I'm with @JimmyM on this... never had a problem in 50 years...
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Rant.. Neutrik Connectors Without 1/4” Connectivity
- Thread starter 57pbass
- Start date
I'm with @JimmyM on this... never had a problem in 50 years...
I think it's price, actually.
You don't see speaker cables smaller than 14GA with Speakons, most are 12GA. ProCo 12GA cables at 3, 10, 25 and 100 foot lengths cost exactly the same for 1/4 to 1/4, 1/4 to Speakon, Speakon to Speakon. But when you start looking at 1/4-1/4 cables, there are plenty of cheaper 16GA options. For short lengths, like the 3-6 footers used for heads and cabs, there's less need for 12GA. For the long runs used for PA cabs, the 12GA is the way to go and there is no price penalty.
I've sold my PA, but I had a mix of Speakon and 1/4" amps and cabs. That's becasue some was from the 1980s, some form the 1990s and the rst was 21st century. So I used 1/4-Speakon cables alongside 1/4-1/4 and a couple of 1/4-Speakon adapters. I had one amp that had one Speakon and one banana
for each channel, so to run two cabs off each channel I had some 1/4-banana adapters. I made sure I had enough spares so that I could always be able to connect everything together. All my bass heads are old and 1/4" only and I have two 21st century combos that use Speakons for extensions. I have one 1970s cab that is 1/4" only, two from the 1990s that have Speakon and 1/4" and one recent one that's Speakon only. So I have Speakon-1/4" adapters, a few short 12GA 1/4" cables and a few short 12GS Speakon cables.
No big deal for me.
Anyone know why Ampeg ships the PF500 and 800 with one of each? Puzzles me. B/c the PF cabs are 1/4". So either go all in or don't. I use a Speakon to 1/4" cable to go from amp to cab. But then when I run two cabs I still have to use a 1/4 to 1/4 cable to go from either amp to 2nd cab or cab to cab.
Probably due to cost and chassis size. Put one of each on, it looks better on the specs
too many moving parts with non-1/4" connections
had issues with cables and speakers with things getting stuck, unable to unscrew/screw.
quality name cables supplied with quality name cabs, no knockoffs
I wanna be able to just stick it in and get it on....ymmv
had issues with cables and speakers with things getting stuck, unable to unscrew/screw.
quality name cables supplied with quality name cabs, no knockoffs
I wanna be able to just stick it in and get it on....ymmv
I asked about this several years ago. I believe @agedhorse replied, but I don't remember what reasons he gave.Meanwhile I'm just sitting here wishing they would replace the IEC power connector with a powercon
I've been out of music for decades. Back in the '80's 1/4" jacks were what we had. Now, my new Genzler Magellan 800 ONLY has speakons. The BA12-3SLT cabinet has both. So, I spent a little money to get a nice speakon cable that will probably outlive me. When you can buy adapters for 1/4" plugs for around $10 I don't get why any of this gets people's knickers in a bunch.
Isn't whether we have a tort pick guard more important than whether we use speakons or not??? One would think that would be the case.
Isn't whether we have a tort pick guard more important than whether we use speakons or not??? One would think that would be the case.
Retrofit an NL4 socket in place of one of the 1/4" sockets. Wire what was the tip connection to the +1 terminal and what was the sleeve to -1 terminal. You'll need to bore a 15/16' hole for the socket. I bought my drill at Home Despot and it fits into a 1/2" chuck.
I know there are certain logistics that make it not practical as it pertains to electrical and safety regulations.
Look at all of the gnashing of teeth here over a speaker cable that's been on the market for 20 tears. Could you imagine all the complaining if they had to use a different power connector? In my world basically all of my Pro Audio and Lighting equipment uses either PowerCON or TrueCON for its power connection. It's generally the consumer grade stuff that uses something else.
And yet the matching PF amps have speakon outs in addition to 1/4". I should know, I had one for years.
PowerCON for line in power. Made by Neutrik. LED lighting and and flying powered speaker boxes use them. Much more reliable, they are not going to pull out when flown up 15ft.
A simple, reliable, twist click like Speakons.
A simple, reliable, twist click like Speakons.
SpeakON is the trademark for that family or line of connectors manufactured by Neutrik. If anybody else makes something similar it's not SpeakON. So far all the troubles of that kind that I've read about on TB have been with "SpeakON" knockoffs.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,075
- 5
- 221,163
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Actually, there have been plenty of problems with cheap 1/4" jacks and plugs too. Anybody remember the rivet coming loose on the tip, resulting in an intermittent plug and sometimes a short when the insulating sleeve failed? How about the tips that broke off inside the jacks and sometimes shorting the speaker outputs on an amp?
Cheap knock-off parts are just that, cheaply make and inferior to the real thing.
True enough. Like I said, I'll gladly use speakons for long runs to PA and monitors. And if I ran a backline company, I'd hook amps up with speakons. But the only problem I've ever had with 1/4" speaker cables is forgetting to hook them up entirely, and I never do anything dopey like leaving one half plugged in. So the only problem I ever have isn't going to get solved by speakons.
It's just the usual BS here.
Odd idea for a post and old guys that don't want to use a superior product because they don't need it or understand it. I never had an issue with 1/4" cables for signal or power but you don't have to be Einstein to appreciate the advantages and lower risk. And I had a TE too so I know oddball.
I can't think of one reason not to use them; it's just flat out better.
Same thing happened when fuel injection came out and the shade tree mechanic couldn't fix the problem any longer.
And we used Hubbel twist lock cables for AC power for our old recording truck; quality part and never had a failure
I kept thinking, these guys don't know about goofy standards until they've worked on an old Triumph bike and had to go find some Whitworth tools!!
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,075
- 5
- 221,163
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
There used to be issues with some countries not accepting the part even though it had most approvals that a "critical component" requires. There may still be some regions that will not accept it, or require additional testing and certification of the part before the completed product will be accepted. This is getting better but man does it take up a lot of our time.
While we all want to think that safety compliance is simple, in fact it's not at all. In addition to UL and CSA standards, we have the EU's CB Scheme for the CE mark, there's also a whole host of global national differences to the CB Scheme even for EU countries, there's Australia and NZ which have their C-Tick mark, there's China and their CCC mark, there's Japan, Germany's VDE and GS mark, there's Vietnam, S. Korea, S. Africa and about 30 others. At some point you have to pick your battles. I deal with this stuff all the time, I would rather stick hot pokers in my eyes, but it has to be done if you intend to follow the laws of those countries.
In the pro audio industry, there are some bigger players who can afford to make a product that conforms to the major standards, and if the other countries want it badly enough, exceptions will be made or conditional approvals and waivers will be granted. Eventually the standards will get closer to agreement, but until then we just have to deal with it.
Somebody asked why there are no accessory power receptacles on modern amps recently. The reason is that as soon as you add a receptacle, that section needs to be evaluated as a "power distribution" device which falls under a different standard. Testing to 2 different standards GREATLY increases the cost of certification, and may change how the product must be built (including overcurrent protection and switching)
Countries have their own standards such as UL and CSA that are recognized around the world. The IEC is pretty much global and made up of members that represent the interests of each country. Member groups cover most of the world. It's supposed to make things easier but conformance that satisfies everyone is far from easy. Some companies have compliance groups that do nothing but deal with regulations, regulators, and audits.
Member countries are shown in the map.
International Electrotechnical Commission - Wikipedia
Member countries are shown in the map.
International Electrotechnical Commission - Wikipedia
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