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Rant.. Neutrik Connectors Without 1/4” Connectivity

#61
My favorite scenario for it being nice to have 1/4" as an option is when one of my tube heads - all of which require 1/4" - starts cutting out. If my micro-head backup can just accept the 1/4" plug I can swap that much faster without having to mess around with the cabling.

I think there's enough people out there like me who have a hodgepodge of connectors on their various amps cabs & cables, a little redundancy here & there can be a real courtesy.

... along with cable wrapping posts and: remember the 110V outlet?? Pretty much never see those things anymore, either. Sometimes you just got to get over it and get with the new program. :cool:

FWIW I always carry a compatible speaker cable with the amp, spares in my cable bag and at least one spare Speakon plug (which I can install on any cable in a few minutes).
 
#63
Nah, 1/4” connectors are excellent ... when properly spec’d and used.

I got started in electronic study as a hobbyist around 1962 with an Allied Knight Kit 100-in-1 experimenter kit. By 1964 or 1965 when I got into guitar and, soon enough, bass I wondered, even at 14 years old, whose dumb idea it was to use the same connector on one device (amplifier) for two such different signals!
 
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#64
Neutrik introduced the opticalCON Dragonfly connector. Camera manufactures are flocking to it, it is small. Perhaps the next standard for optical audio cables. A smaller sized mini-speakon would be a good idea, perhaps the standard speakon is too entrenched.

Unfortunately ¼” jacks can do what speakon’s can’t. They are used where switching shunts are required such as effect and preamp sends and returns. Some amps use shunt switching on the speaker out jacks. A better alternative is multiple jacks for each output transformer tap. But that takes up a lot of chassis space.
 
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#69
Jefenator said:
... along with cable wrapping posts and: remember the 110V outlet?? Pretty much never see those things anymore, either. Sometimes you just got to get over it and get with the new program. :cool:

FWIW I always carry a compatible speaker cable with the amp, spares in my cable bag and at least one spare Speakon plug (which I can install on any cable in a few minutes).
Click to expand...
1) Yes, the hard way. In the '70's, I had a gig where I had to use a PA head with the non-polarized plug. Between soundcheck and gig, someone tripped over the cord and "wanting to be helpful" plugged it back in without telling me. They reversed the plug and I got a nasty shock. Friends in the audience told me the house lights dimmed and could see the spark between the mike and my lips. Fortunately, I did not lose consciousness and knew exactly what was wrong: I flipped the plug and got on with the gig.

2) Yes, I'm the guy in the bands I have been in that has the tackle box full of adaptors, spares and tools. I see the benefits of SpeakOn; but I confess unlike the mains polarized plug and socket, I'm not quite into the 21st century with SpeakOn.

Epilogue: since the flipped plug incident, I carry my "$5 life insurance policy" plug-in polarity checker and insist on polarized plugs. Over the years I have had old tube amps that when I purchased them the first thing I did was have the cord upgraded to polarized 3-prong. Point of the digression: I'm getting there with SpeakOn plugs. My party band's PA is completely up to the new standards, even though I use 1/4 inch plugs on home and practice gear. Hey, don't look at the new cab I purchased as 1/4 inch; look at it as I did purchase a cab with a SpeakOn to use when the rest of the gear is upgraded!
 
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#70
trevcda said:
I'll bet some of you are old enough to remember when they used XLRs for speaker connectors. And no, the were not powered speakers! I think one of my first "real" sound systems in 80's had them. An old Community system, if I recall.
Click to expand...

My Trace Elliot V-Types have XLR speaker outs and they date from 1995-2000.
 
#71
Warpeg said:
Are there amps being produced that still have 1/4" speaker jacks?
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Yes! In fact many have both. Eden (except for their E-300 amp - 1/4" only) and DNA amps come with both Speakon and 1/4" jacks. So does Ampeg and Mark Bass. Doesn't look like Mesa does anymore or GK.

Seems to me someone had mentioned 400-watts as being the most you should ever hook up with 1/4" plugs. Anyone remember seeing that? Or any of our electronics whizzes verify the validity of that?

I'll tell you I feel much batter about the Speakon connectors going in and out of my DNA cabs than I do of the Banana plugs in the back of my 1999 Eden WT500/800 amp, especially since I run it bridged at 800-watts all the time. Shouldn't have the problem with shorts on banana plugs, but they are nowhere close to as secure of a connection as a speakon connector.
 
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#72
beans-on-toast said:
Neutrik introduced the opticalCON Dragonfly connector. Camera manufactures are flocking to it, it is small. Perhaps the next standard for optical audio cables. A smaller sized mini-speakon would be a good idea, perhaps the standard speakon is too entrenched.

Unfortunately ¼” jacks can do what speakon’s can’t. They are used where switching shunts are required such as effect and preamp sends and returns. Some amps use shunt switching on the speaker out jacks. A better alternative is multiple jacks for each output transformer tap. But that takes up a lot of chassis space.
Click to expand...

I prefer a separate tap switch myself.
 
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#75
anecdote time:

Took an Aguilar amp over to a fellow TBer's place to plug into some Fender cabinets, both of which have two 1/4" jacks.
I brought my own SpeakON to 1/4" speaker wire, but had to listen to why 1/4" jacks are "just as good" & SpeakON isn't necessary.

I smiled & laughed inside, but actually I was sad.
 
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#78
Killed_by_Death said:
anecdote time:

Took an Aguilar amp over to a fellow TBer's place to plug into some Fender cabinets, both of which have two 1/4" jacks.
I brought my own SpeakON to 1/4" speaker wire, but had to listen to why 1/4" jacks are "just as good" & SpeakON isn't necessary.

I smiled & laughed inside, but actually I was sad.
Click to expand...
We really need a 'laugh' emoji like FB. I would have made good use of it for this post. On-point, sir.
 
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