
What is the difference between speaker cable and instrument cable?
A speaker cable is generally a parallel conductor cable that carries low voltage to the speakers from the amp or receiver. It can resemble "zip cord" that is used for lamps and some appliances. It can also be round, with the conductors inside that sheath. Since it is used for speakers, the polarity of the conductors is important. Red is "+" and black is "-".
Now, an instrument cable looks like some pro speaker cables having 1/4" phone cables on each end, BUT, the cable is shielded, having a tightly would braid of wire wrapped around a a center conductor, much like a coaxial cable TV cable. The braid is the ground and the center conductor is the hot or signal side. Instrument cables are for exactly that; guitars, electronic pianos and organs and the like.
In a pinch, they could be used interchangeably, but only in a pinch. The speaker cable would be subject to all kinds of hum and RF noise and the instrument cable would put a undesirable load on your amp since the cable has a built-in impedance of around 50 Ohms.
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