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XLR wall inputs/outputs

bigboy_78

bigboy_78

Jun 1, 2011
1,362
2,089
Coraki, Australia
#1
I’m finally setting up my ManCave/rehearsal room.
I’ve having speakers mounted on the wall, but don’t want cables running everywhere.
Having an xlr input in wall near the mixer and out near the speakers seems simple enough, but I also want one down low on the wall for the sub. This would need to be a “trough” connection when the sub isn’t being used. The crossover is in the sub, so I want to come out of the wall into the sub then out of the sub and to the top speakers through a wall socket. I’d only have the sub plugged in occasionally for parties.
Is this simple enough to wire up? Explain it to me like I am five.
 
#3
WayneP said:
What do you mean by “trough?” Recessed?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
Pedulla Club #45
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I mean I want signal to just run through it when nothing is plugged.

there’ll be 3 points in the wall.
1. In from the mixer
2. Out to the sub, in from the sub
3. Out to the tops

when the sub isn’t plugged in, I want the signal to by-bass the second wall point
 
#4
I don’t see how this can be done with XLR connections. However, it could be done with TRS jacks such as the Switchcraft 14b.

As you can see from the picture, this jack has extra tabs called “shunts” that make a closed circuit with the regular tip and sleeve connections. When a TRS plug is inserted, it separates the shunts from the tip / ring and the circuit is opened.

I used a pair of these jacks for the back panel of my bass rack, seen in the picture below. The signal from my pre-amp goes to the jacks labeled “Line Out.” The signal from the “Amp In” jack goes to the amplifier inputs.

I tied the shunt connections between the “Line Out” and “Amp In” jacks with short jumper wiring. Thus, with nothing plugged into the back panel, the signal goes straight through between the pre-amp and amp. With regular TRS jacks, it would require a jumper cable between the jacks to accomplish this.

However, when a plug is inserted into one of the jacks it breaks the circuit, and I then have access to either the pre-amp outputs (like if I wanted to use an outboard amp), or the amp inputs (if I wanted to power an independent monitor feed from another instrument).


p1010178 reduced.jpg

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You could install an in-wall panel wired as described above, labeled say, “To Sub” and “From Sub.” As long as nothing was plugged into it, the signal from your mixer would pass straight through to the tops. If you wanted to use the sub, you would patch it to the appropriate jacks, and you’d have the sub with its crossover in place.

Obviously XLRs can’t do this because there is no physical movement associated with their connections. If you’re intent on staying with XLRs, there would have to be a jumper cable between the jacks when the sub isn’t used.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
Pedulla Club #45

 
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#7
Cable run inside walls should be rated as such. Typically installation-grade wiring is used. My understanding is that it has something to do with fire ratings, and most building codes require it.

Likewise with power cables. A device like this should be used, so that in-wall cable is standard Romex.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
Pedulla Club #45
 
#8
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#10
Powered speakers. My sparky is wiring power points near the speakers. My idea was to run the mic cable that usually goes from mixer to speakers in the wall instead of along the wall. Seems simple enough. Even easier if the XLR sockets have screw in connections for the wire like the power points do.
 
#13
Yes you should do this. Can you solder?

Get XLR flush plates in the right genders and some 22 gauge 1 pair shielded FT4 cable. Run the cable at least an inch away from power conductors and you’ll be fine.

For the sub bypass, just install a male out and female in. When you’re not using the sub, plug in a short XLR cord between the two.
 
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#16
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#17
If you are using powered speakers then the sub should have an internal crossover. Just parallel the XLR jacks at the floor and up on the wall and plug in the subs as needed. You can get panel mount XLR connectors with screw terminals if you can’t solder well. You can also get pass thru XLR connector. Check out www.Redco.com -or- www.partsexpress.com they have panels and connectors of all types. I’ve been known to make up a panel from time to time and these are my go to sources for parts.

One more side note about XLR connectors.
Pin #1 is shield or ground
2 and 3 are balanced signal. As long as all the #2 are same color wire and all the #3 are same color wire. You are set to go.
 
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#18
make sure you leave slack in the wall for your XLR wires. its a hell of alot easier to solder plugs when you have a couple of feet to pull out rather than a few inches. very common mistake that makes it a whole lot harder.
the other thing you could do is drive the sub with an aux from your mixer and eliminate the need to drive your tops from your sub feed. you would however need more than one home run from mixer to wall plates. just a thought.
 
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#19
Most powered tops have two channels, so you could wire one channel to come in from the sub, and the other channel to come in straight from the mixer. Use your mixer to control which channel to send signal on (or even a DJ style crossover fader). You might get odd results if you feed both channels at the same time, though.
 
#20
Powered speaker systems as a general rule are designed to be basically idiot proof. Sorry if that offends anyone, but it’s true.

Basically you parallel everything, daisy chain from one to the next, all the required processing is in each speaker. So just parallel them and move on.

The one exception to this rule is if you have the speakers in multiple locations the require some sort of time alignment, and sometimes this can be done with the speaker’s internal processing, other times it may require that a group of speakers is feed from a second output from the source with a delay built into the output.

Many powered speakers do have multiple inputs, this has a specific purpose. The reason for this is convenience. In some applications where you have an extremely simple set up this is to eliminate the need for an external mixer.

EX: Single speaker set up- input 1= mic, input 2= playback device or single instrument input. Another option would be simple 2 mic inputs. They are not designed to take 2 inputs from 2 different outputs of the same mixer.

It’s a really simple concept, don’t over complicate it. :thumbsup:
 
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