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speakons...what's the deal?


lowboy

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So it looks like I'm getting a new head that has speakon outs only. I'm looking into cables for it, but I couldn't find much info on these connectors. Basically I'm confused about the types and can't find any clear concise diagrams.

Stupid google just wants to sell me stuff. I'm not ready yet. I need to know more.

Anyone use these? Got any good links where I can read up?

Thanks.

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I use Speakons for my Eden rig and reckon they're better than your 1/4 jacks. They lock into place and have more contact surface area than 1/4's so signal is likley to be better. Not sure if you will really notice an audible difference between the two types, but at least speakons will keep you plugged in when your idiot drummer walks behind your rig and almost kicks your cable out!

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Speakons are just another, but quite superior connection- in lieu of TRS 1/4X1/4 for speaker cables.

 

They are extremely low z and unlike 1/4", won't pull out as they turn and lock.

 

My Lord, you act as if this was the most confusing thing in the world. Don't hesitate to ask questions not only here, but also at your local music shop. You won't be laughed out of the store asking, "What are speakon connections?" I was in Hanover NH at Hanover Strings (great shop, btw), and a fella was asking just the same question and was just as ignorant.

 

So what?

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but at least speakons will keep you plugged in when your idiot drummer walks behind your rig and almost kicks your cable out!

 

Right and instead of just pulling the cable out, he just yanks your rack or head off the top of your cabs so it goes crashing to the floor. :cry:

 

;)

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I agree, you should ask if you don't know.

Hopefully, ignorance is a fleeting thing, not a recurring affliction.:thu:

But there are some real doo doo heads in the music stores, that like to think they know everything but know nothing.

 

Gotta say tho, Im still unclear why we left canon plugs behind for neutrik connectors.

Cannon had greater contact area and less likely to short out.

Still.. its harder to pluc a mic into a neutrik connector.

I guess that was it.

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I forgot to mention that one of my speakon cables is a 4 foot 8 guage. I think only lavaman would know how freakin thick this cable is. I've never seen an 8 guage cable for sale anywhere.

 

I bought it off the keyboard sales mgr. at GC in Natick, MA not new but mint for $40. Worth every penny.

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I forgot to mention that one of my speakon cables is a 4 foot 8 guage. I think only lavaman would know how freakin thick this cable is. I've never seen an 8 guage cable for sale anywhere.


I bought it off the keyboard sales mgr. at GC in Natick, MA not new but mint for $40. Worth every penny.

 

Holy cow. How many thousands of watts are you running through that cable that you need 8-gauge in a four-foot run? :eek:

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Holy cow. How many thousands of watts are you running through that cable that you need 8-gauge in a four-foot run?
:eek:

 

2450 watts bridged...:thu:

 

Why, would a normal 12 guage have been acceptable? But I had never seen a speaker cable as thick as a transmission line- I had to have it!

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Couple of standard connections. Lower number = lower frequency. I use mine as a bi-amp with +1 -1 for the woofers and +2 -2 for the horns. I'm running a tri-amp configuration now and will probably be upgrading to the four conductor. (Might use the extra set for a monitor line across the stage.)

 

One more thing. Speakon connectors use silver contacts. (They're almost impossible to get to for cleaning so contacts that always work is a great idea.)

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2450 watts bridged...
:thu:

Why, would a normal 12 guage have been acceptable? But I had never seen a speaker cable as thick as a transmission line- I had to have it!

 

In a 5-foot cable, 8-gauge has a power loss of ~0.15% at with a 4-ohm load. 12-gauge has a power loss of ~0.40% at 4 ohms. And so on and so forth.

 

8-gauge wire can handle twice the current of 12-gauge wire, but for a 5-foot speaker cable 12-gauge would have been just fine. ;)

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but at least speakons will keep you plugged in when your idiot drummer walks behind your rig and almost kicks your cable out!

 

 

and in doing so, will yank your amp head off of the top of your cabinet and send it smashing into the floor...

 

voice of experience.

 

that being said, i've never been able to notice an audible difference between speakon and quarter inch connections, even when using the same head, the same bass, cabs, etc. etc. etc. YMMV.

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NL8 (Neutrik Locking 8 conductor) cables are usually used for bigger PA sytems to send multiple powered runs on the same cable, kind of like a mic snake. In our big rigs we use NL8 to send the Lows to two subs (uses 4 conductors, two to each sub) and to send One mid (uses two conductors) and to one high Freq (uses 2 conductrors), that way we can run one cable for a good stack of speakers, and if we need to double the cabs (after appropriate jumping to daisy chain the cabs that we can) , it's just one more cable to run (with the appropriate breakout box to NL4's...)

 

If you want to get really crazy, we used Sacopex cables (which are usually used for lighting rigs) to send a buttload of powered signals, then had breakout boxes that went to NL8's and fanout cables that split the NL8's to NL4's........

 

There will be no audible difference, they are just much more secure.

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and in doing so, will yank your amp head off of the top of your cabinet and send it smashing into the floor...


voice of experience.


that being said, i've never been able to notice an audible difference between speakon and quarter inch connections, even when using the same head, the same bass, cabs, etc. etc. etc. YMMV.

 

Not likley..........mines a bit heavy. But if it did the top cab speakon would break the heads fall before it hit the turf. :thu:

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Not likley..........mines a bit heavy. But if it did the top cab speakon would break the heads fall before it hit the turf.
:thu:

 

i watched my drummer topple my GBE1200 off of the top of an ampeg fridge once...

 

after the initial shock and the nearly overwhelming desire to choke the {censored} out of him, i put the head back on top of the cab, plugged the cable back into the cab and powered up.

 

all was well.

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i watched my drummer topple my GBE1200 off of the top of an ampeg fridge once...


after the initial shock and the nearly overwhelming desire to choke the {censored} out of him, i put the head back on top of the cab, plugged the cable back into the cab and powered up.


all was well.

 

I guess he can count himself lucky that all was well. :D

 

Our singer is the clumsy douche of the band......the drummer is usually pretty careful with gear. I don't let him anywhere near my stuff. Not even my pedal board on the floor! :mad:

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Some background info:

Speakon originally got invented by Neutrik to work around a European requirement that forbids "medium voltages" to be easily accessible. The speaker voltage Some of the high power PA power amps qualified (especially when bridged) so they needed something different from 1/4", binding posts, or banana plugs. What was needed was full insulation, and Speakon certainly porvides that (at a price, that is).

Speakon comes in three basic varieties:

 

 

 

Some heads use NL-4s for biamping purposes, i.e the high and low frequency feeds are on the same cable. There is no universal convention on how to use it. It typically requires reading the manual carefully and probably making a cable by hand. Most Speakon cables that you can buy in a store are equipped with NL-4 connectors but only one wire pair (connecting 1+,1- on each side). Some cable are also NL-4 with two wire pairs (connecting all 4 pins).

When buying a cable, you should always study the print on the product. Many salespersons are not knowledgable enough to know the differences and help you choose the right kind. We had plent of cases where customers got sold teh wrong cable for some of our products.

 

Hope that helps

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I forgot to mention that one of my speakon cables is a 4 foot 8 guage. I think only lavaman would know how freakin thick this cable is. I've never seen an 8 guage cable for sale anywhere.


I bought it off the keyboard sales mgr. at GC in Natick, MA not new but mint for $40. Worth every penny.

 

 

Pretty much a waste. The pin terminations only accept a conductor of about 11 gauge size, so they had to cut a LOT of strands out to get that thing to fit. This plus the previously mentioned reality of tiny cable loss in such a short length made the large gauge unnecessary. I'd also be concerned with the weight of a large cable pulling on the connection.

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Adding to what boseengineer wrote, I'd recommend using NL-4's instead of 2-pin NL-2, as this will allow you to easily rewire (Neutrik's Speakons have solderless screw-clamp terminals) a cable if you encounter a different pin configuration on either an amp or speaker cabinet...there's no standard wiring config.

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So it looks like I'm getting a new head that has speakon outs only. I'm looking into cables for it, but I couldn't find much info on these connectors. Basically I'm confused about the types and can't find any clear concise diagrams.

Stupid google just wants to sell me stuff. I'm not ready yet. I need to know more.

Anyone use these? Got any good links where I can read up?

Thanks.

 

Neutrik Speakons will accept standard 1/4 plugs as well, I believe. :idea:

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