps? is it a Mic stage box, designed for mic's?
joe
Binding posts are designed to take either bare wires or bananas.
To echo Joe, it is a very bad idea to run your speaker power through your snake. In general, the individual wires in the snake are not low-ohm/hi-power. So you'll lose a lot of power in the snake.
You can make simple speaker cables from 14-gauge eletrical wire - the same that you'd use for a lamp cord, except with bigger wires. This would be good for up to 100-feet, and you could put banana jacks on the ends.
-Laz
the snake is a 12x4 that means i should be able to run my speakers off the 4 sends it has right???
No matter where you go.... There You are! Law of Location
the snake is a 12x4 that means i should be able to run my speakers off the 4 sends it has right???
No, that means there are 12 XLR mic inputs and four 1/4" line-level inputs. The latter are intended to send the line-level signal from your mix-board to the amps near the speakers on stage. These are not intended for the lines directly from your powered amp to the speakers.
Unless there are specific notes that say otherwise...
-Laz
For very complex reasons involving inductance and other electrical properties it is strongly recommended that speaker cables never be shielded cables . Typically a snake cable has 22 or 24 gauge wire for each channel , two conductors surrounded by a shield . The extra resistance that a long run of that size wire adds to the amplifier output is frighteningly high . Remember the smaller the wire the more resistance to electrical flow . So when you send your amplified signal through the small conductors of the snake cable you are losing considerable power that your speakers could be using ( you will be shocked to find out how much ) . Speaker wires should be 14 gauge at least and preferably 12 if you are running any length at all . (the lower the number , the thicker the wire ) The other thing to think about is how much current is going through that itsy-bitsy wire . It could easily overheat and ruin the snake and your performance .
If I claim to be a wise man , it surely means that I don't know .
For very complex reasons involving inductance and other electrical properties it is strongly recommended that speaker cables never be shielded cables . Typically a snake cable has 22 or 24 gauge wire for each channel , two conductors surrounded by a shield . The extra resistance that a long run of that size wire adds to the amplifier output is frighteningly high . Remember the smaller the wire the more resistance to electrical flow . So when you send your amplified signal through the small conductors of the snake cable you are losing considerable power that your speakers could be using ( you will be shocked to find out how much ) . Speaker wires should be 14 gauge at least and preferably 12 if you are running any length at all . (the lower the number , the thicker the wire ) The other thing to think about is how much current is going through that itsy-bitsy wire . It could easily overheat and ruin the snake and your performance .
All true, except the part about the shielding. If you have 12ga wires and they are shielded, that's OK. The reality is that these don't exist, because no one needs a shielded speaker cable. So most people equate shielding with small gauge, and conclude that the shielding is the issue.
Size matters!
-Laz
