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j-dub dub Unregistered guest | i know this post might belong in the home audio, but no one there seems to know much over there. i have 2 extra 12s and an extra box that i wanna hook up in my room. i know about all the troubles with car amps inside the house. i was wondering if a dj amplifier would be ok or not. i noticed most of them have rca inputs, but they have "banana plug" outputs. can i just connect regular speaker wire to these plugs or would i need something else to convert it? someone let me know if this would work or not. any help would be appreciated. thanks |
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Silver Member Username: FishyTamarac, FL USA Post Number: 503 Registered: Sep-04 | I'm not too familiar with "dj amplifiers" but if they're capable of driving a 4 ohm load(is that your subs' impedance?) you should be ok. What you're gonna have to worry about is a low pass filter. If you have a receiver/preamp with a built in crossover and sub outs then your cool. This is assuming you have a way to manually balance your bass output with the rest of your system. -Fishy |
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j-dub dub Unregistered guest | yeah the dj amps are usually stable down to 2 ohms. I was just wondering about the banana plug thing. can i just plug the speaker wire from the banana plug strait into the subs. oh and one more thing. the box is bandpass. do i need a subsonic filter and a low pass filter to keep it from playing to low and to high? i know ported boxes need a subsonic filter, but do bandpass boxes need it? |
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Silver Member Username: FishyTamarac, FL USA Post Number: 505 Registered: Sep-04 | I've never used a bandpass box, but from what I hear you may not need a low pass or subsonic filter. A low pass filter in combination with a subsonic(high pass) is basically just a bandpass filter itself and a bandpass box is basically just an acoustic bandpass filter so it should knock the lows and highs out automatically. Oughta see what Glass or Jonathan thinks just to be sure. -Fishy [note] as far as the banana plug deal goes, as long as you can get a good connection on both ends you should be good. |
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j-dub dub Unregistered guest | the only thing im not sure about is if the banana plug is the same as speaker wire. because im pretty sure (not 100%) that you cant plug speaker wire straight into rca outputs. but again im not sure. so if someone out there knows anything please help. |
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Silver Member Username: FishyTamarac, FL USA Post Number: 509 Registered: Sep-04 | Same thing, banana plugs are just another method of connecting speaker level outs and you COULD plug speaker wire into rca outputs, one lead in the middle and the other touching the outside. They just wouldn't stay in place nor provide much power(low voltage) and might fry something if connected to a low impedance load like a speaker. You could probably hook em to some headphones(higher impedance) no problem tho. -Fishy |
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j-dub dub Unregistered guest | i could have sworn that rca cables are "low level" and speaker wire is "high level." ive seen some converters for HU that dont have rca outputs. they take the normal speaker outputs and convert it into rca outputs with this converter thing. I wasnt just a splicer thing because it had capacitors and inductors and all those things inside of it. but then again i might be wrong. anyhow, i just dont know how the banana plug thing works. |
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Silver Member Username: FishyTamarac, FL USA Post Number: 527 Registered: Sep-04 | Yeah, RCA's are generally used in low level applications because that type of cable is shielded against noise which lower voltage signals are more susceptible to, but its still basically just a 2 wire conductor. That "converter" thing your talkin about is just a transformer which couples the hi voltage speaker level signal of say a stock h/u through one coil with a different size coil sittin right next to it(or actually in it). The magnetic field of one coil induces(why they call coils "inductors") current in the other. Because the second coil is a different size(has dif # of turns, less if I remember correctly) the voltage is less. Its why these line out converters are also known as "step down transformers". They basically lower the voltage while keeping the basic signal "shape" intact. If you're worried about using banana plugs with speaker wire read this: http://www.oregondv.com/Terminal_Cups.htm Those are typical terminal cups used in all kinds of speaker building applications and they accept BANANA plugs OR certain gauge wire. Banana plugs are simply connectors used on the ends of speaker wire like these: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=10569 45&sku=I339-1096 Just twist the ends of some speaker wire real tight, shove em into the banana plug receptacles on your DJ amp and tighten em down. You should be golden. -Fishy |
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j-dub dub Unregistered guest | thanks man i appreciate it. after reading that i remember learning bout step down transformers in physics class. anyway thanks for the help. |