EP4000 to drive RTI12s? HOW?

gogunbaba

Hello Everyone,

I have been a long time follower of this forum.

I am trying to connect an EP4000 to ONKYO 805 AVR. I have 2 XLR Male to 1/4inch TRS Male , 2 Audio Y Cable, Quarter Inch Stereo Jack to 2 RCA Plugs and 2 RCA Male to Dual RCA female Y-Cable. I have attached the pictures. I would like to run my main speakers (Polk Audio RTI 12s) using EP4000, 1 Channel per speaker.







I connected 1 speaker without using the RCA Y cable. I did get sound but the speakers did not sound like I was using an external amplifier. I had to crank up the volume all the way uo to get the performance I would get from my receiver.

My questions are

1) Do I have the correct cables to do what I want to accomplish?
2) Do I need some kind of voltage adjuster like Samson S-convert to boost the signal level to the amp?

Thank you,

tonyb

Well, for starters,thats a pro amp,4000 watts,not exactly what you want my friend. As far as I can see,it has pro inputs and outputs,not your standard flair for a HT receiver. Want to know why you don't hear a difference? Your speaker cables are still connected to the receiver. I'm willing to bet the amp only has balanced connections for pro speakers. Get an amp for home use friend.

jinjuku

The pro amp most likely has a higher input impedance than your receiver is outputting. Your first step is to get rid of all the adapters.

Now:

Try the Art Clean Box Pro This will take care of any differences between the Pre-outs and the AMP line level in. So yes to a box like the Samson S Convert.


Next get:

RCA to XLR cables.

Then:

TRS to XLR (balanced)

You will need a pair of the TRS to XLR...

That should get you there.

jinjuku

Correction the pro version will take RCA in.... Just need two RCA to RCA and two XLR patch cables.

jinjuku

BTW welcome to Club Polk. I see you met the other welcoming committee.

quadzilla

I run Mackie power amps. You want an RCA to 1/4 unbalanced cable, or an RCA to XLR cable. These can be had. If you can't find any, then run good RCA to 1/4 adapters. Come out of the inputs labeled Front L and R. Run one cable to each input on the EP labeled 1 and 2. But that 4000 is a bit much for RTi12s. the 12s are rated at 500 wpc, and will take up to about 900-1000 before drivers start over heating and the voice coils melt down. Believe me on this. There is such a thing as too much power, even if it's clean power.

If you run it like this, you'll probably have to lower the volume on your receiver channels to match volume with other speakers. I had to run my AVR at -6 db at 1000 wpc. I can get you pics if you still don't understand.

I can also tell you that once you get it working, the 12s will really open up. I get very good dynamics and an incredible sound stage out of my running them at 850 wpc out of the Mackies. It may take them a while to break in. I bought my 12s used from a guy that had had them for almost 2 years, and they didn't get really broken in until I brought in the big power. Then they smoothed out and opened up quite a bit. Prior to that they were pretty forward and very bright, even a bit harsh.

gogunbaba

tonyb wrote: »

Well, for starters,thats a pro amp,4000 watts,not exactly what you want my friend. As far as I can see,it has pro inputs and outputs,not your standard flair for a HT receiver. Want to know why you don't hear a difference? Your speaker cables are still connected to the receiver. I'm willing to bet the amp only has balanced connections for pro speakers. Get an amp for home use friend.

I did connect the speaker cables to the amp when I tried to see if the system was working. Then, I connected them back , once I figured out that I did not have what I needed to make this connection work.

gogunbaba

jinjuku wrote: »

The pro amp most likely has a higher input impedance than your receiver is outputting. Your first step is to get rid of all the adapters.

Now:

Try the Art Clean Box Pro This will take care of any differences between the Pre-outs and the AMP line level in. So yes to a box like the Samson S Convert.


Next get:

RCA to XLR cables.

Then:

TRS to XLR (balanced)

You will need a pair of the TRS to XLR...

That should get you there.

so, it is obvious that I need the clean Box pro or Samson converter.

I will use the XLR to 1/4" Cables that I have. So, will this scenario work.

from EP4000's 1/4" inputs to Clean Box Pro's XLR input for both channels .

Then I need to use the ouput of the Clean Pro to the output of my amp.

can I just use a RCA cable for this (using the unbalanced output in the Clean Box Pro? or do I have to but XLR to RCA cables?

jinjuku

gogunbaba wrote: »

so, it is obvious that I need the clean Box pro or Samson converter.

I will use the XLR to 1/4" Cables that I have. So, will this scenario work.

from EP4000's 1/4" inputs to Clean Box Pro's XLR input for both channels .

Then I need to use the ouput of the Clean Pro to the output of my amp.

can I just use a RCA cable for this (using the unbalanced output in the Clean Box Pro? or do I have to but XLR to RCA cables?

Slow down. You can't go from input to input. Its Output->Input->Output-Input.

You will go:

Receiver/Pre-Pro (RCA) Output -> Art Clean Box Pro (RCA) Input. Then Art Clean Box Pro (XLR) Output->AMP (TSR) Input.

F1nut

Want to know why you don't hear a difference? Your speaker cables are still connected to the receiver.

Tonyb got what everyone else missed. It doesn't matter what RCA, XLR, Y cables, BS boxes, etc. that you use, your speakers have to be connected to the outputs of the pro amp. To be able to use the outputs on the pro amp, you will need a twist lock connector that matches the type on the amp. So in the end, you'll end up with a lot of whacky connections, possibly an impedance matching device (more noise and problematic connections), a noisy fan and an amp designed for lots of power at the expense of finesse, read quality sound. You should be saying, no thanks, right about now.

Tonyb also gave you the best advice you're going to get, "Get an amp for home use friend."

jinjuku

F1nut wrote: »

Tonyb got what everyone else missed. It doesn't matter what RCA, XLR, Y cables, BS boxes, etc. that you use, your speakers have to be connected to the outputs of the pro amp. To be able to use the outputs on the pro amp, you will need a twist lock connector that matches the type on the amp. So in the end, you'll end up with a lot of whacky connections, possibly an impedance matching device (more noise and problematic connections), a noisy fan and an amp designed for lots of power at the expense of finesse, read quality sound. You should be saying, no thanks, right about now.

Tonyb also gave you the best advice you're going to get, "Get an amp for home use friend."

No one missed any point. The OP has the speakers connected to the outputs on the amp. He just wasn't feeding it with the correct line level signal.

You don't have to use Speakon connectors but they are nice. If you get Speakon's just get the NL2's. The EP4000 is just a re-badged EP2500 where they measured differently and then named it and raised the price. Still a solid amp.

Now whether it is suitable for home use, well that is a matter of opinion. I won't disagree with the sentiment that it wasn't designed for home use. It will need the fan modded to get it quiet. A lot of people including me use the Behringer Amps for Sub duty. You don't need finesse, just a big hammer:D

I would let the OP have some fun and hope that this is their start of a long, fun, community interactive journey. Everyone has to start somewhere.

BTW, you can't hear the ART Clean Box. It is transparent.

F1nut

You don't have to use Speakon connectors but they are nice.

I stand corrected. I saw no regular binding posts, but upon further investigation they are present.

gogunbaba

jinjuku wrote: »

No one missed any point. The OP has the speakers connected to the outputs on the amp. He just wasn't feeding it with the correct line level signal.

You don't have to use Speakon connectors but they are nice. If you get Speakon's just get the NL2's. The EP4000 is just a re-badged EP2500 where they measured differently and then named it and raised the price. Still a solid amp.

Now whether it is suitable for home use, well that is a matter of opinion. I won't disagree with the sentiment that it wasn't designed for home use. It will need the fan modded to get it quiet. A lot of people including me use the Behringer Amps for Sub duty. You don't need finesse, just a big hammer:D

I would let the OP have some fun and hope that this is their start of a long, fun, community interactive journey. Everyone has to start somewhere.

BTW, you can't hear the ART Clean Box. It is transparent.

I got your message, sorry, since I am a newbie, I can't use PM option. I have been a long time member of avsforums.com.

For those, that is thinking that I have the speaker cables connected to my receiver and not to the amp, I have already posted above that I did connect the speaker cables to the EP4000 initally when I was trying to make this setup work.

Furthermore, I know that this is a pro amp and it was not built for home use. I bought this amp because I am in the process of building 2 THT subs for my movie theater and EP4000 will be used to run 2 36X36X24" THTs .

While I am working on this project, I wanted to try and see if this amp will run my RTI12s that's all... if it works , good for me, I will buy another EP4000 for the THTs, if it doesn't, not a big deal.

thanks for all the suggestions.

jinjuku

Did you make any head way? Curious people want to know...

VR3

That amp sounds like ****.

They are about as reliable as clogged toilet too...

There are 60 watt amps out there that will sound better riving ur RTi12

jinjuku

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

That amp sounds like ****.

They are about as reliable as clogged toilet too...

There are 60 watt amps out there that will sound better riving ur RTi12

There are a ton of EP2500 owners that would disagree with you about the reliability. The PCB in that sucker is dual layer, dual grounded. The Toroidal transformer is a beast also. Makes for a great sub amp. Admittedly I haven't hooked it up to my main L/R.

Mine is going on 2 years old w/o missing a beat

VR3

Hmmm, well I have been selling Behringer gear for 4 years now and I can tell you I have already replaced 2 EP4000 amplifiers in their already short life and dozens of EP2500 -- not to mention the EP1500, A500...

Replaced tons of mixers, guitar amplifiers, processors, microphones, headphones...

Pretty much if Behringer makes it - Ive replaced it more than once...

For every 10 we sell.... we replace 3...

jinjuku

Vr3MxStyler2k3 wrote: »

Hmmm, well I have been selling Behringer gear for 4 years now and I can tell you I have already replaced 2 EP4000 amplifiers in their already short life and dozens of EP2500 -- not to mention the EP1500, A500...

Replaced tons of mixers, guitar amplifiers, processors, microphones, headphones...

Pretty much if Behringer makes it - Ive replaced it more than once...

For every 10 we sell.... we replace 3...

Yikes!... I know that there have been people complaining about a ~3Khz oddity with the A500's. I wouldn't consider Behringer the equivalent of Crown/QSC/Crest.

I can only speak to my personal experience and that of some friends. My A500 and EP2500 have been doing fine so far. For the prices I paid it's almost scary that I consider them throw away if they break. If the 2500 did break any time soon I would get a Crown or QSC.