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Post subject: speakers and connecting music
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 6:36 pm
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Hobbyist
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Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:27 am
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I have an older Passport P-250 . I use it to provide music for car shows, cruises. What I am doing I learned from another person with the same equipment.
I am using 4 Passport speakers ,the 2 that came with the P-250 and another matched set .
I am then connecting my music ( from laptop computer ) to the TWO line-ins. The RCA plugs, but not into just one set but into both sets of RCA plugs. I'm using a splitter so I can do that
There by giving me a more full ,better sound using two channels .
Can someone explain what I am doing and is there any harm in doing it ? A local music shop instructed us to do this .
The other person has been doing this for over a year ,at least once a month for 4 hours at a time.
It definitely gives a better sound.
Thank you


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Post subject: Re: speakers and connecting music
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 5:35 am
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
I'm assuming that you are splitting the left output from your computer to the left inputs for both ST1 and ST2 (the two stereo input channels), and you are splitting the right output from your computer to the two right inputs for ST1 and ST2, right?

This is where there are technical details I can't know. In theory, you are splitting the output from your computer in such a way that the signal at each RCA plug is weaker than it would have been if you had not split it. You then run it through two input channels on the P-250. There's a volume knob on each of these two stereo input channels.

In theory, you should be able to NOT split the signal and instead use either ST1 or ST2 and, using the volume knob for that channel, get just as much volume and tone quality out of it as you get when you do split the signal. You are not hurting anything to split the signal. It's just not obvious why you get more volume and tone quality by splitting it.

My wild guess is that perhaps the exponential nature of voltage and volume is such that splitting the signal strength in half somehow still gives you somewhat more than half the volume at each of the two channels, and the amplification of each of the two channels added together in the mix somehow results in a louder, better-sounding signal.

It doesn't make sense to me, but then, Reality doesn't care what I think. If you have tested this, cranking the volume on your input channel all the way up without splitting the signal, then doing the same with two channels split the way someone showed you that you should do it, then obviously Reality dictates that this is how you should do it.

And if you haven't tested it, why haven't you tested it? It's not like it would be hard to test.


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Post subject: Re: speakers and connecting music
Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 12:07 pm
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Joined: Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:27 am
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Oh , I've compared it both ways. It is defintely louder, crisper, better sound with being split into the 2 stereo inputs. You understood it perfectly.
I didn't know I was weakening my output from my laptop by splitting the right and left leads into 2 right and 2 left inputs .
I just was concerned whether this somehow would put any strain on my amp. I didn't see how it would.
The music shop was the one that told this other person I know and she has been doing it for ove ra year with no problems. I was just curious.
I had often wondered why her system sounded clearer and better then mine (both Passport p-250). So I looked a little closer at her set-up and saw she was doing the 1 lead into 2 so I tried it !! Success ,much better sound.


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Post subject: Re: speakers and connecting music
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:24 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Joined: Wed Feb 16, 2011 7:24 am
Posts: 434
Here's my guess:

Different engineers use different words to describe things. The manuals for my Mackie gear make a big deal out of what they call "Unity". They mark a "U" on all their volume knobs and sliders.

The idea is that if a knob is set for "Unity", then the strength of the signal in equals the strength of the signal going out. Crank it higher than Unity, and you are boosting the signal.

So, if you run your signal through a channel once and crank it higher than Unity, then run it through two channels, then if the "head room" above Unity on each channel is greater than the loss of signal from the split, then you are boosting the signal more than you are weakening it.

Fender doesn't mark Unity on their volume knobs, so we can only guess.


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