What do I need for PA speakers?

Question

I have 2 gigantic PA speakers I won in a contest. I've had them for a long time but I never even used them. What do I need to get some sound into them? Do I have to buy an av reciever or some kind of thing to power them? I don't get it. They don't appear to have any power input in them, they only have 1/4" audio plugs.

Answer 1

any type of loudspeaker requires an amplifier

Answer 2

PA speakers tend to be best in the normal human vocal range of frequencies, and are less efficient and accurate in the bass and high treble. It's unlikely that the info plate specifies the power needed to drive them; it's more likely the maximum input power in watts is given. If they're efficient, you should be able to use a medium-power home stereo amplifier (or receiver, which is just a tuner connected to an amp) to power them. Do you mean they have 1/4" jacks, or cables with 1/4" plugs? I think the first one is correct, so all you need to do is attach 1/4" plugs to the ends of the two speaker cables to connect them to your amp. Just make sure the impedance of the speakers (expressed in ohms, usually 8 or 4) is equal to or greater than the output impedance of the amp. You can turn up the bass control on the amp to compensate for the PA speakers' weakness at that end. Don't expect great music reproduction, but you might be pleasantly surprised.

But if you don't really need them for anything, sell them.

Answer 3

On PA speakers there is typically a small plate on the back that you remove. Under this plate are two screws to connect your amp output. The speakers may be 8 ohms or they may have what is called a 25 volt or 70 volt input. It should say somewhere on the speakers. You don't need a huge amp to drive them unless you want a lot of audio. A 10 watt amp will give you 10 watts of audio from them, etc.

Answer 4

PA (public address) speakers normally have the wattage rating on the exterior of the case above the phone jack or IDN plug (uncommon today) so before you do anything, you should check the wattage it takes to drive them. If they are 8 ohm speakers (nearly half are) then you could put 1/4" phone jacks on the speaker wires from your stereo and use them, albeit ineffectively, because 10 watts won't make much noise in a 500W speaker.
I would not suggest buying an amp and hooking them up in your apartment because you will piss off your neighbors in short order. But most of them are terribly efficient speakers and give great sound.
After you determine the wattage to drive them, buy an amplifier not exceeding the wattage rating. You may then hook a microphone, CD player, tape player, turntable, or anything compatible with the amp into it. Then rent yourself out as a DJ or bandleader, commensurate with your talents. Or, do as I do and rent them out with an insurance policy paid for by the renter so if they blow up the speakers, you aren't out the money to replace them. But I would not recommend using them as home speakers, because you will be evicted in short order.

Answer 5

If they are not self-powered, you will need a power amp (or 2), a mixer for your input, and some source for your sound like a mic, cd player, keyboard, etc.

Answer 6

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