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Community R1 Series Owner’s Manual
7 ELECTRICAL
INSTALLATION
7.1
CONNECTING THE LOUDSPEAKER
All R2s have approximately 12 ft (3.6m) of 16-2 SJOW-type neoprene jacketed cable attached to the enclosure
with a weather-tight gland-nut. This is used for the input signal. This cable may be interconnected to the
amplifier output cabling using solder, a terminal block, or wire-nuts. Be sure to provide the connections with a
weather-resistant treatment if used outdoors. Do not remove the gland-nut that attaches the cable to the lower
rear of the loudspeaker as this can compromise the weather integrity of the enclosure.
Connector Cable Polarity:
The white jacketed conductor is the positive or + signal wire and the black is the negative or – signal wire.
Positive voltage applied to the + wire produces positive acoustic pressure at the mouth of the loudspeaker.
(see Quick Start-up).
7.1.1 LOUDSPEAKER
CABLE
The resistance of the cable you choose to go between the loudspeaker and the amplifier will affect the
performance of the loudspeaker. Cable with too high a resistance can cause power losses and impair low
frequency performance by reducing the electrical damping factor (DF). To minimize these kinds of losses it is
desirable to keep the total cable resistance under 0.2 ohm. For lengths over 100 feet the wire gauges needed to
meet this requirement are usually not practical to use for both physical and cost reasons. Therefore #10 AWG is
recommended as the most practical gauge for those situations. Use TABLE 1 to select the proper wire gauge.
Either stranded or solid conductors are acceptable although cable with stranded conductors can be easier to
work with. The run length for both conductors has been figured into the total resistance. Note the lower the
gauge number the larger the wire size.
Run Length
Minimum Gauge
(AWG)
Total Resistance
10 ft. (3m)
16
0.08 ohm
25 ft. (8m)
14
0.13 ohm
50 ft. (15m)
12
0.16 ohm
75 ft. (25m)
10
0.15 ohm
100 ft. (30m)
10
0.20 ohm
200 ft. (60m)
10
0.40 ohm
300 ft. (90m)
10
0.60 ohm
400 ft. (120m)
10
0.80 ohm
500 ft. (150m)
10
1.00 ohm
If installed outdoors, the insulation of the installer-provided cabling should be resistant to water, the effects of
temperature, and the effects of ultraviolet radiation from the sun. These are recommended insulations:
polyethylene, neoprene, Teflon™, Silicon™, and Hypalon™. These insulations are not recommended because
of potentially shorter life expectancy in outdoor environments: rubber, PVC (polyvinylchloride), polypropylene,
polyurethane, and nylon.
