Hi,

I have just joined a new band and we are looking at pooling the PA gear we have.

I need a bit of advice about hooking it up safely, as I am no PA wizard - hearing the word "impedance" makes me go all weak and wobbly. So I need some advice in English (ie. without too many Ohms in there) please. LOL

At our dispoal, we have a couple of Mackie powered 1801 bass bins and if possible, I want to link them up with my old Peavey Hysis IIs (15 inch drivers plus horn passive beasties).

I have a separate power amp, which is a Peavey 2600 (1100w I believe) but would, ideally, just like to drive the Peaveys from the powered subs to avoid carrying about the power amp (which weighs a ton).

Are these beasties compatible and if so what's the best way to hook them up?

Thanks

WAL

The Mackies provide an output for full-range speakers, but it hasn't got a power amp behind it! So you'll have to go mixer > Mackie > power amp > Peavey. You'll be delighted to learn that ohms are not an issue here :-)

But, if you're frightened by the word "impedance", are you sure you're the right band member to be touching the PA?

The Mackies don't appear to have an output for passive speakers, so your options are:

a)
Use the Amp with the peaveys in this config:
-Desk L/R outs > Left Sub L/R Full Range ins
-Left Sub L/R High Pass out > Peavey Amp ins
-Left Sub R Full Range out > Right Sub L Full Range in

b)
Get a pair of Mackie SRM350/450 powered cabs
and sell the peavey setup (or keep it for monitors)

Edited by lightman (08/02/11 10:06 PM)

a bit of light reading - IMPEDANCE the basics of what you need to know, is not that complex otherwise it would not be suitable for musicians.

to echo whats said above you need a power amp to drive the peaveys. are you ok with crossovers? a simple way is to go from your desk to the subs using standard xlr signal leads. then from each sub use an xlr signal lead to connect to either side of a poweramp. use speakon speaker leads to go back from the power amp to the peaveys. a bit untidy as you will have 3 cables per side but it will work.

You should use the high pass outputs on the subs to do the above as that will mean you are only sending the mid/top frequencies to the peaveys thanks to the crossovers in the bins

Best long term solution is to part with the heavy cumbersome peaveys (i have some sat here waiting to sell) and pick up some active tops.
digital village have some srm450v2 tops in the b stock department, a steal at £335 each, but you can only order 1 at a time

http://www.dv247.com/b-stock/mackie-srm450v2-srm-version-2-active-pa-speak er-single-b-stock--79072

you can get cheaper alternatives but im a stickler for using same brand products

hope this helps

--------------------
I eat kebabs when i'm sober!

Thanks guys

I take your point about replacing the Peaveys, they do weigh a ton, and the amp isn't exactly light either.

Adding new tops after we have been gigging for a while and have earned enough to pay for them is likely to be the best option.

By the way I do have "O" level physics and so I do have a bit of an idea about how impedance works, but its a lot to get my head around at my age. LOL


Regards

WAL

Edited by WADEAL (09/02/11 09:03 PM)