I'm confused; speaker vs. amp?

[samal50]

I recently bought a Gemini mix2go DJ turntables. I'm curious what I should use as an amp for live situations? Is it an amp or speakers?

 

How about this one:

 

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gemini/GT-1504-15-PA-Speaker-1273888005526.gc?source=4XBACR

 

Gemini GT-1504 15" PA Speaker

 

The description:

 

"Put the 15" Gemini GT-1504 PA Speaker with any Gemini amp and you have the makings of a great start-up PA package. The GT-1504 speaker boasts a trapezoid speaker design with 175W RMS power handling and 700W peak, a 15" woofer, and 11" x 5" double piezo horn."

 

Do I actually need another (Gemini) amp to make this work for my Gemini mix2go DJ turntables or it's all I need really?

[Mr.Grumpy]

Unless you have speakers with a power amplifier built in, you will need a separate external amplifier. For DJ applications you want a PA amplifier. The speakers in your link require a separate external amplifier.

 

This is what popped up when I searched for "Gemini Mix2Go DJ turntable" http://www.guitarcenter.com/Gemini/MIX2GO-PRO-Portable-DJ-Mixer-with-Built-in-Speakers-and-LED-Light-Show-1500000024007.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXGP&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg6nLqOTD2QIVQ0wNCh1CUgFZEAQYASABEgKj9vD_BwE&kwid=productads-adid^172488555108-device^c-plaid^137769556842-sku^1500000024007@ADL4GC-adType^PLA

 

This unit has self-contained speakers, but due to it's small size, can't be loud enough except for home use.

[WRGKMC]

A mixer only has a preamp. You need a power amp to drive speakers. A Typical Hi Fi has both a preamp and power amp built in together until you get into the more professional stuff where the preamp and power amp were often separate units.

 

In PA gear you typically have 3 different setups.

 

1. Powered mixers that also contain the power amp to drive speakers. These are typically used by bands that do their own sound and the compact designs make transport and setup easier.

 

2. Separate mixer and power amps. These setups allow a snake to be used between the mixer out in front of the stage like you see at most concerts and the power amps remain on stage with short speaker cables to drive the PA cabs. Allot of sound is lost when using long speaker cables so running balances line level signals through the snake retains fidelity.

 

3. Putting power heads inside PA cabs with the speakers is merely a convenience and cost saving approach. You can still use the Mixer through a snake and the power head is simply mounted in the cab with the speaker so you have less gear to move when playing out. The main drawback being is if the power amp goes out the speaker is unusable, if the speaker goes out the power amp is unusable. If you have separate units if a power amp goes out the speaker is still usable and vice versa.

 

The reliability is pretty good in all three cases and the pricing is comparable in all three two unless you know how to shop.

You can often make out better with option two because you have the widest choice and the greatest amount of used gear to choose from.

If anything powered speaker amps are unique to the manufacturers and getting them repaired often costly. The upgrade path requires buying a whole new unit whereas with separate units you can upgrade one of the other.

[1001gear]

SOURCE > > > preamp/mixer > > > power amp > > > speaker

 

You can buy a powered cabinet which simply combines the last two or three items in that chain. These will usually be called some kind of "powered" monitor or speaker. This might be your best entry level option.

 

About the only instances when these devices aren't referred to separately is when speaking of guitar amps. Those come with pre and power amps integrated on the same chassis. The speakers can come in the same cabinet as the electronics; called a combo amp, or electronics and speakers in separate units referred to as amp heads/brains and speaker cabs (cabinets)

Guitar electronics can also come in rigs where the preamps and amps are separate and stacked in portable rack cases. The speaker cabinets will be stand alone units.

[samal50]

yea an external amp could be used in addition to its internal amp. Just wondering if the Gemini speakers I linked above would suit it. So what you're saying is a "speaker" requires an amp? So a "speaker" is just a sound reinforcer or maximizer of what comes out of a separate amp? If speakers were used as the main sound reinforcer, would it sound bad?

[samal50]

My DJ turntable would be the preamp/mixer, so I would just need the powered amp/powered speaker only? I would assume the venue should have their own speaker system to give added volume if needed? So really I only need 1 thing then? A powered speaker? I've spoken with people who told me 15" is good, but 12" is also OK. Is it just preference?

[1001gear]

So what was the speakers from Gemini I linked above for then?

 

They're just speakers obviously. Look at some portable powered PA speakers then you can simply plug in your rig and go.

 

 

[samal50]

Kudos! Had no idea long cables can affect sound quality. Is this true with everything?

 

Since my DJ turntable already has its mixer and built in speakers, do I only need a powered amp then to make it louder than the speakers it came with?

[arcadesonfire]

Hey Samal50, if you're still reading this thread and trying to figure things out, here's a little more explanation that I didn't see above: EVERY time you have sound coming out of a speaker*, there is a poweramp involved. In a boombox or guitar amp, the poweramp is in the box with the speaker. Your Gemini Mix2Go has a poweramp inside it for the internal speaker--and it's probably a stereo amp with separate left and right speakers in the Mix2Go). (*Headphones can be driven by just a preamp. Your smartphone contains a preamp, hehe. But any large speaker will need a true poweramp.)

 

I assume that the aux output on the Mix2Go is NOT powered. Therefore, you could run it to a "powered speaker" with poweramp and speaker in the same unit. Or you could run it to a poweramp and go from there out to a speaker. Non-powered speakers will usually only have one or two jacks--or one or two pairs of different kinds of jacks (banana plugs, 1/4-inch jacks, etc.). Also non-powered speakers will not have a volume knob. If you're looking at something with microphone inputs and a volume knob, then you're definitely looking at a powered speaker. It sounds like a powered speaker is what you want! Or at least, it's an economical step.

 

Check if that aux output of yours is stereo or if you actually have a separate left aux and right aux. With recorded music (what you're dj'ing) it's pretty important to maintain a stereo sound, which requires two separate speakers. (You can plug both the left and right channels into one mono amp+speaker, but some aspects of the mix will be changed.) If you've got separate L and R outputs, you can get two powered speakers and go L to one and R to the other. If you've only got one output and you can see in the manual that it is stereo, then you can easily get an adaptor (a "y-cable") to provide you with truly separate outputs. You would want to get a male to female y-cable.

 

On the issue of cable length and degrading sound: Yes, when sound comes out of a preamp, the sound can degrade with longer cables because they pick up electromagnetic interference. BUT! In most pro audio, this problem is eliminated with the use of "balanced" cables. Look that up to see how these work.

 

Speaker cables--which are only used between the power amp and a non-powered speaker--cannot be balanced thought. Speaker cables are much larger gauge and they carry a far larger current (because they're carrying amplified sound). Since they can't be balanced, we typically want the speaker cables to be short as possible.

 

Not sure if I've helped you at all, but hopefully you can get to putting out more sound soon!