Setting up my party system finally.
Robust discussions with my significant other have meant a long delay and the house came first.
Since my first ask a few years ago I've been gifted a few extra bits and pieces and I'm wondering what combination to use.
Inputs are standard home Hi-Fi turntables and CD players.
I've got a couple of used Pro amps now, a Behringer CX 2-channel crossover and a couple of signal processors.
One is an Ultracurve Pro [ The older model DSP 8024] and the other is an UltraGraph Pro which I paid $20- for.
Am I right in thinking that the Ultracurve is a better unit but has a steep learning curve?
And I'm also assuming I use one or the other and not both daisychained. I have a couple of weeks until my birthday party and I'd like to have it set up ASAP
Robust discussions with my significant other have meant a long delay and the house came first.
Since my first ask a few years ago I've been gifted a few extra bits and pieces and I'm wondering what combination to use.
Inputs are standard home Hi-Fi turntables and CD players.
I've got a couple of used Pro amps now, a Behringer CX 2-channel crossover and a couple of signal processors.
One is an Ultracurve Pro [ The older model DSP 8024] and the other is an UltraGraph Pro which I paid $20- for.
Am I right in thinking that the Ultracurve is a better unit but has a steep learning curve?
And I'm also assuming I use one or the other and not both daisychained. I have a couple of weeks until my birthday party and I'd like to have it set up ASAP
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Another query. As this little rack tower makes everything so compact is getting new shorter cables a better idea than bunching up all the old 5 metre cables that came with the Pro amps I got?
One metre cables are cheap enough that I can afford to get a couple of sets.
These professional amps were bought to power the HT subs but SWMBO wasn't happy with the coloured flashing lights and the sound of the cooling fans so they went to shed and now that most of the house renovations are almost finished I have time to play and get the system up and running.
Using the old Roadkill subs plus the 18" I built last year as bass and a pair of old DIY as the tops.
Pictures tomorrow
One metre cables are cheap enough that I can afford to get a couple of sets.
These professional amps were bought to power the HT subs but SWMBO wasn't happy with the coloured flashing lights and the sound of the cooling fans so they went to shed and now that most of the house renovations are almost finished I have time to play and get the system up and running.
Using the old Roadkill subs plus the 18" I built last year as bass and a pair of old DIY as the tops.
Pictures tomorrow
Here's the pix of the rack
The little mixer isn't what I want but it's all I could find at short notice, my old mixer seems to have developed a terminal fault after 40 years. So no echo or anything ATM.
So top to bottom
Behringer Ultragraph Pro
Behringer Ultracurve Pro
B :: CX3400
Australian Monitor SY 800
Peavey PVi 2000
I just went out and bought 4 SpeakOn connectors and will wire up some HD cables soon
The amps can probable put out twice what the speakers can handle so I'll need to be careful. I think that the only short cables I need are from the Ultracurve to the crossover and I'm picking up a pair 500mm long tomorrow morning.
Never used SpeakON before so anything I should keep in mind?
Not sure what wire I'll be using yet; I usually use old power extension leads doubles on the return side but what I have are only 1.5mm>2 and the subs might be a good bit behind the tops, maybe by 4 to 6 metres
The little mixer isn't what I want but it's all I could find at short notice, my old mixer seems to have developed a terminal fault after 40 years. So no echo or anything ATM.
So top to bottom
Behringer Ultragraph Pro
Behringer Ultracurve Pro
B :: CX3400
Australian Monitor SY 800
Peavey PVi 2000
I just went out and bought 4 SpeakOn connectors and will wire up some HD cables soon
The amps can probable put out twice what the speakers can handle so I'll need to be careful. I think that the only short cables I need are from the Ultracurve to the crossover and I'm picking up a pair 500mm long tomorrow morning.
Never used SpeakON before so anything I should keep in mind?
Not sure what wire I'll be using yet; I usually use old power extension leads doubles on the return side but what I have are only 1.5mm>2 and the subs might be a good bit behind the tops, maybe by 4 to 6 metres
Attachments
Wow, I thought A CS800x was overkill for home use. I still have one but bought & re-e-capped a Peavey M-2600 which has 6"x9" heat sinks and no fan. I stumbled on Peavey at the musician's resale shop, after used dynaco equipment got too pricey and everything else was made in the orient. My first purchase was a pair of 1210 speakers. They sounded so good my local unemployed for cash housepainter carried them off 9/10 to the flea-market for me. Also the first CS800x, the one I repaired the switcher supply of.
My "signal processing" is a Peavey EQ-215 graphic equalizer. No passwords, no complicated lost manual.
If your "crossover" has a sub 40 hz 18 db/octave roll off, use it even it you do not use the subs. With a turntable, I ripped the ribbons off a woofer by walking across a wood floor with the needle on the record. This was with a 35 w/ch ST70 amp.
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And here was I thinking 25Hz was a bit high. but thanx I won't give the 30Hz band the +12dB I was thinking of then.
Very slightly tongue in cheek
Used pro gear became quite affordable [ never cheap] when people who had to lift and carry stuff started going digital amp. I can't actually remember what I paid for them; probably more than I told my wife tho; but they were the right cost at the time.
Now I might even recoup the cost of some of my old-school Hi-Fi gear to people who think nostalgia sounds better then new gear
600W per channel Bi-Amp Stereo might be overkill but lets see how it goes. I'll put the InKel on the local market place and see how I go, that's 200W per channel and even that was a bit much but WTH "Lets party"
Or maybe I should just build more and bigger speakers??
Very slightly tongue in cheek
Used pro gear became quite affordable [ never cheap] when people who had to lift and carry stuff started going digital amp. I can't actually remember what I paid for them; probably more than I told my wife tho; but they were the right cost at the time.
Now I might even recoup the cost of some of my old-school Hi-Fi gear to people who think nostalgia sounds better then new gear
600W per channel Bi-Amp Stereo might be overkill but lets see how it goes. I'll put the InKel on the local market place and see how I go, that's 200W per channel and even that was a bit much but WTH "Lets party"
Or maybe I should just build more and bigger speakers??
12ga (2mm) wire is plenty for upwards of 1000 audio watts. I used 4-core SOOW cable and speakons to build bi-amp cables for my 3-way passive PA rig.
SOOW cable is overkill and the sheathing barely fits in a standard Speakon connector... so don't go there if you don't have to, the stuff I have is 600v 14/4 I believe. Any decent sized electrical cord could be used as speaker cable... and don't worry about doubling up one of the conductors just use a pair. Voltage loss is a factor of both wire gauge and length so if they are relatively short a somewhat undersized cable is less of an issue. And yes with plenty of HP on tap loosing a few watts in the cable won't even be noticable.
It was one of the old school gurus here on the forum that recommended doubling up the return wires when using ordinary 3-core flex several decades ago and I've been doing it for yonks.
I guess it doesn't change much but I'll keep doing what I've been using. Consistency in what I do mainly.
Taking advice from Brett I am running the signal cables down one side and the power cables down the other so at the moment I'm looking for a vertical power strip that doesn't cost me a kidney
I guess it doesn't change much but I'll keep doing what I've been using. Consistency in what I do mainly.
Taking advice from Brett I am running the signal cables down one side and the power cables down the other so at the moment I'm looking for a vertical power strip that doesn't cost me a kidney
I think I've been sold copies of the Speakon connectors I just bought, Just double checking on the wiring of 2-pole connectors' Which connector terminal is the hot ?? These are not marked so I guess Chinese copies
My cables easily fit through the gasket but I'd not like to try and force 4 wire cable through
My cables easily fit through the gasket but I'd not like to try and force 4 wire cable through
Well the thing is audio is an AC signal so the current flows back and forth through both conductors, and having a wire that presents an unbalanced impedance for 1/2 of the phase of every cycle could potentially introduce unintended consequences. Or if the wire gauge is generally sufficient it may not make much difference good or bad. I don't know but this just seems like an unnecessary complication.
That seems to be good method to keep a rack tidy and organized... which is a good thing, but on the other hand I routinely run AC and signal(balanced XLR) cables right next to one another between a mixer and powered speakers with no issue, so like everything else your milage will vary.
So no numbers on the rear of the connector block? This is the Speakon pinout as viewed from the rear where the wires attach.
Just some pix of the home party set-up.
Mainly for interest and will be subject to change naturally.
I made the 18" last year and the other woofers are roadkill projects, had the Kicker 15 for decades but The Boss didn't want it in the house because it was too big, so I put it on wheels and the Alpine was found on the roadside and needed a minor repair to the tinsel lead. Running the 4R drivers in series as the 18 is an 8 R driver
The 600 litre box for the 18 is loud enough and deep enough on its own but I'm using the others because I have them
The tops are actually the very first pair of speakers I even built the year I joined the forum. Tandy 8" with 20 ounce magnets, 32mm voice coils and 6mm P-P excursion and an Fs of about 40Hz. I was lucky and got something right first time and been using them ever since.
Mainly for interest and will be subject to change naturally.
I made the 18" last year and the other woofers are roadkill projects, had the Kicker 15 for decades but The Boss didn't want it in the house because it was too big, so I put it on wheels and the Alpine was found on the roadside and needed a minor repair to the tinsel lead. Running the 4R drivers in series as the 18 is an 8 R driver
The 600 litre box for the 18 is loud enough and deep enough on its own but I'm using the others because I have them
The tops are actually the very first pair of speakers I even built the year I joined the forum. Tandy 8" with 20 ounce magnets, 32mm voice coils and 6mm P-P excursion and an Fs of about 40Hz. I was lucky and got something right first time and been using them ever since.
