Connecting Speakers to Power Amp

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Scott Brochu · #16 Post by **Scott Brochu** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:23 pm

Call me num. or maybe having brain cramps but what is the purpose of a break out box if you are all ready running a cable to the mains anyway. I mean you will daisy chain them with that one cord.
I guess I don't get it.

that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?

Be easy I'm in my learning stages

Mark Coward · #17 Post by **Mark Coward** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:49 pm

BBDrums wrote:Call me num. or maybe having brain cramps but what is the purpose of a break out box if you are all ready running a cable to the mains anyway. I mean you will daisy chain them with that one cord.
I guess I don't get it.
that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?

Be easy I'm in my learning stages

Some amps do not have 1/4" outs, so the box serves to adapt. Also, it is better to "Y" to two cabs than to daisy chain.

Tom · #18 Post by **Tom** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:01 pm

[I hijacked this post by mistake - Sorry! I'll move it to a new post if I can]

Short of manually using the Ohmmeter, how do you test XLR cables?

I have a quite a few broken or suspect cables that need some work, and I'm thinking about whipping up a simple tester, or buying something inexpensive.

You guys are a great source of experience and wisdom. Any ideas from the group are appreciated.

Sydney · #19 Post by **Sydney** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:17 pm

I see this for as little as $29.99
Behringer CT-100 Cable Tester XLR, RCA, TRS & More
( Frankly I just use a meter with audible continuity - I have mini jumpers made with mini-gator clips for sorting )
I can see the advantage of a tester, If I had a lot of cables in heavy use.

Tom · #20 Post by **Tom** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:41 pm

I looked at it - the price is right. Both ends need to be at the tester, unless I run a working mic cable from the tester.

I see some that look interesting:

http://ratsniffer.com/
http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?ba ... rch=0&off=
http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp?ba ... rch=0&off=

I'm hoping that a well-known, widely used cable testing soution will surface from this post.

Ron K · #21 Post by **Ron K** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:53 pm

Sydney wrote:I see this for as little as $29.99
Behringer CT-100 Cable Tester XLR, RCA, TRS & More
( Frankly I just use a meter with audible continuity - I have mini jumpers made with mini-gator clips for sorting )
I can see the advantage of a tester, If I had a lot of cables in heavy use.

I do the same thing except on XLR or any signal cable I like to use High ohms scale or auto scale to check for any high resistance between signal lines. It's been often that I've found 1/4" TRS or even XLRs that leak between the connectors!

Tom · #22 Post by **Tom** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:59 pm

Cable tester post moved here:

http://billfitzmaurice.com/phpBB2/viewt ... 6330#46330

Sorry for the hijack.

Scott Brochu · #23 Post by **Scott Brochu** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:26 pm

Mark Coward wrote:
BBDrums wrote:Call me num. or maybe having brain cramps but what is the purpose of a break out box if you are all ready running a cable to the mains anyway. I mean you will daisy chain them with that one cord.
I guess I don't get it.
that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?

Be easy I'm in my learning stages
Some amps do not have 1/4" outs, so the box serves to adapt. Also, it is better to "Y" to two cabs than to daisy chain.

Learn somthing new everyday, Thanks Mark

Tim A · #24 Post by **Tim A** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 12:43 pm

BBDrums wrote:that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?

That's the reason I use it. Sometimes I run subs on one channel and tops on the other. The box lets me use equal cable lengths to both sides. No need for one on the sub channel since they're so close together it only takes a few feet to daisy chain.

Scott Brochu · #25 Post by **Scott Brochu** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 6:44 pm

Tim Ard wrote:
BBDrums wrote:that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?
That's the reason I use it. Sometimes I run subs on one channel and tops on the other. The box lets me use equal cable lengths to both sides. No need for one on the sub channel since they're so close together it only takes a few feet to daisy chain.

Is that in stereo though?

Tim A · #26 Post by **Tim A** » Mon Feb 25, 2008 10:31 pm

No, it's two mono cabs in parallel. Unless you have some special need, stereo in a live situation can do more harm than good. In order to get correct stereo imaging you need to be in the right location. Most people listening to live music aren't. They're shooting pool, or at the bar, or somewhere other than between the speakers. Once they get too far off center half the signal is lost to their ears.

I have seen it used to enhance the sound by feeding both sides of a stereo signal to cabinets in the same stack, but I'm not sure it's worth the trouble in most rooms.

Scott Brochu · #27 Post by **Scott Brochu** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:20 am

Tim Ard wrote:
BBDrums wrote:that box is probably good if you ran both sides from that one channel?
That's the reason I use it. Sometimes I run subs on one channel and tops on the other. The box lets me use equal cable lengths to both sides. No need for one on the sub channel since they're so close together it only takes a few feet to daisy chain.

Thats right you all ready have a x over built into the sub, right?
You don't need to go through a x over.

BUT

if you did like myself, how would you hook it up from the mixer?using x over Ber 2496 and a uro2400 Ber amp- than out to the subs and tops all from that one amps 2 channels?

The only reason I ask is because its been taking a long time to set the Digital x over up with the amp to power the subs and tops. The "sound" man "aka" guitarist is running everything in stereo and I think that is why its taking a long time to get it fight. min of 2 hrs

Tim A · #28 Post by **Tim A** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:39 pm

No, you're missing the point of the box. The mixer feeds the crossover which then feeds two sides of the amp, lows and highs. One side runs the subs. The other side runs the tops. The only point of the breakout box is to let me run equal length cables to both tops as opposed to daisy chaining. Subs are mono, tops are mono.

In other words, I can run a 50' cable to each top as opposed to a 50' cable to one top, then a 50' cable from there to the other top. That would put the second top on a 100' lead, which is a bad idea.

Scott Brochu · #29 Post by **Scott Brochu** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:03 pm

Gotcha

Thanks