Speaker Stands

[Charles Warwick]

Hey guys, just a real quick question

What speaker stands do you recommend for light duty use for a J110 or Otop 12 with neos?

I'd like something cheap since I'm not using them all the time, but I sure don't want them falling!
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... r=248-4018

This seems like a pretty good deal, even if the cables aren't actually 12 gauge, it's still a pretty decent deal, unless the stands are complete crap. What about MCM or musicians friend, do they have good stands?

What about top hats? Which ones do you guys recommend? I bought a set from PE a few years back I wasn't happy with because the plastic covers on the bottom came off and I discovered I had a serious air leak.

[doncolga]

I'd be comfortable putting OT12's on those...look just like my current stands and my current tops are probably at least 60 lbs. This is the top hat I got this past December from Leland. All metal and seems really tough. I can pole mount or stack with these, but you will need to cut a hole in the bottom reflector and bottom of the box, about 1/4" in front of the baffle.

http://www.speakerhardware.com/hat_1_38-hdwthm1557.php

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monoheadph ... 486523220/

Good luck!

Donny

[Charles Warwick]

Where do you guys get audio cables from?

I found a pair of stands cheaper here but they don't have those cables included with them.

I'm actually looking to upgrade my cables as I've just used regular zip cable which works fine but doesn't look especially professional as it's not black and round like a normal power cable.

Can you just buy it in bulk, or do you guys just buy them premade? From what I'm seeing, the premade ones look really expensive per foot so I wouldn't mind trying to find something cheaper.

[AntonZ]

Loudspeaker cable I buy in bulk/per meter, 4-pole Neutrik speakon plugs (because they fit in both 2 and 4 pole panel jacks), and assemble my own cables. Always bring a few spare cables and some 4 pole speakon couplers (search for Neutrik NL4MMX). Nothing but Neutrik connectors for speakon. They are the only ones that fit well and last.

For speaker cable, copper is quite expensive these days so don't buy heavier gauge than what you actually need. There's nice lookup tables to find the recommended minimum gauge for a given combination of cable length, power and cabinet impedance (ohms).

[bzb]

I use Global Truss ST-90s for gigs where I need the cabs up 10' - mostly outdoor events. Otherwise, I just use the small, light aluminum ones from On Stage. I got them from Guitar Center for around $60 - came with a bag and a few adapters. I think there's a 30% coupon for this weekend floating around.

If you need crank stands, don't go for the cheap ADJ or Onstage ones - they're junk. The ST90s are beasts - like 30 pounds apiece - but they're much, much higher quality.

As far as cabling, I got a roll of 14/2 from Lowes a while back for around $50. According to that calculator Bill posted, 14ga is good for up to 150'. And if you're carrying around 150' speaker cables... well... what the hell is wrong with you?

I also run the four pole Speakon NL4s on one end and banana plugs on the other. I find it easier to stack banana plugs than carrying a bigger rack so I can have jack panels.

[Charles Warwick]

So is something like this a worthwhile investment, or is it still expensive compared to buying generic cable in store?

How much did you pay per foot?

[SeisTres]

All of the cables I have, i've made. Is not that I don't trust premade cables (granted, there are real lemons) but the premade speaker cables are just so expensive. I do buy premade mic cables since they take more work, but speaker cables are easy to make, no soldering with the speakon mounts.

Two cables I got from guitar center which were on sale for like $5 for 25footers but the rest I use sjoow 2conductor cabling which is sold by HD and lowes. Also, I had an extra extension cord and cut it up to make back up cables. At $10 for 50ft, it was quite a bargain even after adding in the speakons.

[jjohnson]

So is something like this a worthwhile investment, or is it still expensive compared to buying generic cable in store?

How much did you pay per foot?

Buy it by the spool unless you're looking at needing something like 10 ft. The big box stores or any electrical supply house has it and usually have a couple of spool sizes usually 100' & 250'. But you could save about 30% on it and have extra and not be short. Also make sure you had the height of the stands to the distance needed. If I need a 30ft cable I'll build it 40ft; 30 ft + 6 ft stand + 2 ft at rack and round it up.

[BrentEvans]

Hey guys, just a real quick question

What speaker stands do you recommend for light duty use for a J110 or Otop 12 with neos?

I'd like something cheap since I'm not using them all the time, but I sure don't want them falling!
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... r=248-4018

I have that set. I can put two DR200s on them no problem... even all the way up (which is like 7 feet to the top of the stand... ). They're actually very nice for the price, and the cables are quite usable. They're knockoff NL4s, but they work well enough. The stands have a nice wide base and the safety pin is attached with metal cable, not a zip strap or some other cheesy bit. The bag they come in is great for mic stands too... i can fit 8 tripod boom stands in it easily.

[Charles Warwick]

In case anyone is curious, I just used the $50 pair of speaker stands from Musician's Friend that I purchased today in 15 MPH winds and there were no stability problems, which honestly surprised me. I kept expecting to look over and see the thing tipping over. But they have a nice wide base and, as my dumb roommate demonstrated by hanging off the speaker , can actually hold quite a bit of weight.

Two cables I got from guitar center which were on sale for like $5 for 25footers but the rest I use sjoow 2conductor cabling which is sold by HD and lowes. Also, I had an extra extension cord and cut it up to make back up cables. At $10 for 50ft, it was quite a bargain even after adding in the speakons.

Is this the stuff? http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... reNum=1950

I couldn't find a 2 conductor cable like it at lowes here in town, so I'm considering a trip down to Des Moines to check out the HD. How did the extension cable cord work for you? I thought that wouldn't work, but hey, copper is copper...

[SeisTres]

This got pushed all the way down on the "active topics", but yeah, that's the one. I did 14 gauge as I figured it was the best compromise between cost and power loss from the distances I run. I usually do 25ft but once in a while would couple with another 25ft 12 gauge to run to one of the jacks.

As for the extension cord, it's saved me from some real tight situations where I would need to run the cables differently. I have a banana-speakon and a speakon-speakon from the single 50ft 16ga extension I bought. They're green, have some significant loss, and have an extra conductor so I don't like using them, but like I said, without them, some gigs would have been complete fails. So all in all, for $20 invested in the extension and all the cable mounts, they've certainly paid for themselves.