Talk:Speakon connector

Bias

From the article:

The speakon connector is recommended over 1/4" or two-pole twist lock connectors for loudspeakers.

My question: by whom? Every, and I mean every pro audio system I have ever seen has used 1/4". I call bias. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.152.47.133 (talk • contribs) 19:08, 14 June 2005

I work in an auditorium and we always pick Speakon over 1/4". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.113.155.129 (talk • contribs) 19:31, 17 June 2005

I think it will save you lot of trouble using speakon because it is becoming industr sandard in pro audio and all professional amps have the option to go in for speakon. Now imagine, in low light you need to know where is input from mixer coming and where is output from amp going, a feel can tell you the diffrence without burning the system Rajan711 13:29, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Agreed - Opinion not fact. I also worked in many houses and other live audio situations, and I came across 1/4 as well as XLR but never Speakon. I think arguments could be given by proponents of each standard. I'm following up with an edit that I believe should resolve the disagreement. —Preceding unsigned comment added by TheSolomon (talk • contribs) 20:01, 17 June 2005

A couple of friends of mine work in sound and lighting in the UK, both live and recording, indoor and outdoor. I spend a bit of time in their shop, have worked with them on a couple of occasions and hear far more than I'd like about the job in the pub. The vast majority of their speakers use speakon (the exception are a couple of sets of old-fashioned long-horn PA speakers for fetes etc that have had their bare-wire terminals replaced with yellow C-Form connectors for safety), as do all the speakers in my Students' Union (and there's probably over 100 individual cabinets in the various venues and for portable use). So they may not be universal, but they're certainly commonly used. I've seen XLR on speakers before, but never 1/4" jack - that would strike me as wierd. PeteVerdon

Afaict 1/4 inch jack is fairly popular for speakers on low end rigs. Presumablly because its relatively cheap and the connectors are very easy to get hold of and if you aren't running at too high a power then in a pinch you can use an instrument cable as a substiture speaker cable. Plugwash 09:17, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

It just depends really, I said recommended because that's what I have been taught. People 'prefer' them over 1/4" specifically because of their ability to 'lock' into place preventing accidential removal. Now I have also seen 1/4" cables that also lock into place on the jack end (female end). So perhaps another good reason to use these cables is that in the chance that you had a tri-amp speaker, you'd only need one 8 conductor speakon cable as opposed to 4 1/4" cables. --Tm1000 00:50, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

I feel, if during high power performance, there is lot of pressure exerted in sub bass application, may cause the 1/4" to push out thus resulting sudden loss of sound power in audience or on stage and making the listener or performer think, some audio problem but the fact is, this connector if connected well, will keep you worry free during your program. And further, since it will work once it is locked means you are sure you dont have to climb on top to check if it is pushed in all the way or just locking assures it was well connected.Rajan711 13:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

The formating on this page is a bit weird so I'm just going to shove my comments down here. Any professional system using 1/4" connectors for speakers is quite simply not a professional system. They are completely inappropriate for the power requirements of pretty much everything but high impedance tweeters, theres is also the dangerous temptation to use instrument leads which is a fire hazard at best. Additionally there is the issue of the lack of "locking" mechanism, should a jack connector come loose you basically have a P.D. 100V or more (1000w into 8 ohm = 89v) between connectors a few mm apart, on the end of a long flexible lead, possibly in a room full of drunken people. Even binding posts are safer than 1/4" connectors.

Not only does speakon address the issues of power handling and locking mechanism but can also provide additional connections for bi- and tri- amped systems in the same connector. --Pypex 23:53, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Yeah afaict they are mostly seen on very small rigs (the kind a small band might use in a pub etc thats only a few hundred watts max( etc. Plugwash 09:54, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

The above is almost true. While i agree that it is probably an opinion whether one is better than the other, i have to pull you up on the "low-end systems" part of the comment. There are some Bose 802's i have used that have both an XLR connector, and a 1/4" jack. These are hardly low end speakers, yet they have the jack plugs. I much prefer to use the speakons, partly because of the earth-before-signal connection, eliminating some of the "thump" that happens when you connect speakers (which is not ideal, but who hasn't had to do it in the middle of a show at least once). They are just a nice connection to use. That's my 2 cents worth Cjba850 13:13, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Does one have to work on a high-power rig to be considered professional? Professionals bring their skill to bear on many different sizes of installation, indeed even some large installations need low power speakers. For example, how big were the delay speakers you last saw in a theatre? What connections were on the back? I think we must use the word "professional" with caution lest we stray from a neutral point of view.--81.178.216.37 21:21, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Can I suggest that the "advertisement" tag be removed? It seems to me that although there is room for further information, the article no longer reads like an advert.81.178.216.37 00:35, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

Advantages of Speakon vs. 1/4"

The Speakon connector has more surface area on the connector contacts than a 1/4" tip/ring phone plug. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.184.94.111 (talk • contribs) 17:45, 13 November 2006

Speakon connectors make ground connection before signal.--81.178.216.37 21:21, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

NL4/NL8

I usually call these connectors NL4 (4-pole) and NL8 (8-pole). I have added redirect pages for "NL4", "NL4 connector", "NL8", "NL8 connector" to this page. I have never used a 2-pole Speakon connector, and have also never heard of an NL2 connector, so I haven't added a redirect page for that. Snottywong 00:53, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

There certainly is an NL2 version. It was created to meet a demand for a slightly lower cost connector since probably 80% of NL4's are only using two of the available connections anyway. Andy P2002 (talk) 16:38, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Trademark capital letters

At Wikipedia:Manual of Style (trademarks), the style for spelling non-standard trademarks is to capitalize the first letter, and possibly use camel caps mid-word. With "speakON" (no first capital, two letters capitalized in a row at the end) being the current preference of the trademark owner Neutrik, the common sense rule, taken from Wikipedia:Manual of Style (trademarks), is to use whatever version is most like English standard. In this case, 'Speakon' qualifies. 'SpeakOn' was a second-best choice, but does not match the trademark owners preference any more than 'Speakon'. Binksternet (talk) 20:52, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Error on image description

15mm and 1 inch are not the same size (image on right)! I've never used a Speakon connector, so I don't know which is right. Joho506 (talk) 14:56, 9 November 2014 (UTC)

Gender

I've just edited the article to correct the usage of "male" and "female" to describe the connectors, (referencing Neutrik's own website and documentation for confirmation). Many people are confused about what "sex" to call these connectors and common sense would tend to give the wrong answer on to call them, as the 'female' does seem to *into* the 'male'. It's so prevalent that I'd guess nearly half of eBay adverts for Speakons describe them wrongly! Andy P2002 (talk) 16:46, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

Gender on these is the same as most connectors, but also not really useful. It's about pins (male) and sockets, where the 'pins' are the smallest part of the connector, not the overall connector body. The largest part defines whether it's a plug or socket. These days plugs are often female: Speakons and 12V barrel connectors are all fairly common examples of such. Andy Dingley (talk) 16:58, 29 September 2024 (UTC)