Speakerplans.com Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > General > Advanced Discussion
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Speakon NL4FX - a step backwards?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Speakon NL4FX - a step backwards?

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234 5>
Author
Message
Strange Daze View Drop Down
Old Croc
Old Croc


Joined: 14 July 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 2861
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Strange Daze Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 10:42am
i use 2 pole speakons....
Never had one fail, but ive had Nl4s lock inside cabinets, jam up, break, and all sorts...
sh*ttest connector ever designed.
 
Opus Jody....How may i ask did you test how a crimped NL4 'sounds better' than a soldered one??....(laughs)....opinion or fact??
 
cheers,
C


Edited by Strange Daze - 02 June 2008 at 10:43am
Back to Top
J Nine Bar View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 13 February 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 131
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote J Nine Bar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 11:45am
Originally posted by 4DPA 4DPA wrote:


 
are you an EP fan? I've never really got on with them, I get all sorts of boxes at work that have EP's and we never have the right cable to test them. Do you not find that they start to come apart after time?
Back to Top
4DPA View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 11 April 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 1127
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 4DPA Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 1:33pm
Originally posted by J Nine Bar J Nine Bar wrote:

Originally posted by 4DPA 4DPA wrote:


 
are you an EP fan? I've never really got on with them, I get all sorts of boxes at work that have EP's and we never have the right cable to test them. Do you not find that they start to come apart after time?

Yeah I like them, plenty  of contact surface area, seem fairly easy to solder. been using them constantly since 1996, I prefer the plastic  casing as the metal  ones can corrode, one issue is the release tab on the chassis mount can get battered by lazy crew dragging boxes over steps or tailgates. 

But unlike the nl4's I have never had the cable pull out or refuse to unlock, then the  bit I really dislike about speakons is the ritualistic skinning of the knuckles deep in the back of a crowded rack or the wrenching of fingertips trying to untwist or pull back the release in tight recesses.


bs8901 compliant
Back to Top
J Nine Bar View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 13 February 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 131
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote J Nine Bar Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 2:22pm
My main experience with EP's has been with old battered cables that all seem to have seen better days, but I had to solder up a new set of EP6 cables for a Floodlight rig that I sold recently and was plesantly surprised with the outcome. When new they are a nice robust connector.
 
I take it all your Res' boxes have the EP option then?
Back to Top
4DPA View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 11 April 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 1127
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 4DPA Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 4:17pm
xlr from source to desk/controller, 16way lemo's from controller rack to amp racks.
f218's on EP4's one driver per pair of 4x4mm van damme
r4's on EP6 6x2.5mm van damme (the pigs tail special)

oh and the old three way Tms4's are on EP6 as are the old floods on EP6 as default,

random pair of eaw kf300e's on ep4's  (a surprisingly  sweet sounding box...)

failing all of that its banana plugs to socapex, then socapex to soca with tails to EP4 & EP6 

moving into the twentieth century
rm15's on nl4's, txd115's on nl4's. 

I gather that for manufacturers nl4's are the cheapest option... nuff said..


Jody... in all your testing what was the verdict on nl8 barrel connectors


 


Edited by 4DPA - 02 June 2008 at 5:42pm
bs8901 compliant
Back to Top
ad-d View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 06 November 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 507
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ad-d Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 4:41pm
Originally posted by opus jody opus jody wrote:

i've never really had a problem with plasic spekons though, exept in a few installs where they've been used as steps to get up on the bass bins.


lol, that's certainly not going to help matters!
Back to Top
Strange Daze View Drop Down
Old Croc
Old Croc


Joined: 14 July 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 2861
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Strange Daze Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 6:07pm
Originally posted by ad-d ad-d wrote:

Originally posted by opus jody opus jody wrote:

i've never really had a problem with plasic spekons though, exept in a few installs where they've been used as steps to get up on the bass bins.


lol, that's certainly not going to help matters!



seen that more than once too..
daft gits
:)

Back to Top
opus jody View Drop Down
Young Croc
Young Croc


Joined: 06 June 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1246
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote opus jody Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 8:59pm
Originally posted by Strange Daze Strange Daze wrote:

Opus Jody....How may i ask did you test how a crimped NL4 'sounds better' than a soldered one??....(laughs)....opinion or fact??
 
cheers,
C


You may laugh - i don't blame you, but its fact.
tests were with 2 opus iso-6's, one opus amp and some reeeealy well recorded cd's. 2 identical cables, one with metal soldered & one with plastic spekon screwed. listened to both boxes, compared, one sounded better. then swaped cables to other boxes, and the other speaker sounded better, so the only difference was the cable/spekon.
next, metal spekon soldered and plasic one soldered: result no difference. I hadn't put the outer casing on at this point, but got told to do so, and blimey! big difference! All muddled.
that was a real surprise.
so plasic spekons with & without cases - no difference.
plastic spekons with & without solder - big difference. without was much better.
then... hey, what about the solder on the back of the spekon socket in the speaker?
replaced with crimp - big difference again, even better.

tbh this level of listening is fairly irrelevant with almost all dance music stuff, but it really helped the theatre sound bods who are doing some mental stuff in theatres, and i can hear the difference on my rig. double edged sword though, because sh*t recordings sound reeeealy sh*t.

oh, 'better' generally means less confused, and more natural sounding.

there you go, you can all laugh at me now , and make jokes about 'hot water bottles for cables' & the like. whatever, only trying to help.





Edited by opus jody - 02 June 2008 at 9:01pm
Improvised Hardware Music http://vimeo.com/user9389813/videos
Back to Top
4DPA View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 11 April 2007
Status: Offline
Points: 1127
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 4DPA Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 9:05pm
and nl8 barrel connectors what did the  theatre bods make of those
bs8901 compliant
Back to Top
boab View Drop Down
Registered User
Registered User


Joined: 21 June 2004
Location: Busby
Status: Offline
Points: 484
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote boab Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 9:33pm
The only problem I see with solder vs crimp terminals is that over time the crimps can corrode whereas solder is a gas tight joint. I wonder what the test would sound like in 5 years time?
Boab
Back to Top
opus jody View Drop Down
Young Croc
Young Croc


Joined: 06 June 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1246
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote opus jody Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 June 2008 at 10:49pm
didn't test Nl8's. presumably (dangerous to presume, but hey) same rules apply.
@boab - totally true. also metal could fatigue, & fall off!
I just did all my bass, which sounded totally fat last weekend, but i'll check it fairly regularly.
I'm too scared to do the nl8's on my top boxes. far too many amp channels, sometimes 4, in close proximity.
Improvised Hardware Music http://vimeo.com/user9389813/videos
Back to Top
tweeter box View Drop Down
Old Croc
Old Croc


Joined: 21 October 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 6784
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tweeter box Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 June 2008 at 12:21pm
Originally posted by Dom Dom wrote:

I unscrew the screw, throw away the tab and put the screw back in.  Never had any problems with 4mm cables.
 
+1
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1234 5>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.06
Copyright ©2001-2023 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.094 seconds.