RE: Speaker Connections

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I'd second the recommendation for speakons - they're really lovely and
> foolproof connectors, and you really can't go wrong at that price.
> They'd also mean a lot less drilling than making a patch panel for
> binding posts.  Sadly in the pro audio world half the speakons you
come
> across seem to be on one end of speakon-to-6.3mm-jack cables...
>

Yep! :-(

> Alternatively, 3-pin XLRs would also be up to the job[1].
>

But only for mono.

Originally my disco speakers were on 6.5mm jacks and occasionally I would
get a bad connection. Once I changed over to XLR's (this was before
Speakon)
I didnt have any problems

> [1] In the pro world they're usually used for mic or line-level
signals
> so using them for speakers is frowned upon, but the connectors are
good
> for about 16A, and I have met PA equipment using XLR for speaker
> connections (usually accompanied with big warning labels on the back
of
> the amplifier)

They used to be the standard output connector on Pro amps before Speakon.

Different genders are used for input and output so unless you are really
stupid and connect the output of an amp to the input of an amp you are
unlikely to cause any damage. You could plug a mic directly into a speaker
but it wouldnt do any damage, neither would it be able to drive the
speaker!

More of a danger with XLR is the possibility of connecting the wrong
speaker
to the wrong amp in a Bi-amped or Tri-amped system. Feeding a bank of horns
from a hefty bass amp results in almost instant death of the voice
coils....
"they dont like it up em".

With Speakon being available in 4 and 8 pole versions it has lessened the
possibility of this happening and also made it far quicker to set up a
system as there are less leads to plug in.

The best thing about XLR is that the lead (whether a signal lead or a
speaker lead) always has male on one end and female on the other which
means
that you can just plug several leads together when they arent long enough.

With Speakon all panel connectors are female so the leads tend to have a
male on each end so you need a coupler to join them. There is now a cable
mount socket but that would give you a lead that was only ever useful as an
extension lead.

For XLR I was given a brilliant tip about 15 years ago....

"SOP" Signal On Pins which helps you remember which type of
connector you
need.

eg Mic has pins as it outputs a signal. 	Needs a Female XLR
Amp input takes pins.	Needs a Male XLR
Amp output has pins. 	Needs a Female XLR
Speaker takes pins.		Needs a male XLR

Regards

Keith