Beginners PA amp questions.....

[gdptay]

Hope i'm in the appropriate forum.

 

Are all PA amps mono??I bought a used pa amp(e-bay) and went to hook up the speaker wires but there is 6 screws all marked differently. grd,com,4.5(ohm?),8,16,18.I can touch the speaker wires(2) to any combination of 2 of these screws(4.5-8-16-18) and i get sound.which set am i supposed to use??do i hook up both sets of speaker wires to the same 2 screws(mono)??? Also can i hook up 2 of my stereo speakers to this amp while they are still hooked up to my stereo and use the speakers for for the PA and stereo at the same time so the kids can sing along to thier cds???or will i have to get a seperate set of speakers for the PA?if so will i need any particular type of speaker??trying to keep to a tight budget.

 

thanks

gary

[Anderton]

PA is not my expertise, but I'll do what I can, maybe others can chime in.

 

>>Are all PA amps mono??<<

 

No, there are stereo models. Some stereo models allow a bridge mode, where the two channels are combined to make a double-power mono channel.

 

>>I bought a used pa amp(e-bay) and went to hook up the speaker wires but there is 6 screws all marked differently. <<

 

Contact the manufacturer and try to obtain a copy of the manual. I wish you had given the brand and model, that would have helped.

 

>>grd,com,4.5(ohm?),8,16,18.<<

 

I am assuming that ground is the case, and common is where the negative speaker lead goes. I also assume the reason for multiple values is that the unit uses a tapped output transformer that can accomodate different speaker wires. For example, if you're using a single 8 ohm speaker, the hot connection would go to 8, and the other to Common. But if you have two 8 ohm speakers connected in series, then the two leads would go to 16 and common. If two 8 ohm speakers are in parallel, the two leads would go to 4.5 and common.

 

>>Also can i hook up 2 of my stereo speakers to this amp while they are still hooked up to my stereo and use the speakers for for the PA and stereo at the same time so the kids can sing along to thier cds???<<

 

For this, you want to use a mixer in front of the power amp that can mix together mics and the CD player output.

 

Hope this helps!! I also hope it's right...

[InsightPro]

Everything that was said so far sounds good to me. It would help to have a little bit more information, such as the the type of PA you are using and also the type of speakers(ohms).

 

As far as hooking up the PA and the stereo to the same set of speakers, I wouldn't do it. That sounds like a good way to blow an amp, both in your PA and your stereo.

 

If you have a stereo with seperate components, you could plug the cd player into one of the channels on your PA and simply mix the mic and cd player together. Hope this helps.

 

Matt