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Speakon cable for bridged power amp
- Thread starter BigBobbyBass
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,963
- 5
- 220,648
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Yes, you need a SpeakOn cable wired specifically for bridging. The amp end is wired 1+/2+ and the speaker end is wired 1+/1-.
What speaker(s) are you using with this? You may find that you have more power than you can safely use, and impedance minimums are generally different for bridge mode operation.
What speaker(s) are you using with this? You may find that you have more power than you can safely use, and impedance minimums are generally different for bridge mode operation.
I'm good on ohms and wattage(barefaced 610 or BigTwin2).. so, I just go and buy a speakon cable made for bridging and I'm done?
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,963
- 5
- 220,648
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Yes. I don't believe you can use the two cabinets together in bridge mode though.
Consider getting an bridge mono adapter like this.
Bridged Mono Adapter NL4FX to NL4MX 12/2 6 inch
Wired 1+, 2+ at the amp end (Red) and 1+,1- at the speaker end (Blue).
-The red end goes to the bridged output of the amp.
-A regular speakON is plugged into the blue end.
You could also just grab a 4 pole neutrik end and wire it up yourself 
I have one I bought to use with the crown xls1500. It’s the same speaker cable wiring you need to bridge an ampeg SVT4 so when I looked for them online I just searched “ampeg SVT4 bridging cable”
This is a GREAT amp. Powerful, quiet, cheap, and it is clean. This is actually the amp that powers my HiFi, which sometimes doubles as an emergency PA.
The xls 1002 is 700 watts into 8 ohms bridged and 1100 watts into 4 ohms bridged.
It does 2 ohm loads ONLY in two channel mode (550 watts/ch).
There are level control(s) on the front too. Use wisely and make sure the combined impedance is OK for stereo or bridge mode. Good choice of amp. Cheers!
The xls 1002 is 700 watts into 8 ohms bridged and 1100 watts into 4 ohms bridged.
It does 2 ohm loads ONLY in two channel mode (550 watts/ch).
There are level control(s) on the front too. Use wisely and make sure the combined impedance is OK for stereo or bridge mode. Good choice of amp. Cheers!
Awesome thread as I was actually tempted by this very power amp, and was asking myself the same question about the bridged speakon cable!
Is it possible to do something wrong (fry the cab of the amp) when "making" this bridge cable?
Is it possible to do something wrong (fry the cab of the amp) when "making" this bridge cable?
Thanks for the verification! If one is feeling particularly tricky, skip the amp-end Speakon and install a REAN banana plug. You can "span" the center red binding post terminals for bridged applications and re-assign the same cable for the more conventional stereo or dual-mono requirements.
Riis
In bridge mode, make sure you have the speakon connector on the speaker cab end.
Do NOT use one of these in bridge mode:
Do NOT use one of these in bridge mode:
I agree! These cables can be dangerous for the amp!
Nor, never switch on the amp until you haven’t plugged the jack in the cab before. And do not remove it unless you haven't switched off the amp.
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Try and open the connectors and check how the wiring is inserted into the labelled terminals. All you need to do is move the -1 in the amp end to +2 as I recall. Leave the other end of the cable/connector untouched.
It is indeed exactly as easy as that. Just be sure to not leave any "whiskers" of wire touching other terminals -- Speakons have pretty good barriers between the terminals, so you'd have to be exceptionally sloppy to do that. It's screw terminals, but with a Posi-drive screw head -- you really need a #1 Posi-drive driver to get the screws torqued down properly. Don't confuse it with a Phillips-head fastener. And you should mark the "bridged" end well -- luckily, it just won't work if you plug it in reversed, rather than blowing something up. But still...mark it well.
Last edited:
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,963
- 5
- 220,648
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Never tin the wires with solder when using SpeakOn plugs.
So what should we tin them with? Sorry...just kidding. As you were.
Is it possible to do something nasty? Like frying the amp or the cab if you don't move the right wire to the right connector?
