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Post subject: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2016 7:44 am
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When connecting the Passport 300 to a powered subwoofer, which type of cable should be used...a speaker wire, or something like a guitar cable? It seems to me I once used the same type of cable I use to connect the 300's speakers to the amp, iow a speaker wire.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 3:45 am
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Unless is write in owner manual, don't use guitar cable to feed any kind of speaker.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:34 am
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I did some looking into this, and the issue with using a guitar cable to feed the output of an amplifier into a speaker is that the guitar cable is not capable of handling all the power the amp is attempting to send through it.

Check out this link:

http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2010/07/19 ... er-cables/

However, the Passport 300 (and 500 for that matter) do not send the output of the amplifier through the sub out jack. They send only an instrument level signal, which must then be amplified by a powered subwoofer.

So I will use a guitar cable, aka an instrument cable. Also, my subwoofer has XLR inputs, which is a further indication that a speaker cable is not the way to go in this case. I will use a transformer to go from the instrument cable to XLR.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Sun Mar 13, 2016 6:57 pm
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You are right. You should use an instrument cable from the Sub out on the Passport 300 Pro, since it's a 1/4" TS port. Many powered subs that have XLR in (and XLR out as a pass-through to other speakers) use a "combo" port. This looks like a female XLR port with a 1/4" round hole in the middle. You can plug an instrument cable directly into this. You don't need an adapter.

If yours does take only XLR, then you'll need an adapter or a "direct box", which is another kind of adapter.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2016 10:28 am
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How are you setting the sub to the Passport ? I have the 500 and having a heck of a time cause of course on stage you can't hear and not sure how to balance It so you have the right amount of bass .


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2016 9:07 am
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Aspiring Musician
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There are three levels of signal that go through wires commonly in a sound system. Dynamic microphones give you a "mic level" signal. It's a really tiny micro voltage signal. It's not nearly powerful enough to drive headphones. XLR cables are good for mic level signals.

Most "active" gear, like your subwoofer and the Sub Out port on your Passport use a "line level" signal. In your mixer, there's a "pre-amp" (think of it as a small amplifier) that brings mic level signals up to line level. The line level signal is a fraction of a watt, powerful enough to drive headphones, but not speakers. XLR or 1/4" instrument cables are good for line level signals.

Passive speakers are driven by power amplifiers that provide "speaker level" signals. These signals are hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than line level signals. Use nothing but speaker cables for speakers.

If you use an instrument cable to drive passive speakers (like the pair of passive speakers on your Passport), you could start a fire because there is not enough metal in the cable to handle the amperage. It will heat up, like a light bulb filament and while you can often get away with it, when you do this, you run with scissors. It's not a good idea. People could die, okay? Just sayin'.

If you use a speaker cable for your powered subwoofer connected to your Sub Out port, you've made the OTHER mistake, and it won't hurt anything, except the quality of the signal.

If you get in and out of a bathtub, you raise and lower the water level a lot. Do the same thing in a swimming pool, and your effect on the water level is more negligible. The speaker cable has too much metal in it, just like the swimming pool has too much water in it. The "capacitance" of the thick metal cable in the speaker cable will fail to convey the details of your signal to the subwoofer. You will get sound, and you won't break anything, but it will sound better if you use an instrument cable.

You also make engineers happier if you use an instrument cable. Add that instrument cables are "shielded", and speaker cables are not, so speaker cables can pick up hum and hiss from magnetic fluctuations in the environment, acting like an antenna for signals that are not musical. Shielded instrument cables take care of that problem.

I hope this helps you with this issue and beyond.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:51 am
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It did some what. I'll explain it better If I can , I plug in an ordinary guitar chord from the woofer line in right to the sub out on the 500. Now it's the setting up and balance, if I ask some one to stand in the middle of the room where I'm playing in relation to the volumes what are you suppose to hear ? How do you set the level control on the sub in relation to what you hear from the left and right 500 speakers ? I play solo so I can't ask a member of the band to go out and listen .Do you set the volume on the sub basically right off then keep turning it up till the guy standing in the room that you asked to help set it can hear a balance of the right amount of bass mixed in with the left and right speakers so you don't have too much bass or not enough ? What controls the sub volume ,the big Master volume control on the 500 or the channel 1 small volume control at the top ? This is what I'm having a hard time to set , I want to get it all set right then just play with the big Master volume up or down and every thing else will be set so it's not too loud when there's 50 in the room and next time your playing for 150 and all I do is turn up the big master volume on the 500 .My speaker cables are stock that came with the system.


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Post subject: Re: Passport 300 Subwoofer Cable?
Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2016 9:45 am
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Aspiring Musician
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There's no really simple answer to your question.

You have to consider what kind of music you are playing. Most music doesn't even need a subwoofer. The Passport has proportional bass. The subwoofer is mostly for frequencies that border on subsonic. It's to feel the kick of the kick drum in a drum set, or the thump at the low end of the electric bass, or maybe extreme low notes on a piano.

It's more for FEELING the bass than for hearing it.

Without a sub, your mind will reassemble what the bass should sound like from the harmonics presented by the smaller speakers. But this is all about quality of sound and the feel of sound.

The important thing to understand with the Passport is that the signal going out the Sub Out port ignores your Main Volume on the Passport. When you turn the rest of the sound up and down, it doesn't affect the Sub Out. You have to control that separately.

I know. It sucks. We've got reasons to want that sound to go up and down with the main volume, but the engineers have reasons not to, and they win.

My recommendation is to record yourself from the Stereo Out port, then play it back through one of the Stereo In channels while you walk out in the hall and listen to yourself, and you set the sub level to what you want as an artist.

Anything else is trusting someone else's judgement, and if you do that, well, then you trust their judgement and they'll take care of your sound.


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