Help with a Loudspeaker

[Andrew Graham]

Hello there everyone, Im absolutely clueless when it comes to the audio world so bear with me. I found a Electrovoice ZX5-90 Loudspeaker in my dads garage after cleaning it out. No idea if it works but would love to find out. Only problem is I have no idea at all how you run these things. There are no cables with it just the loudspeaker itself.

Wondering if anyone on here would know the best/cheapest way to get some audio pumping through it? Thanks for the help!

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

That's a nice speaker. Hopefully you have some kind of stereo system (not a home theater in a box) to power the speaker? If so, go to Guitar Center and get one of these cables.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Live-Wire/Elite-12-Gauge-Speakon-Banana-Speaker-Cable.gc

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[markw]

to see if it has a chance of working, get a 1.5 volt batter and use a wire to "touch" the + and - terminals to the two terminals on the speaker. if you get a scratchy sound, you know it could be good. If not, it's dead.

Then, to see if it's functional in a useful way, You need a wire (like an AC cord) wire to connect the two speaker connections to some way to power it.

That can be an amplifier, receiver, or whatever you can find with speaker outputs and use the two terminals on the speaker to connect the two terminals on the speaker to two speaker terminals on the amplifier.

Hint: the two terminals are generally red and black, or something like that.

turn the amp slowly and starting with a low volume.

 

[herbu]

Wondering if anyone on here would know the best/cheapest way to get some audio pumping through it?

Andrew, just for a moment, let's assume it does work.
1) Is there just one speaker?
2) How would you plan to use it? I mean, what do you want? Radio? Ipod? Smartphone? CDs?

Here's why I ask. Almost all music is recorded in stereo, and almost all sources reproduce music in stereo. That means a Left and a Right channel... and that means 2 speakers. The only source I can think of that uses mono, (1 channel, thus only 1 speaker), is AM radio.

So depending on what audio you plan to pump through it, you'll likely need 2 speakers. In a stereo setup, it is not advised to use unmatched speakers. You want the Left channel audio perfectly matched to the Right channel audio. Perhaps you can find another Electrovoice ZX5-90 on Craigslist or somewhere like that.

But if you want stereo and cannot find a matching speaker, you'll really need to get a matching pair. Fortunately, we can point you to an excellent pair for $200. But first, please tell us what you want to do.

 

[Andrew Graham]

Alright guys thanks for all the replies so far much appreciated! Basically just had a notion to see if I could run just music to it outside in my gazebo.

Preferably my phone but thought this speaker would be great because my backyard is basically just a large field so would be awesome to be able to hear it from all over.

Anyway got a 1.5 volt battery and some wire but I am absolutely clueless as to where to connect the positive and negative to. Can yous take a look at this and see what yous think?

Again thanks for the help so far and the patience to deal with my absolute newbie-ness

 

[markw]

Can't see the picture but, for this test, it doesn't matter which terminal the + or - goes on the speaker.

Or are you saying you can't see the speaker terminals.

 

[3db]

Thats a serious PA speaker..


http://www.manualslib.com/manual/43859/Electro-Voice-Zx5-Series.html

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Andrew, See Wayne's post above. You do need some Pro audio cables and amp/mixer combo like this one :
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/phonic-powerpod-620-plus-200-watt-6-channel-powered-mixer-with-dfx/637570002000000

 

[Andrew Graham]

wow overwhelmed by how fast you are all responding! I cant seem to find the terminals themselves, would they be inside the case? And Id be happy to invest into an amp/mixer if I could figure out if this thing works. Maybe get a second one second hand to get a stereo setup like herbu said. So can anyone clarify where the terminals would be?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

wow overwhelmed by how fast you are all responding! I cant seem to find the terminals themselves, would they be inside the case? And Id be happy to invest into an amp/mixer if I could figure out if this thing works. Maybe get a second one second hand to get a stereo setup like herbu said. So can anyone clarify where the terminals would be?

they are staring at you - This is a pro PA speaker - it doesn't have RED/BLACK terminals, instead what you see is neutrik speakon connector, which you need .... drumroll.... a cable with speakon plug

Keep the red toggle switch on bridge (not bi-amp) and get mixer/amp which I linked above.

 

[Andrew Graham]

Alright so there's really no way to test if they work without going hooking them up to an amplifier?

 

[Latent]

You can cheaply make your own cable. Just need one of these connnectors

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_1_8?k=speakon+connector&sprefix=speakon+

And some suitable speaker wire. Work best with round pro speaker cable and not figure 8 zip cord wire.

For your speaker you can set it to passive mode and then you need only pair 1 connected to the 4 way plug. Connect this to any amplifier and it should work.

Speakon connectors have 4 terminals. 1- , 1+ , 2- and 2+. But you can just use the 1 terminals if you only need one speaker channel.

If you only have one speaker then stereo sources become a bit of an issue. You either just get left or right channel only which will sound a bit off on a few sources or get a mixing device that can convert to mono properly. For sources I would recommend simply connecting a chromecast audio to the chosen amp and this is then easy to control from anywhere with your mobile.

 

[Andrew Graham]

Okay okay this is great, learning lots! Hypothetically could I buy/make the cable and test it off my car amplifier? Or will it not have enough power? I don't want to go out and spend mega bucks on an amplifier /mixer for a dead speaker lol

 

[Andrew Graham]

Or would it be wiser to go ahead and invest in a pair of affordable pa speakers? I just want to get good super loud coverage of music from my phone via something simple like an AUX to my backyard, which is just under an acre big. Cheers for all the help so far guys!

 

[herbu]

good super loud coverage of music from my phone... just under an acre big.

Andrew,
I think this is most definitely PA territory. Filling an acre with loud music is a tall order. Do you know about how much you're willing to spend?

 

[Andrew Graham]

Andrew,
I think this is most definitely PA territory. Filling an acre with loud music is a tall order. Do you know about how much you're willing to spend?

Really don't want to spend too much, about $400? even if I could get that one speaker working in mono and it covered a decent amount of area I'd be happy enough

 

[Don G.]

That is a good speaker, but by the time you buy a decent amp and something to get your source music to the amp you might come out better buying on of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Alto-Professional-TS115W-Loudspeaker-Connectivity/dp/B0073SSR0M/ref=sr_1_18?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1463602576&sr=1-18&keywords=alto+speakers

With that, all you need is a cell phone with bluetooth and 110 Volt power. It has a build in 400 watt amp and a 15" woofer. Will play reasonable quality sound very loud. I have one on my screened in porch and use it for music in my back yard / pool. Easy to hook up, easy to use. They also make a 12" version for about $100 less.