Questions about 3.5mm (1/8") connectors and stereo/mono conversion.

[KEW]

I have two discreet questions:

1) What is the most economical way to buy decent 12 volt trigger cables. From what I see, the mono ones are in rare supply, but you can buy a stereo cable for next to nothing. Can I use a stereo cable with 12V DC Trigger?
Suggestions for buying a couple of these inexpensively? Many places, the cost of shipping is a deal killer.

2) I bought JBL Peebles when they were on sale for $20.
http://www.jbl.com/computer-speakers/JBL+PEBBLES.html
They have very good sound for USB powered speakers. I generally use these with a tablet headphone-out and use a USB wall socket for power. My problem is, the two speakers can be a pain if I want to grab and go.
What I would like to sometimes do is leave the second speaker behind. My concern is that I would be only getting the content from one channel. I am wondering if there is a convenient way to get a summed R+L mono signal to the single speaker, say like plugging a mono cable into the headphone jack. Does anyone know the signal assignments of the sections of the pin?

 

[fuzz092888]

How long do you need one? I just searched 3.5mm mono cable on amazon and a bunch came up, 6ft and shorter. There's also this 50ft extension for a shorter one.

I've had hit and miss results with stereo cables for 12v triggers. Mono has worked every time.

I think if you have a 3.5mm male/male cable, this adapter should work.

http://www.amazon.com/Stereo-Female-Mono-Adaptor-30S1-04300/dp/B000I97G0A?

 

[KEW]

Thanks, I think I smoked too much crack last night (or something)!
Seriously, I must have had a typo in my search, because you are right!

 

[rojo]

12-foot
25-foot

Or if you need longer, you could always just get a short 3.5mm TS cable, cut it in the middle, strip the jacket, and splice in some speaker wire. I did something similar with some old hoarded HTIB speaker wire to run a remote turn on wire from my AVR at the front of the room to my Niles AC-3 behind the seats. A bit of heat shrink tubing is a good idea if you do this though.

 

[rojo]

Regarding summing your stereo signal into mono, read this: Why Not Wye?

 

[agarwalro]

Regarding summing your stereo signal into mono, read this: Why Not Wye?

Literally just googled the Rane website to post here.

 

[rojo]

For a pre-built solution, the Monacor SMC-1 is probably your best bet. As an alternative, there's also the Behringer MicroMIX MX400, but it's not passive.

 

[KEW]

Eh, I'll just use the stereo to mono adapter. Needing to carry an extra component would completely defeat my intended purpose, and the cost of the solution is greater than my $20 cost of the powered speakers.
If I was doing it with my real system then I would be interested in reading/understanding it and getting the gear to do it right.