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Connecting a stereo power amp

ped

ped

User
Commercial User
Aug 30, 2006
1,208
1,315
York, England
www.basschat.co.uk
#1
Hi guys,

Just picked up a 1u digital power amp (400w a side) from ebay. There isn't a manual though so I wondered if anyone could tell me:

If I want to hook the amp up in stereo then I use both speakons, one into each cab... if I want to use one cab, do I just use one speakon and leave the other unused? Is that safe? There isn't a switch to bridge the power to one side or anything.

Cheers
ped
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#2
What brand is it? I have been unable to find any info on the web.

I presume you have a preamp, right? You won't get any volume just plugging a bass into a power amp.


Do NOT hook this up without understanding how it works.

a. It may not be OK to hook only one channel to a speaker.

b. You may need to adjust gain (What is that black thing on the panel? A display with buttons?)
 
#3
Yes I have a preamp :0)

The bit on the right is the two volume controls for channels L and R

I can't find anything on the web about it (believe it is by 'Starsound') but have emailed the seller who used it for a ling time for driving some horns or something so expect to hear back soon...

I have been using IEMs for so long now I forgot how annoying amplifiers are!!

Cheers
ped

P.s I will be using this in stereo all the time but a friend wants to try it at the weekend and we only have one speakon cable(!) and I don't have the cabs yet.
 
#8
ped said:
Hi guys,

If I want to hook the amp up in stereo then I use both speakons, one into each cab... if I want to use one cab, do I just use one speakon and leave the other unused? Is that safe? There isn't a switch to bridge the power to one side or anything.

Cheers
ped
Click to expand...

Cable to 1 side input from the pre, use the same side out to 1 cab. Jump from the input side out, to the other side Input with a short XLR jumper and from that speakon output to the other cab for parallel mono.

In this case as the amp is kind of an unknown quantity - If it were me, I'd hook it up with 1 side. TUen the pre-amp on, then the power amp and bring the preamp volume up slowly ...

Then I'd shut the whole thing down, jump the channels together, add the other speaker cable and turn on the pre, then the power amp. ... and bring the volume up slowly ...

You're unlikely to fry anything that way ...
 
#9
Well I don't have any at the moment (not really in any rush to get the rig sorted) but my friend has several. I am on the hunt for a couple of cheapish and lightish cabs at the moment. The rig will mainly be for lowish volume teaching and messing about duties since I use the IEMs all the time otherwise.

Cheers
ped
 
#10
4Mal said:
Cable to 1 side input from the pre, use the same side out to 1 cab. Jump from the input side out, to the other side Input with a short XLR jumper and from that speakon output to the other cab for parallel mono.

In this case as the amp is kind of an unknown quantity - If it were me, I'd hook it up with 1 side. TUen the pre-amp on, then the power amp and bring the preamp volume up slowly ...

Then I'd shut the whole thing down, jump the channels together, add the other speaker cable and turn on the pre, then the power amp. ... and bring the volume up slowly ...

You're unlikely to fry anything that way ...
Click to expand...

Thanks - my preamp is a stereo Vbass unit so will have a proper read of your directions in the morning when I can focus. To be honest, if there is any risk at all I will probably just get another speakon lead and do it in stereo as intended.

Cheers
ped
 
#11
Repeat. There is no risk - unless this "no name" is so poorly designed that other problems will manifest as well regardless of whether two speakons are connected or not. Many's the time I have run only one side of a power amp, or even had it turned on with gains part way up and no speaker cables connected to either side. And this is with megawatt+ amps.

As far as V-Bass: XLR from each V-Bass output to each power amp input, and make sure the switch by the V-Bass XLRs is set for what you intend... Personally I find that the low frequency cancellations from running in true stereo are problematic enough that the issue outweighs the benefit of any stereo imaging. Only if you have a stereo crossover with mono-summed subwoofer output can you escape this speaker-positional cancellation and still enjoy a stereo image if the signal has low frequency content.
 
#15
Enjoy, and best of luck, ped!

...Recently tweaked a couple of my oldest V-Bass patches, ones that I still felt had a way to go before perfection. But using my ear for what I felt was still "off" and several other programming tricks I've mastered since I first made them, I gotta say, AWWWRIGHTYYYYYY!!! ; }
 

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