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Post subject: MIXING SPEAKERS
Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:32 am
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Should I have any problem using my 2 speakers on my Passport P-250 with 2 speakers from a P-150? using all 4 at once, one of each on left and one of each on right .


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Post subject: Re: MIXING SPEAKERS
Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 5:56 am
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Aspiring Musician
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For the best sound and the least risk of damaging equipment, I'd use only the speakers designed for each amp. Here's the issue:

Different speakers respond in different ways to the same signal. In older systems, nobody had the idea of matching speakers and amps. You'd just roughly match the maximum output in wattage from the amp with the maximum capacity of the speaker (so you don't fry the speaker coil or burn out the amp) and you lived with whatever the sound was that came out. Many systems are still like this.

But as a newer idea, some companies started making "active speakers", so that the amp is built into the speaker. The amp and speaker were designed as a matched set in one box. Send a line-level signal to this box, and what comes out is clearer and more balanced than you get from a typical, almost-matched passive system. That's the good news, but there's a cost.

The speakers are heavier than passive speakers. Each speaker needs an AC power cord going to it in addition to the speaker cable delivering the signal. The speakers need cooling fins and give off heat.

So, Fender is taking the good idea of matching speakers and amps, selling them as a matched set, but they keep the amp in the mixer, so you only have one AC power cable to run the system, and the weight and heat of the power amp is in the back of the mixer box instead of on top of the speaker stands. It's the best of both worlds.

... unless you start changing speakers around. You really shouldn't do that.

If you have a Passport 250 and a Passport 150, why not use both amps, each with their own appropriate speaker? Plug your sound source into the 250, then use a high-quality RCA patch cord to connect the Tape Out on the 250 to one of the stereo input channels on the 150. Then every speaker is connected to a matched power amp, and instead of 250 watts spread out through four weaker speakers, you get 350 watts driving four speakers.

I do this often with a Passport 500 Pro and a Passport 300 Pro. The results are good, and it doesn't hurt any of the equipment.


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Post subject: Re: MIXING SPEAKERS
Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 9:17 am
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I don't have a p-150 amp ,just speakers .
Anf if you'd look at my earlier post I am running 4 speakers according to recommendation of local music company that handles fender equipment.


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Post subject: Re: MIXING SPEAKERS
Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:07 pm
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Aspiring Musician
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Perhaps you should ask the people who recommended this setup why it's not working the way they told you it would work.

For myself, I'm surprised this system takes four speakers. The 500 Pro and the 300 Pro do not, and they have more powerful amps.


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