If 12 ga wire can carry 20 amps or 2400 watts, and your equipment uses only a fraction of that, please explain why a bigger cable would provide any benefit. It's kind of like having a 500 HP engine in your car at the same time the maximum speed limit is 30 mph? Sure, you've got a big engine but it serves no prupose? I've never understood the logic of the oversize cable but I'm happy to learn some science behind it.
High current power cables
Hello,
How come some manufacturers offer high current power cables for use with amplifiers and some don't? Is this to say that the companies who don't offer one have designed their power cables to work in any application?
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- 57 posts total
The power cable zealots will tell you that it is not only the gauge but the materials and the construction/weave that matters, plus the termination/plugs. I remain an agnostic and leave the stock captive power cords on my gear alone. I did buy a $99 Pangea to use experimentally on one amp that requires an add-on cord. The cable zealots will tell me that I will have to spend $500 at least to hear an improvement. Go figure! |
+1 @jasonbourne52! |
@bigtwin Thanks for posting. That is exactly the simple (and correct as far as it goes) understanding that causes people to buy too small a cable. If you go by your amps power rating, lets say 200 watts, then you need less than 2 amps. An ampacity table will tell you that 26 awg is all you need. Can you imagine a 26 gauge power cord? A small to medium amp would run on it--and sound like crap. In reality, your load is dynamic, not static. You need to be able to change current values very quickly. It isn't the steady state current that sizes your cable. That is the steady state calculation you posted. But if people keep using power cables sized the way you calculated, there will be used amps for sale for the rest of us to buy. Jerry |
- 57 posts total