Speakon cables

[and1]

Quick question about speakon cables, is there a huge difference between 2 pole and 4 pole? Or is one set just a redundancy?

[Daniel S]

They are for different applications. You can't run a biamped speaker with 2 pole.

[monomer]

NL4 is the standard.


I've never used a 2pole.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

NL4 is the standard.
I've never used a 2pole.

But you've probably used 4 pole connectors with only two wires. You also may have used four pole connectors with two pole jacks. OP, which connectors you use and how you wire them is contained in your amp and speaker owners manuals.

[light-o-matic]

I don't mess with two pole much, but my understanding is that (NL2) plugs will fit into four pole (NL4) jacks. But not the other way around.. for certain models of NL2 jack. Which actually makes no sense, since a 4 wire cable will always do the job a 2 wire cable could do, but not the other way around... But that's how it is. But it is pretty rare that you would come across NL2 jacks. All amps that use speakon are NL4 and every speaker I've come across in years are NL4.. as someone pointed out already, NL4 is the standard for situations needing either two or four wires. Cables with only two wires but NL4 on each end are common.. in this case pair #1 is always used on the connectors and pair #2 is not connected. Unless you wired them special for some reason. For example I have some subs wired to use pair #2. In these simple situations where just one pair is needed, an NL2 cable will also work.. These connectors match up with pair #1 on the NL4. I have some NL2 cables I got as part of a deal and use them as subwoofer cables on my subs that use pair #1. Whereas my subs that are wired for pair #2 get a cable that has special wiring for pair 2 on one end. My tops are mostly biamped which means they do use two pairs of wires not just an NL4 connector but two pairs of wire in the cable.. and of course you need the right amps and processing to handle that.

[monomer]

But you've probably used 4 pole connectors with only two wires. You also may have used four pole connectors with two pole jacks. OP, which connectors you use and how you wire them is contained in your amp and speaker owners manuals.

Indeed. I wire all mine myself.

Four wire is to bulky/pricey for me (or was...) most of what I have laying about is 3 wire SJOOW cable. Most electrical houses won't have 2 wire in stock.


Using a breakout panel, you could wire up an NL4 to carry both hf and lf from the rack to where it needs to be. This is how a lot of company's do it.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

most of what I have laying about is 3 wire cable. Most electrical houses won't have 2 wire in stock.

True, but you're hauling 33% more bulk and weight than you need to. 3 wire is the standard, since it's usually used for 3 wire AC extension cords, but you can still find 2 wire. For example:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-1...-Cable/3365798

It's only rated for 150v, as opposed to 300v for SJ, but since 150v into 8 ohms is 2800 watts it's plenty.

[monomer]

True, but you're hauling 33% more bulk and weight than you need to. 3 wire is the standard, since it's usually used for 3 wire AC extension cords, but you can still find 2 wire. For example:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-1...-Cable/3365798

It's only rated for 150v, as opposed to 300v for SJ, but since 150v into 8 ohms is 2800 watts it's plenty.

I get the added bonus of turning any cabling into powercon at a moments notice.


Which is what my distro, and my powered tops all take. Came in handy at the last show's prep!