Live sound question apology, please forgive me!!!!

[rockironwebb]

It's me again. After a few post, man, many great responses, and a healthy dose of google I learned some great stuff. S I went down to my crappy basement/studio/practice space and took apart the shit speakers that I have been posting about (there is a photo in one of my post). Turns out that both the horn 15inch on both cabinets was wired completely ass backwards. + to -, - to +, and even - to - and + WTF? I ripped everything out including the 1/4in jack and re did everything. Well, wouldn't you know, made a huge f***ing difference. They are not super loud, but they will work fine until I get some more gear. (800watt AMP coming after I do some work for a guy)
SOOOOO,,,, I learned a very important lesson.

The next time I get a hold of used gear, I will do a better job of checking it out and making sure it is wired and set up correctly before I run off to some forum and asking for advice.
My apologies.
I did learn much useful information that I needed anyway.
Funny thing is, the guy I got this shit from was actually using it like it was.

 

[stevieb]

Reverse the + and - won't really matter if all the speakers are wired thusly, but it sounds like there was more than that going on. I was thinking those speakers were not really junk. Glad you found the problem. 800 watts should cover you well- you could still the old Peavey to drive the horns in a bi-amped setup.

 

[rockironwebb]

I'm thinking that whoever wired the speakers was drunk and in a hurry. Either that or a young child.

 

[Steenamaroo]

Like stevie says, If they were all wired in reverse, it wouldn't have made a difference.

The only time you'd have phase issues is if you have two speakers producing the same range of frequencies (or overlapping in frequencies) where one is wired +to- -to+ and the other is wired +to+ and -to-.

It does sound like there was more to it though.
If it works it works. Glad to hear it

 

[Armistice]

Does this mean that "Live Sound Question - The Sequel" has been canned?

Was looking forward to it...

 

[witzendoz]

The plus + Minus - thing is relevant if the speakers are wired + and the horn - However a trap for the unweary is that some of the old JBL speakers were coiled backwards so that the - is the plus on other brands, I even have had 2 speakers from the same maker marked different way round. A quick check is to touch a 9 volt battery across the connections and see which way the cone moves, in or out, then wire the speakers so that the cones move the same way, you can't do this on horns so you have to trust the markings.

I'm waiting for the smoke when the 800 watt amp hits those speakers, one thing I always remind people of is that the old amps had real watts, if it says 300 watts a channel that's what you got. New stuff never seems to be as punchy for the same rating.

One thing I laugh at is the car stereos that are rated at 1000 watts you would be lucky if it was 10 watts, I bought a little plastic stereo for the workshop and it had a sticker on it "300 watts" I chose that stereo coz it had that sticker, it was worth it for the when friends come round and saw the sticker.

Oh and I mean smoke, I was at a gig where a friend's PA (quite large one) was in use and one of the sub's actually caught fire when the voice coil got too hot, set fire to the cone and then set the cab on fire, everyone thought there was a smoke machine in there and it was part of the show.

Alan.

 

[rockironwebb]

Don't rule out several prequels.