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Speakon Vs 1/4 inch

#41
jaywa said:
Understood... all I'm saying is that it didn't seem like a very customer-friendly approach to put out a head that only had Speakons when there are still oodles of guys out there playing 1/4-inch cabs who would then have to invest additional in a converter cable or whatever. Seems to me when you are in a transition period between standards, the manufacturers should support both standards for a certain amount of time and to me it just felt like GB had jumped the gun a bit in phasing out any sort of accommodation for 1/4-inch.
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Sorry, it's still not making sense. Are you saying that the amp should've come with a cable so that the buyer wouldn't have to "invest" in one? How would the manufacturer know what kind of connector to put on the other end, or how long to make it? Even if the amp had a 1/4" output jack, you would still have to "invest" in a cable to connect it to the loudspeaker. But come on, it's a speaker cable. It's not an "investment" any more than buying an AC outlet strip is.
 
#42
Bob Lee (QSC) said:
Sorry, it's still not making sense. Are you saying that the amp should've come with a cable so that the buyer wouldn't have to "invest" in one? How would the manufacturer know what kind of connector to put on the other end, or how long to make it? Even if the amp had a 1/4" output jack, you would still have to "invest" in a cable to connect it to the loudspeaker. But come on, it's a speaker cable. It's not an "investment" any more than buying an AC outlet strip is.
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No, I'm saying why couldn't GB have 1/4-inch outputs on their heads along with the Speakons? Same question (but in reverse of course), could be asked of Hartke for only having 1/4-inch inputs on their cabs when they could/should have Speakons as well. Meet the customers where they are at, not where you think they are (are should be). That's all.
 
#43
JustDavid said:
Man, word I heard was NOTHING melted the ice in Winnipeg!! ;)

You are right; hot is the problem. But warm is on the way there. Heat is wasted signal & accelerates corrosion, which increases resistance, which increases heat, which . . .

Like 1/4s, not all bananas are equal. Grabbed some in a rush from a music store once; before that I wouldn't have even known what you meant. They were crap. Before the next gig I replaced them with quality ones from an electronics store.
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true,but heat will always be there until we discover another way to move electrons.........

it appears that speakon will be the future speaker connector,instrument wise,except for the diehards and 1/4 will be around for a long time......upscale stereo guys spend tons on connectors,and banana seems to be the thing for mid fi/home theater.....bananas are a lo cost option when you need a bunch
 
#44
jaywa said:
No, I'm saying why couldn't GB have 1/4-inch outputs on their heads along with the Speakons? Same question (but in reverse of course), could be asked of Hartke for only having 1/4-inch inputs on their cabs when they could/should have Speakons as well. Meet the customers where they are at, not where you think they are (are should be). That's all.
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it was inevitable that some company was going to leap onto the speakon only bandwagon.......i bet some of the cable companies are all set to market 1/4-speakon hybrids if they arent already
 
#45
jaywa said:
No, I'm saying why couldn't GB have 1/4-inch outputs on their heads along with the Speakons? Same question (but in reverse of course), could be asked of Hartke for only having 1/4-inch inputs on their cabs when they could/should have Speakons as well. Meet the customers where they are at, not where you think they are (are should be). That's all.
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I would assume that GB wants a reliable and durable output connector, and that heavily favors Speakon over 1/4". That's customer-friendly.

I don't understand what you mean by "where they are at." One way or another, you're going to "invest" in a cable to get the signal from the amp to the loudspeaker.
 
#47
Jim Campbell said:
it was inevitable that some company was going to leap onto the speakon only bandwagon.......i bet some of the cable companies are all set to market 1/4-speakon hybrids if they arent already
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I would expect such cables are out in the market already. Our church has one, but I'm not sure if it was on off-the-rack purchase or something one of the techs at the local music shop had to build for us.
 
#50
jaywa said:
That all being said, it was just a temporary annoyance and a surprise based on what I had known and assumed about GB to that point. It certainly will not cause me to rule out GB as a potential personal purchase down the line, even though my own cab is an early 90s Hartke XL.
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It makes very good sense from GB's standpoint: They sell the same amp in multiple markets. One very big market has laws (or will have laws very soon) - the EU - against the 1/4" standard. It makes perfect sense to embrace the rapidly emerging standard.

It's fairly easy to switch a cab over to Speakon. I'm also planning on switching my old AMP BH-420 over so it has one of each jacks or perhaps both Speakon. Unfortunately that requires a bit of metal work so it's a less compelling project.

I've still got an old Traynor tube amp which will remain 1/4" and the two cabs I use with it will remain 1/4". All of the things that I use with solid state amps will be Speakon (or a combination). The reason I'm leaping all the way is so I can carry one type of cable with me and never have to slap my forehead when I've got the wrong type of cable or my Speakon-1/4" adapter plug fell out of my gig bag without me noticing. It's time to make the switch.

KO
 
#52
kraigo said:
It's fairly easy to switch a cab over to Speakon. I'm also planning on switching my old AMP BH-420 over so it has one of each jacks. Unfortunately that requires a bit of metal work so it's a less compelling project.
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I was thinking about that with my "vintage" Hartke cab... but since the jacks are recessed into the cabinet and at a downward angle besides, I think it would be a lot easier to just go with a hybrid cord.
 
#55
I view reducing resistive heat as a goal. Those #2 cables you referred to wanted upsizing, to my view.

Well, the EU's banning of 1/4 speaker connectors will likely drive the market towards Speakons. & bananas are going away in favour of Speakons in Pro Sound. I've no idea about home or low-level DJ stuff.

The lowest cost option, & a very good one especially for Installs, uses the 'banana' jack which is actually a 5-way binding post. Unscrew the 'jacks', & stick a bare wire through the hole you see, & tighten it up.
 
#59
JustDavid said:
I share your opinion on connector quality, but he's talking about backward compatability (being able to unplug the speaker from 'old amp' & plug that into 'new amp') & he does have a point.
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But is the issue the backward compatibility of the speaker cable? That's like choosing your new shoes based on whether you can use the same shoelaces as your old shoes had.

IMHO, the real issue is that we haven't sufficiently demystified speaker cables.
 
#60
kalipigeon said:
Isn't this why you're supposed to put amps on standby when plugging/unplugging basses, and only plug in speaker cabinets when the thing is off entirely? Why would you want to plug a cabinet into an active circuit with 500w or so of amplifier putting voltage out - do you hate your poor, unsuspecting speakers?
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The more "idiot proof" equipment is the more likely it will survive long term. I have no shame, I want my equipment to be idiot proof. Its true that one should not connect a speaker with an amp on, but do you want to count on that happening all the time? I mean, maybe somebody else will see that an unused speaker out that is available on your amp, see a spare cabinet and say "hey, why don't I do Mr. Bassist a favor and give him more power?" Pfffft you're precious amp is fried

Even the banana jack can be connected backwards by someone who isn't paying attention


This is one of the factors that endears me to the Speakon. IMHO it is a superior design
 

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