Subwoofers...

[alexperrins]

I apologise in advance if this is a dumb question.

I am planning to buy some active speakers as you may have guessed from looking at some of my posts. However, as I am starting from scratch I obviously need a back up system. At the moment I only have a bedroom setup (a pair of passive speakers, totalling 250 watts I think, used with a basic Warrior DA300 amp, which is nearly new), which is not brilliant but may come in useful somewhere.

My question is – if I were to buy a pair of active speakers and an active subwoofer (400w or similar), could I also pair the active subwoofer with the passive system to create a 650w setup which I could use in an emergency (providing of course the subwoofer doesn’t blow)? If so, would it be simple to do – are there any risks with compatibility?


Thanks

[abyssdjhire]

its all connectable. to be honest (knowing the speakers you are looking at), you wouldnt want to really run it all together... (edit - ie both sets of tops) it wouldnt necessarily make it sound better, more likely worse.

anyway, you'd basically go from the mixer to the subwoofer, then from the subwoofers crossover outputs into the amplifier, and then obviously from the amp into the passive speakers.

to be honest, you dont really NEED a full backup system... just means you have to carry more, which unless you have a reasonable sized fan, is just a pain in the arse! if the system is set up properly (any system, not just active) then its very unlikely you'll ever have a problem.

[alexperrins]

Bit of a ridiculous question, then! Another thing I was wondering –

Quite a few mixers have a booth output or a phono output as well as the main output, perhaps XLR/Speakon/similar etc. This booth output – is it suitable as another main output? I.e. Could you run any other speakers out of it apart from powered/active monitors for any sensible use?

[abyssdjhire]

if its an output, you can connect speakers to it :) the exception is record output, which is a bit different.

however, just how well you can connect them depends on the mixer. if its only an rca type output, then you'd have to have a conversion cable and make do with an unbalanced signal.

to be honest, you wouldnt really benefit from it at all! just connect them all in a chain :) i cant think of any use (other than monitors, which is what they're there for!) for a separate output for mobile stuff

[A1DL]

Bit of a ridiculous question, then! Another thing I was wondering –

Quite a few mixers have a booth output or a phono output as well as the main output, perhaps XLR/Speakon/similar etc. This booth output – is it suitable as another main output? I.e. Could you run any other speakers out of it apart from powered/active monitors for any sensible use?

The booth output is generally a line level output which can be used to feed another LMS, or direct into a power amplifier for separate zone control from the main FOH output

[Corabar Steve]

You may find your mic doesn't go through the booth output.

[abyssdjhire]

thats very true and often the case

[alexperrins]

Didn’t know that bout the mic. Never thought about until now!

[Corabar Steve]

Stops feedback through the booth monitor when you talk

[A1DL]

Some mixers (eg Denon) have a "Mic Post" button on the DJ MIC channel to select whether the DJ Mic signal goes through the monitors or not.

The CXM has separate gains for MICS and MUSIC on the main M2 output module and on the optional CZ1 3-zone add-in module, which is excellent - you can have a low MIC gain on the Monitors, Music & Mics at FOH, music only in zone/s, mics only in other zones (the latter has proved very useful for outdoor events)