Hooking up Reference Monitors (Home Recording)?

Question

I'm a musician with a Home Recording Set-up. I recently just bought my first pair of reference monitors - Event ALP5s. I am a novice at this stuff and I am not familiar with electrical terminology. Thus, the user manual (which is very short and NOT user-friendly anyway) is practically useless to me. I just want to know how to hook these things up. There are three inputs on the back of each monitor. Two of them are "balanced" inputs, and one of them appears to be shaped like the input for a mic cable, and the other an instrument cable. Then there is another input called an "unbalanced" input, and it looks basically like a headphones input (it's really small). Where do I plug in at, and what kind of cables do I use?

Sadly, Musicians Friend apparently assumes you know that you are getting ONLY monitors, and not the cables it takes to set them up.

Answer 1

Standu;

The Mic type of connection @back of speaker uses a standard Microphone cable. It is an 'XLR' cable, which is a 'balanced' cable.

Better mixers and audio interfaces offer this type of speaker connection for the best sound clarity and reduced ground noise possibilites.

Then, as most commonly used, is a 'phono type' - either 'balanced' or 'unbalanced', but the standard type of cable that would be plugged into a Guitar & Amp.

Difference is: Balanced - 2 grey or white rings on shaft;

Unbalanced - 1 grey or white ring on shaft, and possibly more noise due to grounding problems.

Smallest input @ back of speaker is like mini-headphone plug type.

Don't bother with that one (wire to thin, plug to flimsy).

Use either XLR (Mic cable) or TRS (Guitar-Phono-type cable), but make sure you ask for 'balanced'.

Then check for 2 rings on shaft not just 1, hence the 'ring' & 'sleeve' of the Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) title.

Otherwise, it's just a TS - 'tip-sleeve'.

Most good sound/ recording studios use as many balanced cables as possible, either 'XLR', 'TRS'.

Always connect with power off!

Jim