Little Bitty Mixer/amp for studio monitors

[SoulFire]

I recently gained posession of two really nice home theatre speakers, and was looking at a way of using them as studio monitors. Thing is, they have that funky little wire thing that hooks into like a home theatre amplifier thing, and obviously don't plug into a mixer/amp. They actually really are quite nice and given I got them for free I thought I might as well see if there's something I can do with them lol.

So I texted a guy I know who's good at soldering and electronics and wiring audio stuff and whatnot (lol I have no experience in that field whatsoever), and asked him whether it was possible to solder a 1/4" mono jack on the end of these speakers to use as studio monitors. He reckoned he could easily do it, provided they could stand up to the mixer/amp I had.

Thing is, I dont have a mixer/amp. I reckon I could find one, but given I'm so inexperienced in the field I've got no idea what i'm looking for. As far as i know, what i need to do is get a mixer that doesn't have an output any more poweful than the maximum input on the speakers, and the ohms need to match up (sorry if i sound like a noob :S). The speakers are 4 ohms and have a maximum input gain of 150 w.

Now does anyone know of a cheapish mixer/amp that I can use with these speakers? One thats not too powerful and will blow them up anyway lol. I'm kinda looking for something like the mixer in the Yamaha Stagepas series, where u just plug it into power and the speakers into it and it works like that. Is there a mixer with a small enough output out there which will suit my needs?

Regards,

Soulfire

[sparkey]

As far as i know all Mixers are going output the same, if they are passive,

So something like

http://www.billyhydemusic.com.au/shop/view/891/behringer-mixer-xenyx-502/

Should do the trick, just show him that, find the online manual for the power output and see if it will do the trick

OR if you dont like Behringer
http://www.billyhydemusic.com.au/shop/view/3543/carillon-professional-5-channel-mixer-m5/

I use a bigger version of that one for my personal mixing

[SoulFire]

Yeah I was looking at the Behringer Xenyx 802 actually. I've never really had a problem with Behringer myself. I know other people have, but I like them tbh. I just wasn't sure if something like that would power those speakers. But thanks for the advice :) I'll see if i can double check the power output.

[Grey Loki]

The output of any mixing desk is line level - you might get the smallest possible vibration of the cones, but it wouldn't do either the desk or the speakers any good. Your best bet would be to get the mixer, and then solder up some (unbalanced) XLR to RCA leads, and then use the 'Aux' channel on the hi-fi amplifier that came with the speakers.

Generally, hi-fi speakers don't make good studio monitors (as in, actual mixing monitors - as reference monitors like the Yamaha NS10s, it's not a bad idea to have a set hooked up so you can check your mix on a 'consumer system'), as they are designed to make music sound good, not to give a good representation of what's going on in a mix.

I would be more inclined to either buy a set of studio monitors (M-Audio, Behringer and KRK make some lower-priced ones which apparently aren't bad - i've heard very strange things about the Truths to that effect), or a nice set of headphones (my personal 'mix on the move' favourite set are the Senn HD25s - you see them used a lot by broadcast engineers and mobile recordists).

HTH :)

Further reading if you're interested:

https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Line_level
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Audio_amplifier
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Studio_monitor

[mmichaelc]

Like Grey Loki said, you can't use hi-fi speakers with a desk on line outputs. The speakers are expecting a much more powerful signal, hence we have power amps.
Most studio monitors are active, meaning they have their own power amps built-in and they're designed to faithfully reproduce the recorded sound.

If you don't want to get new monitors then try and look for a simple hi-fi amp that doesn't colour the signal at all (basically nothing consumer).

What you're looking for is something like this:

http://www.alesis.com/ra150

You wouldn't get the full 150w but that's quite a lot for home studio monitors.

[Omega Monkey]

Your post is pretty incomprehensible about what the issue actually is.

But if I understand correctly, you have some basic passive stereo speakers and you want to use them with your computer or some other recording device? You don't need a mixer for that, just get an integrated amp or a receiver and you'll be all set. Run the audio output of the computer into the integrated amp/receiver and run the speaker outputs of that into the speakers using regular speaker cable. You shouldn't need a mixer at all unless you want to have a bunch of different sources to choose from.

It sometimes amazes me how people try to over complicate stuff like this.

Also, mixers and amps are entirely different things. They are often combined into what's called a "powered mixer" or PA head. Saying "mixer/amp" is vague at best.

[SoulFire]

I'm sorry about the noobiness and bad terminology in op. Like u've probably realised, I really have no idea what I'm talking about.

Basically rather than getting a hi fi amp, what I want to be able to do is use these things as simple/cheap PA speakers, which I can run my keyboard rig and whatnot out of just for home and rehearsal use. But I dn't want to spend my money on a hi-fi amp i'll never use for anything else, so what I wanted to to do was get a (powered mixer?) like the ones mentioned above (Behringer 802), that I can plug all my instruments (guitars, keyboards, laptop, whatever) into, then plug the two speakers into as monitors. Like I said, I really have no experience in this field at all, so basically all I'm asking is whether that's possible, and if so, is there a mixer I cheap mixer I can buy which will do this?

Sorry once again :S

[PinkFloydDudi]

That behringer won't do what you need it to even with the right connectors.

You need a powered signal to run the speakers you have - the mixer you need will then need to be a powered mixer. These are usually bigger than normal mixers:

http://www.asia.ru/images/target/photo/51179627/Portable_Powered_Mixer.jpg


Before I go much more into this - I'll just say that I think you will end up wasting a lot of money and time on equipment that you will never use outside of this exact scenario.

What you want is a PA. To do this you need PA speakers. Those speakers you have are not PA speakers. Trying to make them into something they aren't isn't likely going to work out well for you.

[SoulFire]

Yeah, after talking to you guys and some other people I know about it, it seems to be more trouble than its worth. Oh well, my idea didn't quite go according to plan. I think that means I'll actually use the speakers for what they were made for lol; home theater :D. I've been meaning to get some more speakers for my home theatre system for ages tbh. And now I have them :D. Thanks for all your help anyway, and thank you for tolerating my stupidity on the topic :)

[Omega Monkey]

The main difference between home speakers and PA speakers is that home speakers tend to sacrifice "durability" for sound quality, whereas PA speakers do the opposite. But depending on the particular speakers there may be some overlap where you get enough of both in a given situation.

I'd say unless these speakers are pretty burly, they probably wouldn't be right for a full band practice (ie with drums, loud guitars, etc...). But they could work very well at home for practicing on your own. And all you really need for them to work with a powered mixer (aka PA head, etc...) is to cut the plugs off a pair of speaker cables and separate the 2 conductors and plug the wire itself into the speakers.

But since this setup would work best for home use anyway, you could just get an integrated amp or receiver for pretty cheap and a regular spool of speaker wire. Over here at least, decent integrated amps and receivers can be had used for $100 (or less sometimes). New ones tend to go for $150-200. Obviously the price can go up as high as your wallet can reach. If you actually tell us what the speakers are, instead of the extremely vague "home theater speakers", we might be able to tell you if it would be worth your trouble.

But you could add something like this...

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NAD-3155-stereo-amplifier-/190467960582?pt=AU_Electronics_Audio_Amplifiers&hash=item2c58c66f06

and be ready to go.

[SoulFire]

I appreciate the advice Omega Monkey, but i've definitely decided its more trouble than its worth and those speakers are now adding to my surround sound movie enjoyment :D.

In regards to you wondering what the speakers actually are, I don't even have any idea. A friend of mine had them in his garage. He said they worked perfectly and that I could take them if I wanted to. I said I'd see if i could find a way to use them as PA speakers/studio monitors, otherwise I'd just chuck them on my TV... which I ended up doing. Lol I couldn't tell you what they were, all I know is they're big mofos for home theatre speakers (bigger than most studio monitors u can get, which is where i got the idea in my head from...) and that their panasonic, and thats the extent of my knowledge lol. But now that my TV is sounding so awesome I'm really not regretting not using them for music use. Oh well :D

Thanks for the help anyway guys.

[SoulFire]

And you said it couldn't be done.

After a quick look in Cash Converters the other day, I came across an archaic Realistic (thats the name of the brand lol) MONO (yes mono) 85w pa amplifier for $35! 4 Inputs too so it's not too bad. Took it home, plugged both speakers into it (dual mono lol), and it works a treat for a keyboard amp! The amp works fine, sounds good, and the speakers sound excellent. Not quite the original idea of using them as studio monitors, but they're pretty damn effective as a keyboard amp!

And for $35, I think I got a pretty good deal lol. It's not exactly great quality, but it sounds good and I'm happy with it now.

Now just to find something to put on my TV....