Hi from xeorex

Hi, thanks for the introduction. Welcome to the forums.

Reading your gear list and your report of your first gig, the first thing I have to say is good job making it work on such short notice and still having the crowd going.

I am sure you have a good reason to have a reasonably large PA mixer in the setup.

There is only one “proper” way to hook this setup up correctly if you want to use all gear:

1) Output 1/2 from the Hercules (RCA) to channel 5/6 on XS8 (Jack unbalanced). Cable: 1 cable 2x RCA (male) to 2x Jack male (TR)
2) XS8 main out (XLR) to Alto Sub input (XLR). It is important to connect both Left and Right channel to the sub! Cable: 2 cable XLR male to XLR female
3) Alto Sub output (XLR) to Prosound amp input (XLR). Important that the switch “output full range” is OFF! Cable: 2x cable XLR male to XLR female
4) Prosound amp output to CM1210 speakers input. I couldn’t figure out the input connectors of the CM1210 (you can post a pic if you are unsure), but I think they have both bare wire posts and Jack (mono). Cable: 2x cable SpeakOn 2P to Jack Mono.

Finally, you have an amp that delivers about 340W RMS into 8Ohm and speakers that can only handle 125W RMS. This is only 1/3 of the amps power. So you have to be VERY careful not to set the amp to high.

I think you already know that none of this is very high end gear, so be sure to check with us by the time you want to upgrade so we can give you some solid advice on what to buy and what not.

Hope that helps some.

Most PA mixers will have more mic than stereo inputs, it’s the nature of the beast. You could go a lot smaller, like the Yamaha MG06. Hooking up a phone or iPod for backup will do nicely.

Cable: there is no use for SpeakOn to XLR! Your speakers have either posts (which you don’t want to be using) or mono Jack. So you need to go from SpeakOn (amp outputs) to mono Jack (passive speaker inputs).

Speakers: I would personally suggest getting rid of the amp/passive speakers and adding two Alto 12″ active speakers in the mix. While I am not big fan of Alto, the 12″ active ones are more practical, look a bit more DJ-like and will most likely sound better. Later you can add a 2nd sub if needed.

Really, the time of passive speakers and amps, imho, is behind us. There is really no compelling reason for it anymore. It only adds to the cable mess. You can always use an extension/break-out power cable to get enough power outlets. For the speakers you can actually get cable with integrated XLR and PowerCon cables.

Yep, I prefer wood to plastic as well. Most subs will be wood though. When you start looking for active top end speakers, the higher end ones will be wood, lower end plastic. Don’t trust cheap wooden one. In any event, the truth for PA gear is still “you get what you pay for”.

As for Mackie, they have some models that are love or hate (the Thump comes to mind), they have some reasonable mid-range stuff. I tried the HD-series I have in a showroom in direct A-B comparison and the only thing that came close enough to make it a decision was the (pre-Behringer) TurboSound. Naming Behringer and RCF in one sentence is funny. They come in TOTALLY different categories (both based on price and quality). I have a long and unfortunately not too positive history with Behringer. With Behringer it really depends what type and model of gear. You can find a few good things, butt here is plenty that, even at the low prices, turns out to be too low a quality.

And yes, you can find bad info on everything online. It pays to find out the quality of the source.

SpeakOn to XLR is a very uncommon cable as very few amps or speakers have XLR connectors anymore. Not in the least to prevent people from connecting the wrong sources. If you were to put the SpeakOn into your speaker output on the amp and then put the XLR end accidentally into an input on your mixer or active speaker there is a fair chance you will blow up electronics. It’s a cable I do NOT have in my collection (and trust me when I say I have almost every conceivable cable option in my crate). The SpeakOn to mono Jack isn’t much better (although most mic inputs are XLR only, but you’d be in trouble with Jack or Combo inputs on say a mixer or active speaker), so you need to clearly mark the Jack end of the cable with a bright color tape or something to make clear that this is a speaker lead, not a signal cable.

This is the cable I ment: https://www.thomann.de/nl/sommer_cable_monolith_1_powercon_xlr_10m_2.htm.

You could run this from a box like this near your DJ booth: https://www.rolight.nl/image/picture/ROLIGHT133317_web.jpg (you put power into the blue one, the whites go to your other gear)

At the speaker stack you would have a box like this: http://static.webshopapp.com/shops/030335/files/048202380/keraf-15-dl-schuko-verdeeldoos-met-powercon-in-uit.jpg so you could hook up your active speaker, your active sub and something else (light for example).

This setup would have you running only one cable to each speaker stack, cutting back on cabling in a big way.

Any, to be honest.

If you want something a bit more robust than the hercules, you might want to check out the new Numark Mixtrack Platinum. Ohter contenders for good, solid starter controllers (if you are not going the Traktor DJ route) are the Denon MC2000, Pioneer DDJ-SB2 (or RB, but only if you are 200% certain that RekordBox DJ is the software platform of choice for you) and the Reloop Beatmix 2.

Yep, the EV is clearly a few steps up. You can use your Alto sub with new tops, but if you buy an extra sub, I’d stick with the EV-series. Matching gear usually sounds better.

I have one 18″ sub and two 12″ tops, plus two extra 12″ tops (same brand, other model). I’d pair 15″ subs with 12″ tops if you are using two subs, or a single 18″ with 12″ tops. If you are going the heavy duty route, double 18″ subs would best be used with either 4x 12″ or 2x 15″ tops.

Nice setup, should work nicely!