Yamaha PM700 Mixer Help/Shure VA301S

[RIFF WRATH]

Advise and info please:

just acquired a 12 channel mixer, and downloaded the manual.shows output to speakers as +4dBm. tried to google what that means in ohms and no luck.
can anyone put that into newbie terms for me. also if you are familiar with the mixer, what is the wattage?

the unit came with a Shure VA301S speaker column/monitor that shows impedence at 32 ohm.50W. confused again. (my little 4 channel mixer shows 8ohm outlets) will it blow if used on 8ohm output?

any help appreciated.
cheers
RIFF WRATH

[Paul]

It's NOT a powered mixer, in that there is no power amp to drive the speakers. There are 2 "standards" for line level outputs. +4dBm is considered "professional", and -10dBm is considered "consumer" level.

You will need to run a balanced line from the mixer to a separate power amp, and then speaker cable to the speakers.

[RIFF WRATH]

Paul:Thanks for the input. shucks, I assumed from the weight that it would have an internal amp. This sucker is heavy and shows a weight of 70+ pounds.
I wonder, could I put it into my little 4 chan. Yorkie 150W power amp. The Yorkie is loud enough in my "double car garage" setting.
again any input very much appreciated.
cheers
RIFF WRATH

[Paul]

Paul:Thanks for the input. shucks, I assumed from the weight that it would have an internal amp. This sucker is heavy and shows a weight of 70+ pounds.
I wonder, could I put it into my little 4 chan. Yorkie 150W power amp. The Yorkie is loud enough in my "double car garage" setting.
again any input very much appreciated.
cheers
RIFF WRATH

That'll work, just make sure you use the appropriate cables to go from the mix out, (A/B or R/L) on the Yamaha to the power amp input on the Yorkie. Balanced cables, (XLR or 1/4 " TRS), will have less issues with hum.

[Hamm Guitars]

The PM700 is a decent mixer for its age.

It has transformer inputs on all channels and it has one of the fader system is way before its time.

If you ever open it up, you'll see that the linear faders are attached to standard rotating pots via a thing-a-ma-jig. The pots rarely get dirty as the exposed faders would.

You see this now on alot of boards that have flying faders, but that desk was built in the seventies.

If it ever dies on you, you might be able to pull out the input transformers and get $20 bucks or so for each of them.

[RIFF WRATH]

Thanks again for the info and advice.

I may browse at Yorkville and see what options they have for power amps.

Rolaids please, I think I have GAS

Cheers

RIFF WRATH

Oh, what about speakers. LOL

[RIFF WRATH]

well pulled the blanket off this past weekend and stared at it for a while. haven't attempted to test yet......I was advised that I will need a power amp for the FOH speakers....what about monitors......the unit shows outputs?????
do I need a secondary amp for monitors???
thanks
Gerry

[buckaroobanzai]

well pulled the blanket off this past weekend and stared at it for a while. haven't attempted to test yet......I was advised that I will need a power amp for the FOH speakers....what about monitors......the unit shows outputs?????
do I need a secondary amp for monitors???
thanks
Gerry

The Yamaha has main outs and separate monitor outs. I had a look thru the manual. Your Yorkie mixer, unfortunately, has only one power amp and is pretty much limited to two speakers. It's also got a rather clunky way of using it just as a power amp - it needs a custom-wired cable and uses one of the plugs on the back. (plugging the Yamaha into the front panel of the Yorkie won't work so hot.)

My suggestion - assuming you're planning on using the Yamaha at the June 21 jam - would be to run monitor speakers off the Yorkie, and beg/borrow/rent a pair of powered speakers as your mains.

Some knob-tweaking on the Yamaha will be required, and I think I have the custom cable for the Yorkie power amp around somewhere. But basically you would plug powered speakers into either the Program Out A jacks or Program Out B jacks on the Yamaha ( depends on what cables the powered speakers use), and plug the custom cable into one of the Yamaha Monitor Out B jacks and then into the appropriate jack on the back of the Yorkville.

I'm planning on being at the June 21 thing, and could lend a hand with setup. That is , unless Milkman's coming, he's a pro at this and I'm just an interested amateur.

Edit: That Shure column won't be of much use. At 32 Ohms it's not designed for use with 4 Ohm/8 Ohm gear like your Yorkville or similar PA gear. I don't think it would blow the Yorkville up, but you won't get a whole lot of volume out of it. Not worth the risk in my opinion.

[Paul]

well pulled the blanket off this past weekend and stared at it for a while. haven't attempted to test yet......I was advised that I will need a power amp for the FOH speakers....what about monitors......the unit shows outputs?????
do I need a secondary amp for monitors???
thanks
Gerry

Yes, you need a power amplifier for both the FOH and the monitors. That Yamaha unit sends line level to the outputs.

The suggestion of using powered speakers is good. Powered speakers are designed as a unit, so you will have the appropriate power level, cross-overs, etc. built into the unit. You have no speaker cable per se, just a balanced line level signal from the mixer output into the powered speaker. No speaker cable + no power loss over long speaker runs.

I don't like powered speakers because you need to run both AC and the line level signal to the speakers. That's just more wire to trip over.

[RIFF WRATH]

I don't have powered speakers....so.....I guess I need a power amp that will feed FOH and monitors at the same time?? certainly don't need 2 mixers at the same time........just want to check out the Yamaha and determine if it works or not......in the past the little 4 channel 150 W Yorkie has been "adequate" for FOH vocals, but no monitors, which sucks......and I don't dare try it to power the with the Yorkie Yamaha in case I blow it up....am trying to borrow a power amp hopefully soon to test things out...and could rent one from L&M last minute for a nominal sum....thanks for the input Paul and keep the suggestions coming...
Gerry

[RIFF WRATH]

I'm blaming Hamm for this, re his bass rig thread..........just got my hot little hands on a Tapco(mackie) Juice 2500 power amp....new, ordered from LAMusic, delivered in 3 days,......nearly dropped the sucker......must weigh 50lb..........can't wait to try and figure out the setup........and test the board.........and also monitors out from board through 150W yorkie........last night instead of practising my bass I checked out the board........holy shmolies.........72+ nasty looking pacman pots, a 1/2 dozen other knobs............sure hope she works........by the way the shure speaker was donated to a friends son's band with an old fostec unpowered mixer.....they need to make more noise in his basement...lol

[Hamm Guitars]

I hope you didn't buy this special for your Jam, as I could probably have loaned you some gear....

I take the blame for lots of stuff.

What do you have for speakers and monitors? At 750 Watts a side at 4ohms, that amp might be enough to power both your mains and monitors for a small setup - put the mains on ine side and the monitors on the other.

I have an AB 31 band EQ here you can have if you need it.

http://www.hammguitars.com/pub/gc/abeq.JPG

It's the top unit that is sitting on my guitar preamp. It is a little noisy, but it works.

Andy

I'm blaming Hamm for this, re his bass rig thread..........just got my hot little hands on a Tapco(mackie) Juice 2500 power amp....new, ordered from LAMusic, delivered in 3 days,......nearly dropped the sucker......must weigh 50lb..........can't wait to try and figure out the setup........and test the board.........and also monitors out from board through 150W yorkie........last night instead of practising my bass I checked out the board........holy shmolies.........72+ nasty looking pacman pots, a 1/2 dozen other knobs............sure hope she works........by the way the shure speaker was donated to a friends son's band with an old fostec unpowered mixer.....they need to make more noise in his basement...lol

[RIFF WRATH]

Thanks for the advice and the offer Hamm.........I did pick up the unit for the upcoming jam........and to test the board.......it's not like it will go to waste......I have 600w speakers for FOH and I'll know better hopefully after this weekend..........if things don't work out I will still have time to beg borrow or rent.........sent you a pm a while back...came across a beer can that says "Hamm's draft beer", not in too bad a shape, wondered if you have a spot on your shop shelf???
cheers
Gerry

[Hamm Guitars]

Thanks for the advice and the offer Hamm.........I did pick up the unit for the upcoming jam........and to test the board.......it's not like it will go to waste......I have 600w speakers for FOH and I'll know better hopefully after this weekend..........if things don't work out I will still have time to beg borrow or rent.........sent you a pm a while back...came across a beer can that says "Hamm's draft beer", not in too bad a shape, wondered if you have a spot on your shop shelf???
cheers
Gerry


My message box was allways full before the admins bumped up the mesage limit, so I don't think I ever got that message. I've got lots of Hamm Beer stuff at my mother's place on the east coast. I am partly of Germanic Decent and the original owner and namesake was a distant relative, so my family collects the stuff.

As for the EQ, I have it and some other freebie stuff floating around. If I don't get rid of it, I'm sure it will turn into some sort of project that I don't have time for.....

[RIFF WRATH]

I misunderstood your post, I thought you were offering to loan the EQ.......to be honest I'm am still quite a newby and wasn't sure how I would apply an EQ....I thought there was one built into the mixer??...but hey, I seldom turn down a gift.
cheers
gerry

[Hamm Guitars]

Just PM me your address and I'll ship it out to you next week. I'll be in Grand Bend all week-end abusing myself.

[RIFF WRATH]

pm sent
have a good weekend, weather sure looks great.
gerry

[RIFF WRATH]

well........PA's on hold for a few more days......gosh darn new amp only has speakertron hookups.........have to get to the big city to buy more wires and such.......dang

[Hamm Guitars]

That amp has banana plugs as well, so you could cut off an end an use tinned speaker wire....

[RIFF WRATH]

duh....never thought of that, but you are bang on...the speakers I want to "trial" have either 1/4 jacks or bare wire hookups.....this another readon I love this site........gonna get the speakons eventually though...
thanks again
Gerry

[Milkman]

Be careful to keep the speakers in phase with each other.

When one side sucks and the other blows it results in a pretty gutless sound.

[buckaroobanzai]

Be careful to keep the speakers in phase with each other.

When one side sucks and the other blows it results in a pretty gutless sound.

Ah.... I see you've met the 2 guitarists in my band.....

[Paul]

Ah.... I see you've met the 2 guitarists in my band.....

I didn't know the guys in Milli Vanilli played guitar????

[buckaroobanzai]

I didn't know the guys in Milli Vanilli played guitar????

They did when they were younger....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlRq7M48x14

[RIFF WRATH]

fired up the mixer, with the new amp............bonus is all 12 channels appear to work.........downside is the speakers that I planned on using don't........think the crossovers are toast......more testing needed.

[buckaroobanzai]

Riff Wrath - PM sent.....