Typical Active Speaker System Setup
The diagram below is a “basic” version of an “Active” speaker system set-up (speakers have built-in Power Modules / DSP). As you can see by the diagram – this type of system looks fairly easy to set-up. Once you run AC power to the speakers / mixing board / instruments – the only other cables needed are from the Mixing Board to the Speakers, and jumper cables from the Top Cabinets to the Sub-Woofers. The “Top Cabinets” can just sit on top of the Subs or use Pole Mounts (as shown above). This system very easy to set-up, sounds incredible, and is highly efficient.
Typical Passive Speaker System Setup
The diagram below is a “basic” version of a “Passive” speaker system set-up (example using speakers that have built-in crossovers). Usually, the output of the Mixing Board would first go to an Equalizer and / or a Compressor Limiter (or some other sound processing gear). The output from the “last device” would then feed the power amplifiers. This is just one example of a basic Passive Sound System set-up with the mixing board feeding the power amplifiers directly.
This example is another “basic” version of a “Passive” speaker system set-up using speakers that have built-in crossovers, and the addition of a Stage Monitor. In both examples the mixing board is feeding the power amplifiers directly, and there’s no other sound processing gear in between. The Inputs and Outputs we are using in this example are a CD Player (Line Inputs), 2 Microphones (Mic Inputs), a Guitar Amplifier and Keyboard (Line Inputs). The Main Left / Right Outputs of the mixing board are feeding the power amplifiers directly, and the AUX Send 1 (Output) is feeding the Stage Monitor Amplifier.
