Please assure me I'm not going to burn my house down.


I recently bought some new mono class D amps to replace a stereo class D. I had a pair of identical diy power cords connected to the stereo amp and my preamp.

Well, with monos I was obviously going to use the identical power cords. So I needed a new PC for my pre, as the older diy version I had laying around just used thhn wire from Lowe’s and didn’t sound great. So, after some thought and research, I decided to make a PC out of cat 5 plenum cable. I kept it in its blue sleeve (containing 4 twisted pairs) and then I braided 3 lengths together for each conductor. I then took those three braids and braided them. What I have sounds incredible and I’m fairly confident that it is safe electrically.

Please reassure me. Or tell me I forgot about x, and that I should cease and desist. Or laugh at how cheap I am...

But really, I’m not going to start a fire here, am I? 8 conductors per length x 3 lengths for each conductor equals 24 strands of 24awg. Which equals 10awg for each conductor...
128x128toddverrone

Showing 2 responses by joeylawn36111

How much current does each monoblock pull? (on the rear of the amp somewhere it will say "120V xxxW" W being the power in watts the power supply pulls at maximum draw, not the rated speaker power output.) Then divide watts by 120 to get the current draw.

Also, there's the fuse rating of each monoblock. Let's say it's 8 Amps. Then you can use wire that's rated slightly higher than that, say 10 Amps. 14-Gauge wire is rated at 15A, so this would be about the minimum gauge for this example.

I can't guarantee that you won't have problems with your homemade PC, but if your wire is well-terminated (won't come loose/disconnected), and doesn't run hot, I don't see a problem with it. But if it gets moved around much/bent, some of the small wires of the CAT cable could break, which would put more heat strain on the remaining wires because they're still connected, and the same current has to go through less wires.

Like was said above, the ideal thing is to get some proper power cord to be sure.
Good point, williewonka - the insulation isn't really up to snuff for 120VAC. 

Bottom line = Using proper mains cable rated for line voltage - almost zero chance of a problem (properly wired, of course)

- Using CAT5 cable - a small, but significant risk that definately(sp?) above zero.