Serious monitor problems

[Elmo89m]

So i finally got some monitors, passive behringer truths. Because i dont have a studio power amp i am just using a powered mixer (crate pa6fx). THe problem is the sound is terrible inconsistent, crackly, and it well just crap. I plug the delta 1010 rca outs into the behri ub mixer tape ins. then the behri ctrl room outs go to two ins on the pa6fx. the two outs on that go to the behri. but the outs on the pa6 are 1/4 inch. jack and the ins on the behri are raw wire. so i took the ends off of one side of each cable and put the tip wire to the positive and the other to the negative. Can someone please tell me why it sounds so terrible?

[DonF]

1. The inputs on the PA6FX are microphone inputs. It sounds like you may be overloading them with the mixer output. You might get better results using the tape inputs. Or at least keep the UB mixer's master fader waaaaaay low.

2. The PA6FX is mono. This in itself wouldn't make it sound "crackly", but you should be aware of it anyway.

Don

[TheDewd]

Crate + Behringer ? Man don't ask why it sounds like poo.

[DonF]

I don't think he expects it to sound good. But it shouldn't sound as bad as he described it, if he makes the right connections.

[Elmo89m]

well the mono im pretty sure shouldnt matter. because the ub mixer output is L and R (stereo). if they go to separate channels on the pa6fx it will still be in stereo because the pa6fx has a L and R output as well. So as long as they come in stereo they will stay stereo even if the pa6fx doesnt have a panner...i think.. I know behri crate wont sound good. but as donf said it shouldn't be crackly crap. could it possibly be the raw wire end. when i wiggle it the crackling happens more.

[DonF]

Originally Posted by Elmo89m

well the mono im pretty sure shouldnt matter. because the ub mixer output is L and R (stereo). if they go to separate channels on the pa6fx it will still be in stereo because the pa6fx has a L and R output as well.

If you really believe that, I don't think I can help you any more. Sorry.

(edit) The attached image is an excerpt from the PA6FX block diagram. It shows that the speaker outputs are powered from one amplifier channel.

[DonF]

Just out of curiosity ... what kind of cable are you using between the amp and the speakers?

[Elmo89m]

oh...i didn't know that i thought the pa6fax was stereo. I guess i figured two outputs would just be L and R. Just a standard speaker gauge cable.

[foreverain4]

it would be stereo if you went out of the "mixer L + R out" into another 2 channel power amp. the amp on your P mixer is only one channel. all that is neccessary for live shows...

[DonF]

Speaker wire is good. I just wanted to make sure you weren't using instrument cable.

Do the speaker inputs on the Behringer monitors have standard binding posts? The kind where you loosen the plastic nut, pass the wire through a hole in the post, and tighten the nut? If so, are the nuts reasonably tight? (I'm trying to figure out why the crackle happens when you move the speaker wire.)

I still think that going from the UB mixer outputs to the PA6FX microphone inputs is wrong, and will cause distortion whenever the signal gets above a certain (pretty low) level. The AUX in or TAPE in would work better.