speakon cable genders

[wle]

this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..

is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?

are there any speaker cabinets that need a 'female' end on the cable?

the situation seems to be analogous to 1/4" cables - everything has a
socket,
at least speaker and amp

so you need a cable with plugs on both ends

are speakons the same way?

wle.

[Geoff]

wle wrote:
> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..


Yes

> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?

Yes.

>
> are there any speaker cabinets that need a 'female' end on the cable?

No, unless somebody somewhere has done something incredibly stupid.

> the situation seems to be analogous to 1/4" cables - everything has a
> socket,
> at least speaker and amp

Yes, except it won't pull out, or short-circuit during plug-in.

> so you need a cable with plugs on both ends

Yes.

geoff

[Roy W. Rising]

According to Neutrik, their Speakon connectors use a female (in their
terms) on the cables and a male on the panels.

--
~ Roy
"It's NOT the mic, it's NOT the preamp!"

[Laurence Payne]

On 17 Jan 2007 20:32:59 -0800, "wle" > wrote:

>this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>
>is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
>
>are there any speaker cabinets that need a 'female' end on the cable?
>
>the situation seems to be analogous to 1/4" cables - everything has a
>socket,
> at least speaker and amp
>
>so you need a cable with plugs on both ends
>
>are speakons the same way?

Yup.

[William Sommerwerck]

The "gender" of connectors on speakers doesn't really matter, but they're
traditionally "female".

The gender on the amp _does_ matter, because we don't want to accidentally
short the output. So it, too, has traditionally been female.

This requires the cable to be male at both ends, which means you don't have
to find the "right" end to connect to the speaker or amp.

When I worked at Bendix Field Engineer, the "gozintas" were male, the
"comesouttas" were female.

[Scott Dorsey]

wle > wrote:
>this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>
>is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?

Yes.

>are there any speaker cabinets that need a 'female' end on the cable?

Until recently, female ends weren't sold. If you wanted to join two
cables, you needed a gender bender adaptor.

However, recently Neutrik has started selling female cable ends so you can
make extension cables. They also now make a male panel mount but I have
never seen it used. Not yet, anyway.

>the situation seems to be analogous to 1/4" cables - everything has a
>socket,
> at least speaker and amp
>
>so you need a cable with plugs on both ends

This means you can unroll a cable from any direction without having to
worry about which end is which. That's a big advantage.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Scott Dorsey]

William Sommerwerck > wrote:
>
>When I worked at Bendix Field Engineer, the "gozintas" were male, the
>"comesouttas" were female.

For many years the military standard was that anything that produced voltage
had to have a female connector and anything that received voltage had the
male connector.

This makes perfect sense for power cables... a male Edison plug attached
to the power line is a recipe for injury or death.

But, the military applied it to everything, which is why you often see
surplus microphones with female XLRs on the mike.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[wle]

ok
good
thanks
wle.

[Roy W. Rising]

"William Sommerwerck" > wrote:
> The "gender" of connectors on speakers doesn't really matter, but they're
> traditionally "female".
>
> The gender on the amp _does_ matter, because we don't want to
> accidentally short the output. So it, too, has traditionally been female.
>
> This requires the cable to be male at both ends, which means you don't
> have to find the "right" end to connect to the speaker or amp.
>
> When I worked at Bendix Field Engineer, the "gozintas" were male, the
> "comesouttas" were female.

I repeat: Neutrik, inventor of the Speakon connectors, calls the cable
connector "female" and the chassis connector (amp or speaker) "male".

--
~ Roy
"It's NOT the mic, it's NOT the preamp!"

[hank alrich]

Roy W. Rising wrote:

> According to Neutrik, their Speakon connectors use a female (in their
> terms) on the cables and a male on the panels.

Right, even if it seems counterintuitive. The sockets are in the cable
end, the pins are in the panel, yet the shell of the cable plugs into
the hole in the panel.

--
ha
"Iraq" is Arabic for "Vietnam"

[Thomas Bishop]

"Roy W. Rising" > wrote in message
> According to Neutrik, their Speakon connectors use a female (in their
> terms) on the cables and a male on the panels.

Screw Neutrik! I'm calling the sockets females! They didn't invent the
things. Oh wait....... Well, maybe they did. But I'm still right!

[Roy W. Rising]

"Thomas Bishop" > wrote:
> "Roy W. Rising" > wrote in message
> > According to Neutrik, their Speakon connectors use a female (in their
> > terms) on the cables and a male on the panels.
>
> Screw Neutrik! I'm calling the sockets females! They didn't invent the
> things. Oh wait....... Well, maybe they did. But I'm still right!

Oh! I remember you! All the other cars except yours are going the wrong way
on the one-way street! And, Neutrick did, indeed, invent the Speakon.

--
~ Roy
"It's NOT the mic, it's NOT the preamp!"

[Eeyore]

wle wrote:

> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>
> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?

It's the only type you can make.

Graham

[Roy W. Rising]

Eeyore > wrote:
> wle wrote:
>
> > this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
> >
> > is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
>
> It's the only type you can make.
>
> Graham

Just a reminder ... Neutrik makes only MALE chassis mounts. FEMALE cord
types are standard and male cord types are available for extension
purposes.

--
~ Roy
"It's NOT the mic, it's NOT the preamp!"

[hank alrich]

Eeyore wrote:

> wle wrote:
>
> > this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
> >
> > is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
>
> It's the only type you can make.

Graham, you've got it backwards. Look into the signal carrying contacts.
There is your source for Neutrik's gender terminology. If ye doubt me,
the details can be found at Neutrik's website. A normal
Speakon-equippped cable is female > female.

--
ha
"Iraq" is Arabic for "Vietnam"

[Arny Krueger]

"Eeyore" > wrote in
message
> wle wrote:
>
>> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>>
>> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male
>> ends?
>
> It's the only type you can make.

There is now a NLT4FX and NLT4MX inline cable connector the new STX series.

No matter spakon connector which you think is male and which you think is
female, there's one of the opposite sex. ;-)

[Roy W. Rising]

"Arny Krueger" > wrote:
> "Eeyore" > wrote in
> message
>
> There is now a NLT4FX and NLT4MX inline cable connector the new STX
> series.
>
> No matter speakon connector which you think is male and which you think
> is female, there's one of the opposite sex. ;-)

With the exception that there are NO female chassis mount types.

--
~ Roy
"It's NOT the mic, it's NOT the preamp!"

[[email protected]]

Well, I have 5 kids and what I know about it is that the male has the
pin and gives the juice. Female has the hole and receives the juice.
Ain't audio weird?

[Eeyore]

hank alrich wrote:

> Eeyore wrote:
> > wle wrote:
> >
> > > this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
> > >
> > > is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
> >
> > It's the only type you can make.
>
> Graham, you've got it backwards. Look into the signal carrying contacts.
> There is your source for Neutrik's gender terminology. If ye doubt me,
> the details can be found at Neutrik's website. A normal
> Speakon-equippped cable is female > female.

I see - curious terminolgy. The 'socket' on the speaker doesn't actually look
'male' to me !

Graham

[Eeyore]

Arny Krueger wrote:

> "Eeyore" > wrote
> > wle wrote:
> >
> >> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
> >>
> >> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male
> >> ends?
> >
> > It's the only type you can make.
>
> There is now a NLT4FX and NLT4MX inline cable connector the new STX series.

I hadn't seen those. Had to use the couplers myself.


> No matter spakon connector which you think is male and which you think is
> female, there's one of the opposite sex. ;-)

It's most confusing.

Graham

[hank alrich]

Eeyore wrote:

> hank alrich wrote:
>
> > Eeyore wrote:
> > > wle wrote:
> > >
> > > > this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
> > > >
> > > > is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
> > >
> > > It's the only type you can make.
> >
> > Graham, you've got it backwards. Look into the signal carrying contacts.
> > There is your source for Neutrik's gender terminology. If ye doubt me,
> > the details can be found at Neutrik's website. A normal
> > Speakon-equippped cable is female > female.
>
> I see - curious terminolgy. The 'socket' on the speaker doesn't actually look
> 'male' to me !

I agree. The mechanical hookup is as you suggested, but the electrical
contact mating is as the opposite!

--
ha
"Iraq" is Arabic for "Vietnam"

[Geoff]

Eeyore wrote:
> hank alrich wrote:
>
>> Eeyore wrote:
>>> wle wrote:
>>>
>>>> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>>>>
>>>> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
>>>
>>> It's the only type you can make.
>>
>> Graham, you've got it backwards. Look into the signal carrying
>> contacts. There is your source for Neutrik's gender terminology. If
>> ye doubt me, the details can be found at Neutrik's website. A normal
>> Speakon-equippped cable is female > female.
>
> I see - curious terminolgy. The 'socket' on the speaker doesn't
> actually look 'male' to me !

They are sort of hermaphrodite forms really. I think the 'bottom line' is
the form of the actual metallic contact pieces.

geoff

[jakdedert]

Geoff wrote:
> Eeyore wrote:
>> hank alrich wrote:
>>
>>> Eeyore wrote:
>>>> wle wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> this seems like a dorky question, but i will ask anyway..
>>>>>
>>>>> is a 'normal' speakon speaker cable, one with 2 male ends?
>>>> It's the only type you can make.
>>> Graham, you've got it backwards. Look into the signal carrying
>>> contacts. There is your source for Neutrik's gender terminology. If
>>> ye doubt me, the details can be found at Neutrik's website. A normal
>>> Speakon-equippped cable is female > female.
>> I see - curious terminolgy. The 'socket' on the speaker doesn't
>> actually look 'male' to me !
>
> They are sort of hermaphrodite forms really. I think the 'bottom line' is
> the form of the actual metallic contact pieces.
>
> geoff
>
>
>
Refer to a 'female' XLR plug...has a bigger--um, uh--'insertable member'
than the 'male' unit.

jak