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Why are speakons so difficult? (Need help)!

B

Bass_masta16

Jul 9, 2008
1,084
3
32
Wellington, Ontario, Canada
#1
Ok, so I recently just got a Hartke LH1000 and an SVT-410HE, and I wanted to get a speakon (bridged) and then I heard this stuff about how they have to be +/- or something stupid like that.

Well, when I first got a speakon (it was just a rental until my actual one came in), after much researching, I discovered that if it has 4 wires, then it will be fine, and thats what it had.

But, now that my new speakon has arrived, I opened it up and it only has 2 wires.. And now this is what I need help with..

The only thing it says on the ends are this..

NEUTRIK
NL2FC
LIECHTENSTEIN
+1

It says that on BOTH sides..

So, will this speakon work with my head/cab?

Thanks
 
#4
Get a 4 wire cable to be sure.
There appears to be a graphic on the back of the head with the speakon wire layout. No problem.

But they don't specify which terminals are actually being used.
Like stumbo said, call em'... good luck getting someone to give you an informed answer.

It MAY be possible to use a 2 wire cable (with the wiring on the amp end speakon changed) but you can't be sure when they don't list it in the manual. :rollno: I'm definitely not going to suggest it.
 
#5
Most bass amps and cabs need just a two wire connection. The rare case that needs a 4 wire would be a bi-amp setup like the GK heads like the 1001, with the GK cabs that are also bi-amp'ed. The second pair of wires is for the tweeter, which is powered by a separate smaller amp inside the amp head. For the GK series, the amp and cab are both wired with the 2-pair speakon connectors. I don't think the SVT amp or Hartke cabs are bi-amped, so you should be safe with the cable you got. Even if they are set up for bi-amp, using the 2-wire cable simply leaves the smaller tweeter connection open.
 
#9
Stumbo said:
The Ampeg manual has a diagram for making a Speakon to 1/4 adapter. It shows the Speakon with +1 and +1 connected to a 1/4 plug. http://www.ampeg.com/pdf/SVT410HE.pdf

Maybe some of the Ampeg experts will chime in later/tomorrow.
Click to expand...

That's standard wiring.

What we need, since Hartke doesn't see fit to publish proper info, is a schematic for the LH1000. What Munji says is correct, and if it was mine, that's exactly what I'd do to test, but I'm not prepared to recommend it to someone that obviously doesn't understand this stuff.
 
#10
Looking at the manual for the LH1000, looks like the speakon connector is ONLY for bridged mode, and sure looks like a regular 2-wire speakon cable is all that is needed. There is a switch back there that chooses between the speakon for bridged mode, or the 2 1/4" outputs for dual parallel mode.

Invalid Link Removed
 
#11
It should be 1+/2+ at the Amp end and 1+/1- at the Cab end.

You do not need a 4 wire cable to do this you need the Amp end to be a 4 wire connector with a two wire cable. A 4 wire cable though can be made to work would need to be rewired as well.

It's real simple. You just open one end of the cable and move one wire from 1- to 2+ then plug that end into the Amp.

This is the standard wiring for Bridged connection.

Here is how you can tell if your amp uses this Bridged Speakon wiring or not.

If you look at the Speakon Jacks on the Amp, one will be marked 1+/1- 2+/2-. If one of the Jacks show both one and two then it can be wired bridged. If it is only marked 1+/1- then this jack only has outputs for one amp in it.

Once you get the hang of it, it will be easy.

If you rewire your cable be sure to mark the rewired end, for if you flip it the cable will not work.
 
#12
fretster said:
Looking at the manual for the LH1000, looks like the speakon connector is ONLY for bridged mode, and sure looks like a regular 2-wire speakon cable is all that is needed. There is a switch back there that chooses between the speakon for bridged mode, or the 2 1/4" outputs for dual parallel mode.

Invalid Link Removed
Click to expand...

Right, and 2 wires should be fine... but I'm just not positive on the relation of the terminals between a NL2FC (which he has) and a NL4FC which is the graphic next to the jack.
 
#13
I looked at the link and according to the graphic on the back all four wires are present in the speakon.

You could use that Jack for both sides or Bridged.

You simply need 1+2+
 
#15
The manual says, Pg 12, "... set the bridge mode switch to bridge and use a standard speakon cable."

So, standards being easily mis-interpreted, are they talking about a standard vanilla 2-wire speakon cable, or a standard bridged 2-wire speakon cable like Red Planet describes?

I would bet a pitcher of beer that a regular old vanilla speakon cable will work, and that the internal wiring in the amp routes the +2 power of the second amp inverted to the "-1" of the speakon connector. But, it would be hard to tell by ear whether you are getting the full bridged output or just one side.
 
#16
Speakon's are actually crazy-simple......

If everyone would use the STANDARD wiring that Neutrik suggests, which is 1+ - 2+ for bridge mono, then life would be simple.*

I zoomed in on the panel image, and it APPEARS that Hartke MAY use the standard, which means you would connect to 1+ and 2+ to get mono, so long as you switch the unit to mono on the back.

Editing....... the connections are not clearly described.......They have shown the pins darker for 1+ and 1-, so that COULD be the only ones they use....... In which case you are fine with your plug, which sounds like a 2 pole type.

I can't be sure of that, but it LOOKS possible. it would have been better if they had shown ONLY the ones you actually use.

If you get a "4 pole" plug for the amp end you should be ready for any connection.

On the speaker end, you can choose 1/4" or Speakon, just as you choose. The Speakon jacks for the speaker are wired + to 1+, - to 1-.
 
#18
fretster said:
The manual says, Pg 12, "... set the bridge mode switch to bridge and use a standard speakon cable."

So, standards being easily mis-interpreted, are they talking about a standard vanilla 2-wire speakon cable, or a standard bridged 2-wire speakon cable like Red Planet describes?

I would bet a pitcher of beer that a regular old vanilla speakon cable will work, and that the internal wiring in the amp routes the +2 power of the second amp inverted to the "-1" of the speakon connector. But, it would be hard to tell by ear whether you are getting the full bridged output or just one side.
Click to expand...

If that's the case, a standard, off-the-shelf, 2-wire Speakon should do the trick. My WT-800B has a separate bridged output that takes a standard Speakon connector.
 
#19
Red Planet said:
Here is how you can tell if your amp uses this Bridged Speakon wiring or not.

If you look at the Speakon Jacks on the Amp, one will be marked 1+/1- 2+/2-. If one of the Jacks show both one and two then it can be wired bridged. If it is only marked 1+/1- then this jack only has outputs for one amp in it.
Click to expand...
The diagram in the amp manual shows the speakon graphic, and seems to show that the 1+/1- are used, and the 2+/2- are not. This is clearly indicated by a dark circle inside the 1+ and 1-, and no circle on the 2's. Must be written somewhere that no circle means no connection, right? :rollno:
 

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