Power Amp Question About Speakon Connections

[nsubulysses]

This is from the manual that I have for my poweramp:
"The standard 1/4” SPEAKER jacks are offered for low power applications. Speakon™ connectors are provided for high power application. Secure the Speakon™ connection by turning to the right. The center Speakon™
is for Bridge only. Turn the amp off before connecting your speakers."

What I don't understand is what they mean by "low" and "high" power applications. If you plug in through the 1/4" it's more ideal for lower power like if the poweramp is on 5 instead of blasted all the way? Or when you plug into the 1/4" instead of the speakon you actually get less power/volume from the amp?

If anyone can clear this up I'd apprecaite it. I don't get what that truly implies.

[nsubulysses]

Anyone have any experience with these different types of outs on a power amp?

[StukaJU87]

We always used the standard 1/4" speaker jacks on our tri-amp sound sysytem. Subwoofers, mains and monitors. Use good speaker wires. It always performed 100%.

[Rsmacker]

Speakon connectors are really for multi-amp crossed-over speaker setups. On the smaller 4-pole ones, you can then send bass down 1+ and 1-, and mid/high down 2+ and 2-, using a single 4 core speaker cable. With the 8 poles you can get everything out of your amp rack in one cable per side.

The thing about "High" power and "Low" power is that theoretically a 1/4" jack plug is dangerous. If you bridge a nice big Crown VX5000 and mackle up a jack plug to the end of it into a speaker, wind the amp up and pull the jack plug out of the speaker. The spark that comes out of it will make you shit your strides, I guarantee. (Erm, so actually, don't bother doing it, just take my word for it)

I believe that technically a jack plug is illegal in Europe, because theoretically you can pull it out and be holding the ends of it whilst an amp is going full bore at the other end and you could get an electric shock. Possible, but most unlikely for you and most people here, you couldn't really get a dangerous voltage out of the speaker output of your amp. Wound up fully, it might make you jump from the spark, or possibly if you had a serious heart condition do you a mischief, but for normal people with normal amps, it's not going to be an issue.

If you had a 100k perside PA rig, wound up, and had been twatty enough to put jack plugs on all the cabinets and then accidentally pulled out one of the outputs, that might be interesting!

A Speakon plug locks into place so you can't touch the contacts, and also, because of the contact area of the poles, it can carry the higher voltage generated by a big amp at full bore. XLR plugs and jacks don't have as good current rating, though I doubt very much you will ever find that using the 1/4" outputs means that your amp can't deliver the full load to the speakers.

Also, as Stuka says, use decent size speaker cable. Don't use fucking bell-wire or guitar leads. You probably won't notice at low volume but wind it up and you may come a cropper if the cable isn't man enough for the job. The quickest way to fuck an amplifier is to be driving it hard into some gay twine, or worse into fresh air.