It depends on the lenght of the extension and how many watts are your speakers.

but to be safe, if you're under 50' buy a 14Gauge, if more than 50' buy a 12G

the sub is 500watts rms and the top is 400 watts rms. I am cool with getting 12 gauge i just didn't know if it was a good i dea to put 2 speakers on 1 cord. Seems like you think its ok. So I will try it. 1 less cable to run for each setup and tear down is cool with me :)

a 50' 14gauge extension cord is good for about 1400W+

12 or 10 gauge is all I use for everything. I would never go 14 or 16 for anything.

we run a 1801 and a 1530 into one power strip and then into one extension cord, all the time- no problems

+ 1 on the 12 gauge or above (below)

i got the 12 gauge with a tri plug on the end for each stack. on a side note. wow i am very impressed by these new speakers !

did you get the V2 tops (the blue ones)?

Just make sure you don't buy the BRIGHT ORANGE cords :)

Pretty sure I got my Black & Yellow ones from either Walmart or Kmart.

Always use black!

Just remember the 100' of AC running from the breaker box to the wall outlet is only gonna be 14 awg......

ProCo makes this new item called the "Siamese Twin". It is an all in one cable..has signal and power in one cable. It is all shielded so no worries of interference.

Dj Dub Cowboy : no i got the first ones b/c they were on sale. I got a fairly good deal on all the speakers

JOrdabella: freaking awesome i will check them out.

I did my first mobile gig in a long time this weekend and this was my first time using powered speakers. Fortunately, I had a pair of black extension cords . But I was able to see how ugly orange cords, or almost any other color cord would look super tacky. Do like Wesly Snipes in passenger 57 "Always bet on black". But seriously, it's a very important, yet often over looked detail in the biz.

could i run all 4 speakers to 1 12 gauge extension cord running to 1 outlet ?? It took forever to run extension cords to different outlets.. I would test it at home but my neighbor is old as dirt and quick to call the cops for noise disturbance (he has twice already) and i rather not test it at a event and pop a breaker.

thanks guys

On a 15 Amp breaker you can go up to 1500W of power, if you are under that then you're good. Just make sure the outlet your gonna plug it in is not on a overloaded circuit.

nate get that old fucker some earplugs and a bottle of single malt scotch and he'll be right as rain.

and he mows his fucking yard 3 times a week and mows the patch that we share.. i mow mine every week. i am thinking about not mowing it for a month or so just out of spite. "motherfucker im not retired, i have 3 fucking jobs i got better things to do that mow my lawn ever 3rd day" but instead i just say " hello and wave "

I was doin a college party last week and I noticed that the sound guy had 2 Crown Macrotech 5000's and 3 crest amps (the CA series) powering 8 cerwin vega el-36's and 6 w bins plus 2 old school jbl tops that takes 3 guys to pick up. During the night, I decided to trace where he was getting the power from. So I went into the room and noticed extensions cords, I believe they were 12 gauge but anyway, when I felt the cord, it was quite warm. I guess he was putting everything on one cord. It worked although I was a lil worried about his methods of hooking up stuff.

depends on input voltage..

in uk 220v --13A is 3200W of power.

yeah on 220 you double the watts, but all my gear are 120volts.... no 220.

Volts X Amp = Watts (-20% security)

yup was just in case any uk headz got the wrong idea

dj dMan it seems like he is drawing more current than i would by far. I use 12 gauge extension cords as well. I have still been plugging each stack in to separate outlets (may still be the same circuit i don't know ) I found out each sub draws 8 amps. so if i was plugging them all into one 15 amp breaker it would not be enough. a 20 amp would be . I guess i will keep running the extra cord to a different outlet to be on the safe side.

1 AMP = 120 Watts but code only allows any circuit to be loaded 80 % of its rated load. You will probably not be running the speakers at full power, however, there only needs to be one time for full power to exceed the allowed ampacity of the circuit, and to be sure there is absolutely no fire hazard, the 80% rule should be followed.

A 15 amp circuit can carry only a total of 1440 watts,which is 80% of the 1800 watts found by mulitplying the volts times amps,15 x 120 x 80%= 1440.


A 20 amp circuit can be loaded 1920 watts, 120 x 20 x 80%=1920 watts.

I make my cables at the desired length from Home Depot parts.

I don't know the cable's gauge off the top of my head but it is pretty thick.
The plug is also from Home Depot (No soldering necessary).
I get the plug that goes into the speakers from a local electronic store.

I can take a picture and post it if you want.

Kenny Q

ya a pic would be cool I find when i go to home depot or lowes the lower gauge extension cables are never solid black its orange or green and black. So you buy the cable from the residential wiring area that is on spools (not the extension cord section) then by the connectors ?

on a side note i was playing at a large outdoor beer garden and when i would turn up one of my subs more than 12'0clock it would start to make a constant bass noise. I think there was no ground or some other electrical problem with the venue itself
anyone else come across this ?

was this with reg vinyl------may have been feedback---- from the speaker going through the needle --from the speaker going through the needle---from the speaker going through the needle---from the speaker going through the needleetc etc etc

at first i thought that was it aswell.
I was using serato with vinyl control records after word and still did it. I changed xlr cables and outlets. it would only do it if it was turned up high. Im almost certain it was the venues power.. shes a cheap skate and i know she didn't hire a electrician to do the wiring. i think its a ground issue. im going to test it at home tonight. hopefully i can not recreate the problem

It is probably a feedback problem. Next time switch to internal mode for a second and see if it stops. Also Home Depot sells black 12/3 off the spool. To be honest, and not to sound like a dick, but you really should either buy premade cables or have a licensed electrician make them. If something goes wrong you are ass out.

Home Depot sells black cables on spools.



Any moron with half a brain could make their own cables. You just need to know the difference between neg, pos and ground.

I work in the computer field for my full time job. I wired my entire home and installed a new 200 amp service. I also made all the panel mount connections on my gear including power. I should be able to handle it but yes i agree, a non electrical person i would not recommend making there own cables. Plus I always double check with a ohm meter.

Yes any moron can make them but if some shit goes down and the reason is tracked back to the cables then you are screwed. No liability insurance will cover you.

First and foremost, loading on a circuit needs to be based on REAL and ACTUAL values.

There are people putting up to 4 Bose L1's on a single circuit with playback equipment as well and not tripping a breaker. The Bose L1's are 750 watts each, or a total of 3000 watts plus the current draw from the computer, etc.

While equipment is rated to deliver these high wattage levels, it's extremely rare that you will get to even half of those levels. Most certainly, you won't be seeing 75%. If you are, you probably should consider adding more sound reinforcement to avoid clipping rather than just pushing the levels higher.

As for cords, you can make them yourself, get them pre-made, or have them made for you. If you make them yourself, I recommend testing the outlet, then plugging in the cord and testing the cord - all with a circuit tester. This will let you know that you have it all wired correctly. Depending on the ends you select, I recommend checking them occasionally to insure nothing has come undone.

Now wire size. Most equipment uses a 14 guage IEC power cable. It makes no sense to use 12guage if part of it is 14 gugage unless you're dealing with extremly long runs. 'Normal' runs of up to 50 feet or so are perfectly acceptable with 14 guage cable. As you reach runs of 100 feet or more you need to consider 12guage, not because of the load, but because of the potential voltage drop from using the lower guage may be significant.

Yes, power cords are an investment, and you should invest in good equipment, but why would you purchase a 10ft. 12 guage cord? You wouldnt'. If you're buying a long cable then by all means go to a proper guage to handle a fully loaded circuit. But on the flip side, there's no reason to purchase 000 gauge 50ft cables just to power a small sound rig. That's completely different if you're wiring directly into the 200 amp service at the electrical panel and running 10,000 or 20,000 watts for concert sound.

In other words, know what you REALLY need. Take the time to educate yourself on the limitations and why they exist and THEN make a buying decision.

Just going to revive this thread.. need some help this week coming up.. I use 2 jbl srx815p and 2 srx818sp subs...however where I'm going to play I got to use these 2 extension cords from my power strip to both sides of speakers meaning 1 top srx815p and sub srx818sp to 1 extension cord with 3 outlets ...and the 2nd extension to the other side...I really never connect 2 speakers in the same extension cord you guys think I will run into a problem?

Also in the same power strip im connecting my sx2 and macbook pro...

This is the extension cords
www.amazon.com

I’ve run up to 5 powered speakers + other equipment on a single 15amp circuit from a power strip without problems.

No matter what I always use 25 foot 14 or 16 AWG IEC power cords so I can go directly into the wall without an additional extension cord. Makes setting up much faster.

I think the cables are fine but I always prefer to run speakers/amps directly to the wall and not through a power strip, if that is an option. Peak power surges will trip (or fry) a power strip much quicker than will flip a properly working breaker.

I usually just use a power strip then connect all my speakers,subs,sx2,macbook pro in that 1 powerstrip but this time it's a bit complicated i have to use those 2 extension cords and run tops and subs in just that extension.

I usually always do that too...true that...I just hope the extension method works lol..

Those are grounded 14 AWG cables and only 25 feet so they won’t cause any problems.

I would plug the amps directly into the wall and use a quality surge protector on you front end equipment.