newbie to speakon cable

[jjrho]

hi, reviewed some posts so, think i know what's going on but...

i bought some speakon cables from someone getting rid of his DJ stuff and for some odd reason, the speakons had -2 and +2 labeling/writing, with the other end being a 2 conductor 1/4" ...

i have qsc rmx and plx amps and was just trying to get the signals out to a pair of peavey 215s....

i think i need to rewire them both to be used as -1 and +1 so that i can plug each speakon into ch1 and ch2 speakon outputs to input of the speaker cabs....

the way it's set up now, i first of all can not use the ch2 output since it only uses -1 and +1, and if i plug it into ch1, i only get ch2 signal...

can anyone tell me why someone would need this cable configuration ? anyway... am i right above for what i want to do ?

jim R ( new to speakon cables....)

[Steve Conner]

Power amps with Speakon connectors come in two kinds. The first kind where the output of each channel goes to 1+ and 1- on a connector dedicated to that channel. The other kind have two output connectors wired identically. One channel goes to 1+ and 1- on both connectors, the other channel goes to 2+ and 2- on both connectors. To use this kind of amp in a stereo rig, you need two different speaker cables, one wired 1+/1-, the other wired 2+/2-.

Sounds like you have a mixture of the two, where one connector carries both channels. If you rewire both your cables to 1+/1-, it should be fine.

[jjrho]

hi steve, tnx for your reply.... i understand now more... i do need to rewire both of my 2-, 2+ wires to 1-,1+ so i can use one for ch1(right) output and the other one for ch2 (left) output...

still a bit confused on what i have...the 2-,2+ wire... it is still a 2 conductor wire then right? so, when i plug it into ch1 of the QSCs, it only puts out ch2 signal, and when i plug it into ch2, it actually doesn't do anything 'cause ch2 output on QSCs clearly says it outputs on 1-, 1+ wire...

for some reason, this guy i bought some stuff from had these 2-, 2+ wires..... ?!?

tnx,

jim

[g1]

when i plug it into ch1 of the QSCs, it only puts out ch2 signal, and when i plug it into ch2, it actually doesn't do anything 'cause ch2 output on QSCs clearly says it outputs on 1-, 1+ wire...

This sounds a little odd.
Just to be safe, could you list the exact model numbers of the rmx and plx amps?
Are any of the output connectors on the amp listed as "bridged" or "mono".

[g1]

This sounds a little odd.
Just to be safe, could you list the exact model numbers of the rmx and plx amps?
Are any of the output connectors on the amp listed as "bridged" or "mono".

Never mind, looks like you can run both channels out of the #1 connector if you want, but only ch.2 output from the ch.2 connector:http://media.qscaudio.com/images/hi_...02_back_hi.jpg

Like Steve said, wire both your cables up to use +1 and -1.
The person you got the cables from must have been using them with different equipment. Different manufacturers use various different configurations.

[Mark Black]

Speaker cabs from all the different manufacturers can have different wiring configurations. My guess is the +2/-2 cable was for use as an adapter, possibly to daisy-chain back out of a 1/4" parallel on a speaker box to another that used +2/-2 for the woofer.

QSC did that "both channels available on the Chan-1 Speakon" so people could use one 4-wire cable to power a box that used both +1/-1 and +2/-2 on a Speakon input for biamping or separately powering each speaker in a dual subwoofer.

As Steve has said you should change the errant cables to +1/-1 for your uses. Or better yet - abandon the 1/4" speaker box inputs and use Speakons if available. 1/4" plugs/jacks are acceptable for guitar amps and so forth but are really not up to the task when it comes to higher-powered applications like PA.

[eschertron]

IIRC the monitor wedges that I use have a selector switch on the side so that the 'out' speakon connector could pass though the signals for -1/+1 or for -2/+2. Or maybe swap them internally (1 for 2, not plus for minus!). Never used that feature because all my cables were 2-wire terminating to a 1/4" plug. And yes, they were all wired up to the -1/+1 terminals.

Maybe it's useful to note for the OP that to use both channels in the speakon device, a 4-conductor speaker cable (rare, that!) is needed.

[bkahuna]

a 4-conductor speaker cable (rare, that!) is needed.

Not really that rare. Lots of PA systems use the 4 conductor cable, running biamped, so you can run one cable to the speaker stack, plug it into the sub, and then use a short jumper from the sub to the top cabinet that picks off the correct set of pins to run the top.

[J M Fahey]

I also think the DJ had it wired that way fo some kind of biamping, to avoid blowing "smaller" cabinets with all too powerful Sub amps.

He *should* have told you so, or even better rewired the speakons himself, to the more popular connection.

*You* can ask here , the average user will be puzzled/pissed off at his "non working" cables.

[Enzo]

I had a store sell a powered mixer, the customer brought it back, one channel no output. Store brought to me for warranty. I found no problem. REturned to store, store to customer. Customer brings back again complaining of dead channel. Again, I get it and find no issues. Store retrieved the amp but not before I set it up and SHOWED them that the amp worked. Customer takes it and still dead channel. Wants money back. Store said OK, but bring in your speaker cables. Sure enough, one of his cables was wired for #2 pins. And didn't work in the amp jacks which were wired for #1.

So this is not the first nor last we will hear of this "problem."

[djreverse]

I'm needing help hooking up my QSCPLX3602 to (2)JBL JRX100 18's, and a Crown XLS1500 to (2) JBL JRX100 15'S, all while linking through the DBX Driverack PX. I have read about the PX alot and I know it's made for powered speakers but my speakers aren't powered. The guy at Sound Ideas told me that it would be fine, that the PX version will run either passive or powered. I have all Neutrik Speakon NL4FC wires. I don't know if I'm supposed to switch the wires to -2 +2 on speaker ends, whether or not to daisy chain my amplifiers or anything. My 3602 has filters and input configuration that I don't know which position would work best in my position, I don't want to hurt anything. Can someone please guide me to do this? It would be tremendous help.

[The Dude]

I answered in your other thread.