Speakon Advice please

[Grangur]

Hi there,

I have a nice, really chunky Speakon lead. It's a GK and it looks the business, but when I use it on an amp the plug often needs to be turned a bit back in the twist action for a useable contact to be made.

This results in poor contact and has been known to cause overheating in the amp.

i'm thinking of buying some replacement Speakon plugs to fit on the ends. I'd get Neutrik, to make sure they're worth the effort, but should I get 2 or 4 pin? Will either work?

Thanks in advance.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1453565927' post='2960636']...should I get 2 or 4 pin? Will either work?...
[/quote]

It depends on how many conductors there are in the cable. If there are only two (entirely normal; no worries...) there is no point in using a 4-pin connector. The Neutrik 2-pin is compatible with 4-pin amp sockets in any case. If, however, the cable has 4 conductors, better to use 4-pin connectors; be sure to connect the conductors to the appropriate pins, though. Official Neutrik plugs are, in general, recommended, rather than (perhaps cheaper...) copies.
Hope this helps.

[deepbass5]

I would say only go for two pin 1+ 1- Only that i had some real issues with an old 4 pin Speakon I used from an old PA cable that was about 15 years old. basically lots of intermittent sound problems plugging into my Markbass head which i would guess is a two pin. It took me ages to find the problem due to using a combination of two cabs, two amps and two made up cables sometimes Daisey chained.

[Grangur]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1453573933' post='2960724']
I would say only go for two pin 1+ 1- Only that i had some real issues with an old 4 pin Speakon I used from an old PA cable that was about 15 years old. basically lots of intermittent sound problems plugging into my Markbass head which i would guess is a two pin. It took me ages to find the problem due to using a combination of two cabs, two amps and two made up cables sometimes Daisey chained.
[/quote]
Many thanks guys. It's interesting that you should say about a Mark Bass head. It's an LM2 that I had the problem with at first. It also happens with a Barefaced cab too.

[Chienmortbb]

I think GK did not follow the speakon conventions. I may be wrong though.

[mrtcat]

Aren't GK speakon cables 4 pin because of their bi amp setup?

[Woodinblack]

I bought a cheap speakon cable, which I took to a practice the day I got a new TC Electronics 112 cab. Connected it all up, no sound. Fiddled around, connected everything and eventually it worked.

Tried it when I got home as I had to know if it was the cab, as it had two speakons, I thought one might be bad. I noticed the speaker connection clicked on the cab and connected fine. Tried the other socket, fine, clicked. The speakon didn't click on the amp. No sound. Swapped the end round, the end clicked in the amp, and clicked in the cab. There was sound.
Examined both plugs, they look identical, but turns out I have a cable that only works one way round.

[deepbass5]

mrtcat - yes quite right, 4 pin speakons are designed for feeding separate high and low signals to a speaker cabs via a single 4 core cable so bi amp bass amps e.g. a GK would utilise this system, my problems with a 4 pole speakon maybe just be age and use and could have occurred on an old 2 pole plug, but I wondered if failure is more likely due to the twist action where a weak spring trying to apply pressure to 4 contact fingers may leave the two you require to not get the pressure required to make good contact, I have just got a bit superstitious! about it and feel if there are only two contact points those are the ones that will meet up when i twist it into place.

[JapanAxe]

My tip would be to contact OBBM of this parish for advice and a quality hand-made speakon cable.

[obbm]

Sorry but all this talk of 4-core GK cable is slightly irrelevant. Looking at his signature the OP has an LMIII and a Barfaced One 10. Neither of these are Bi-ampable so the only connections in use are 1+ and 1- regardless of whether the Speakon is 4-pole or 2-pole or the cable is 2-core or 4-core.

Interestingly I had a case a few months back where someone with a Markbass amp was having a similar problem. Having sent him two brand new and tested 2-pole Speakon to Speakon cables there was still a problem. As far as I was concerned there was nothing wrong with any of the cables but he refused to accept there was anything wrong with the amp. Finally I sent him a cable with 4-pole Speakons which seemed to solve it. We never did get to the bottom of the problem I suspect that the Speakon sockets on some Markbass amps do suffer from wear or misalignment.

[Grangur]

[quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1453632300' post='2961124']
mrtcat - yes quite right, 4 pin speakons are designed for feeding separate high and low signals to a speaker cabs via a single 4 core cable so bi amp bass amps e.g. a GK would utilise this system, my problems with a 4 pole speakon maybe just be age and use and could have occurred on an old 2 pole plug, but I wondered if failure is more likely due to the twist action where a [b]weak spring trying to apply pressure to 4 contact fingers may leave the two you require to not get the pressure required to make good contact,[/b] I have just got a bit superstitious! about it and feel if there are only two contact points those are the ones that will meet up when i twist it into place.
[/quote]

That's an interesting thought. Right now I have a Stagg, Speakon-Jack, cable between the LM3 and the One10. It works. Either way round. I think I'll get 2x new 4-pole plugs and put them on the GK cable and see how it goes. If that fails I'll be sure to pay the good Mr Obbm a visit.

Thanks guys for all the input

[Chienmortbb]

The Biamp recommendation from Neutrik is that the lows go 1+/1- whereas the highs are on 2+/2-.

Full range is on 1+/1-.

One of the US makers (can't remember who) do not conform to this standard.

[deepbass5]

This also only happened when using my Markbass, and not when using my GK amp but did not figure this out at the time as I thought it was one of two speakers farting. That said have not had any trouble since changing to new 2 pole speakons.

[Alec]

Listen, just forget all the voodoo concerns. Neutrik know what they're doing and they make conductors that work. I don't buy the whole 4 pole is more secure than 2 pole thing - though it is possible that amp/cab manufacturers are going cheap and using non-Neutrik sockets, in which case all bets are off.

Years ago, the 2 pole Speakons were rubbish with their awkward twist ring to insert/remove, and that was enough to persuade me to go 4 pole, simply for the better form factor. In the current guise, however, they're both fine. If you're not bi-amping, just get pairs of NL2FX, connect them with some decent cable (which the OP already has), and the job's a good-un.

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1453650399' post='2961385']
One of the US makers (can't remember who) do not conform to this standard.
[/quote]
Head in hands... Those crazy yanks. Not content with giving the world Trump, they foist tricks like that on us...

[Phil Starr]

Hi Rich

A couple of thoughts, reading this I too would suspect the sockets as much as the leads. the first thing I'd check though are the connections inside the plugs. You don't need to solder them just tighten the screws they fairly frequently come loose over time.

You can check if it is the sockets just by swapping to a new lead of course. If that works it is probably the lead though if both plug and socket are worn then they may not mate cleanly. Talking of clean, it could be a bit of dirt or corrosion. A squirt of servisol and a bit of vigorous plugging and unplugging will probably clear that.

You only need a 2pin plug

Edited January 28, 2016 by Phil Starr