Amplified signal over XLR?

[BenjaminD]

Can an 3 pin XLR cable safely carry the output signal of an amplifier to a moniter speaker? I seem to have all the adapters necessary in my highschool auditorium, but nobody knows anything about how to power moniter speakers. Last concert I added a mixer/amp combo on stage to run them, but there has to be a better way.


Thanks!

[Footer]

Originally Posted by BenjaminD

Can an 3 pin XLR cable safely carry the output signal of an amplifier to a moniter speaker? I seem to have all the adapters necessary in my highschool auditorium, but nobody knows anything about how to power moniter speakers. Last concert I added a mixer/amp combo on stage to run them, but there has to be a better way.


Thanks!

ya the better way is to use cable capable of carrying an amplified signal... most mic cable is 22 to 20 guage, and this will simply burn up with a load going accross it. For speaker cable you need at LEAST 16 guage for smaller outputs and i would sugest 10 to 12 guage for average use

[cutlunch]

To connect to a speaker you need to use a heavier cable then you use for a microphone lead or in mutliway cables unless specifacly stated. Before speakon connectors midrange gear used XLR connectors with heavy duty cables.

If you don't want the monitor mixer at the stage you can put it with FOH mixer.
You keep the monitor amplifier backstage to drive the monitors.

If you have a multiway ( audio snake ) cable coming from the stage for your microphones it should hopefully have some return line ( short for return signal to stage). If you do they will either have some jack plugs or XLR plugs. If it is XLR's they will have the opposite sex to the XLR's the microphones plug into.

If you have return lines then all you do is send the signal from the monitor mixer down one or more return lines (depends on how many monitor channels you need eg if the amplifier is stereo you could run two separate mixes).

That is that. Even if you don't have return lines but you have spare channels on your multiway then using adapters ( gender changers) you can still achieve the same thing.

The only way to have the monitor amplifier at the FOH mixing position is if you run speaker rated cable to the stage. The longer the run the more signal power you loose.

Feel free to ask more questions if I haven't made it clear enough.

[BenjaminD]

Thank you, this answers my question perfectly. I will run a line-level send from the mixer through the return lines (There are 4 in snake), and put a moniter amp onstage when it's needed (and pray nobody steals it, since few of the auditorium locks work!).

Thanks again,

Ben

[cutlunch]

Originally Posted by BenjaminD

Thank you, this answers my question perfectly. I will run a line-level send from the mixer through the return lines (There are 4 in snake), and put a moniter amp onstage when it's needed (and pray nobody steals it, since few of the auditorium locks work!).

Thanks again,

Ben

Glad to help. If you are worried about getting it stolen you might be able to get a cabinet made up for it. So long as it has adequate ventilation and cable holes you could leave it setup and just turn it off when not needed.

Or even get a simple rack frame made and use Hex nut bolts so people need the right tool to steal it.

[Chris15]

Originally Posted by cutlunch

Glad to help. If you are worried about getting it stolen you might be able to get a cabinet made up for it. So long as it has adequate ventilation and cable holes you could leave it setup and just turn it off when not needed.

Or even get a simple rack frame made and use Hex nut bolts so people need the right tool to steal it.

Or if that idea is not the most practical, you could build a sleeve for the amp (basically a cover that covers the top, bottom and 2 sides but leaves the front & back open to air) and remove the amp when not needed.

[BenjaminD]

The cabinet idea would work if I bolted the cabinet to the wall and designed it without any screws on the outside... The rack idea probably wouldn't work too well, somebody'd just take the entire rack! (It's not students I'm worried about so much as my school's head(s) of technology. They seem to think that anything electronic in the school belongs to them!)

It might be easier just to carry the darned thing down from the booth, in which case the sleeve idea would be excellent.

Thanks!

[Chris15]

Originally Posted by BenjaminD

The cabinet idea would work if I bolted the cabinet to the wall and designed it without any screws on the outside... The rack idea probably wouldn't work too well, somebody'd just take the entire rack! (It's not students I'm worried about so much as my school's head(s) of technology. They seem to think that anything electronic in the school belongs to them!)

It might be easier just to carry the darned thing down from the booth, in which case the sleeve idea would be excellent.

Thanks!

Dependant on your space, you might find that putting wheels on the sleeve has its advantages. Otherwise, you could get decent gauge wire to run the speakers and cable tie it to your snake.