Need assistance wiith optimal configuration of an older all Yorkville Audio System

[blk]

Hello all I just want to say I am new to audio and Djing. I probably should have waited more but I did my best research and pieced together a Yorkville System. It is all older hardware and what I believe in good condition. What I have found though is every time I talk to someone about what is the "best" and proper way to setup my system I get a different answer. some answers sound right others don't. Where people seem to back off is making the connection from the m1610 to the yx18sp.
Its all older hardware so I am sure you guys know this stuff.
Hardware List.
1 m1610 Yorkville Powered Mixer
1 yx18sp Yorkville Subwoofer
2 yx150 Yorkville passive speakers
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Currently my connections are
speakon connector left and right from rear of mixer to each yx150
1/4 stereo jack (post eq channel A) to XLR mono input on yx18sp ( reading this I am wondering if this is even right ) maybe I should be doing Pre-eq Mono ?
This works but I dont believe it is correct from what I am reading and understand is that the yx18sp is not taking the load off of the yx150s
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What I would think I should do (but fear burning something out) is:
1/4 inch or speakon mono left and right out from rear of m1610 to rear of sub input xlr or 1/4 inch
xlr or 1/4 mono left and right high pass output 80Hz from yx18sp to speakon or 1/4 jack yx150

Any and all input would be appreciated. I have searched and been unable to find a discussion on this exact setup.
Hardware links
yx18sp http://yorkville.com/legacy/product/yx18sp/
m1610 http://www.yorkville.com/mixers/micr...oduct/m1610-2/
yx150 http://yorkville.com/legacy/product/yx150/

[light-o-matic]

1/4 stereo jack (post eq channel A) to XLR mono input on yx18sp ( reading this I am wondering if this is even right ) maybe I should be doing Pre-eq Mono ?
This works but I dont believe it is correct from what I am reading and understand is that the yx18sp is not taking the load off of the yx150s

Correct, it will work, but since you have no crossover in the path, the yx150's get the same signal as before, including the bass. Also you're only getting one channel.. which is usually ok because bass is generally the same on both channels. But if you want to be correct you need to run both left and right to the sub.

If you want to get the crossover into the path, you need to run two cables into the sub from the Post EQ jacks on the mixer.. then two more cables from the high pass output jacks on the sub back into the mixer amp input jacks.

What I would think I should do (but fear burning something out) is:
1/4 inch or speakon mono left and right out from rear of m1610 to rear of sub input xlr or 1/4 inch
xlr or 1/4 mono left and right high pass output 80Hz from yx18sp to speakon or 1/4 jack yx150

That would destroy your subwoofer. Never connect the speaker output from the mixer into the input of anything other than a passive speaker, unless it is specifically designed for speaker-level input.

[Coronaoperator]

Currently my connections are
speakon connector left and right from rear of mixer to each yx150
1/4 stereo jack (post eq channel A) to XLR mono input on yx18sp ( reading this I am wondering if this is even right ) maybe I should be doing Pre-eq Mono ?
This works but I dont believe it is correct from what I am reading and understand is that the yx18sp is not taking the load off of the yx150s

This way will work but as you said, your main speakers will be running full range which when running a sub isn't ideal. The bass from the sub and the bass from the main speakers will be fighting each other with constructive and destructive interference. Also, your main speakers will run out of volume early on having to play those low frequencies.

Lets get a few terms correct:
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1/4" jacks in proaudio come in 2 flavours:

TS - stands for Tip/Sleeve
TRS - stands for Tip/Ring/Sleeve

What you called a stereo 1/4" jack is not stereo, it is a balanced 1/4" TRS jack
Likewise a mono 1/4" jack is not a mono jack, it is an unbalanced 1/4" TS jack

Both the above are mono signals, with the TRS jack being a balanced signal and a TS jack being unbalanced

Usually the only signal cable in "stereo" in proaudio is the headphone jack which also uses a TRS 1/4" jack
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Next bit:

Speakon and in the case of older units like yours, 1/4" TS amplifier/speaker inputs/outputs are high power level

xlr and 1/4" TRS/TS and RCA are low power line level signals

If you mix a high power level cable into a low power line level signal you will fry one or both parts. It is confusing a bit because in older units the 1/4" jack can appear in both of them. Usually it is obvious which 1/4" is a high power level because it will be labeled "speaker out - 4 ohm minimum" or something like that and be located near the Speakons. d

Now that you know that, then both of these are bad ideas:

What I would think I should do (but fear burning something out) is:
1/4 inch or speakon mono left and right out from rear of m1610 to rear of sub input xlr or 1/4 inch
xlr or 1/4 mono left and right high pass output 80Hz from yx18sp to speakon or 1/4 jack yx150

Here the 1/4 or speakon out from the rear is a high power level and the sub xlr or 1/4 is a signal level source. Plug that in and it will fry one or both sides.
Also xlr or 1/4 mono high pass is a signal level and plugging that into the speakon on the yx150 is a high level input. Luckily that won't blow as the speaker isn't producing any power but no sound will come out.

Now we got that out of the way, here is how to route it:

You need a signal level output from mixer to signal level input on subs. On your mixer you have 2 sets of outputs pre-eq or post eq, pick one. If you want to use the graphic eq's (you do) then use the post eq outputs.

You need 1/4" TRS from post-eq out - XLR male on the inputs of the sub. These are signal level.

Then you need XLR female from the subs high pass outputs - 1/4" TRS back to the mixers Power Amp In jacks. These are signal level too.

Then your speakers to the speaker outs on the back of the mixer. These are high power outs.

Hope that helps.

[blk]

That would destroy your subwoofer. Never connect the speaker output from the mixer into the input of anything other than a passive speaker, unless it is specifically designed for speaker-level input.

Thank you for this post and for saving me from making a costly mistake.
This post has cleared up many questions for me.

[blk]

Lets get a few terms correct:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/4" jacks in proaudio come in 2 flavours:

TS - stands for Tip/Sleeve
TRS - stands for Tip/Ring/Sleeve

What you called a stereo 1/4" jack is not stereo, it is a balanced 1/4" TRS jack
Likewise a mono 1/4" jack is not a mono jack, it is an unbalanced 1/4" TS jack

Both the above are mono signals, with the TRS jack being a balanced signal and a TS jack being unbalanced

Usually the only signal cable in "stereo" in proaudio is the headphone jack which also uses a TRS 1/4" jack

I will use the terms properly when going forward as much as possible thank you for taking the time to explain this. Though I should have known or read up on this to get a clearer understanding already.
I can see by the number of posts you have made I can imagine you must have explained this before once or twice.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now we got that out of the way, here is how to route it:

You need a signal level output from mixer to signal level input on subs. On your mixer you have 2 sets of outputs pre-eq or post eq, pick one. If you want to use the graphic eq's (you do) then use the post eq outputs.

You need 1/4" TRS from post-eq out - XLR male on the inputs of the sub. These are signal level.

Then you need XLR female from the subs high pass outputs - 1/4" TRS back to the mixers Power Amp In jacks. These are signal level too.

Then your speakers to the speaker outs on the back of the mixer. These are high power outs.

Hope that helps.

Both of the replies to my question helped so much.

With me having to run 4 cables to get this system operating correctly I am guessing my hardware choices were not the best.

I am going to hunt down the rest of the cables this weekend.

[blk]

With the same hardware listed above I have a question about how to route my audio from my laptop to the mixer

I only have Stereo Headphone out. I adjust volume output of laptop to full. Should I have an interface with a different output?

I have a couple different ways I have connected just unsure which one is best or correct.
1 Tape left and right in on the mixer. ( just main level out )
2 Line 1 in using a TS
3 Line 9/10 Y jack to TS Left and TS Right. ( level output adjusts clipping ) I think this is correct?

Once again thanks for helping out with some of these questions. I understand there are many ways to complete a connection but I imagine there are sacrifices to each one.

[light-o-matic]

With the same hardware listed above I have a question about how to route my audio from my laptop to the mixer

I only have Stereo Headphone out. I adjust volume output of laptop to full. Should I have an interface with a different output?

I have a couple different ways I have connected just unsure which one is best or correct.
1 Tape left and right in on the mixer. ( just main level out )
2 Line 1 in using a TS
3 Line 9/10 Y jack to TS Left and TS Right. ( level output adjusts clipping ) I think this is correct?

Once again thanks for helping out with some of these questions. I understand there are many ways to complete a connection but I imagine there are sacrifices to each one.

Use option #3 with a cable like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Hosa-CMP-153-.../dp/B000068O3C

Option #2 is just no good, it won't sound right.. wrong type of cable, wrong type of input.
Option #1 will work but gives you less control than #3

But if you want to do real DJing you will want to get a dj controller with its own audio output rather than run out of your laptop headphone jack.

[light-o-matic]

PS and yea def you would have been better off with a pair of powered speakers to go with that sub, and a small non-powered mixer.. or at your stage of the game just a controller directly into the sub with no mixer...

[Coronaoperator]

I vote option #4: USB to xlr audio interface. Seriously, your headphone outs on your laptop sound like ass on a good system. A good one is this Peavy one here. Best one would probably be the Radial USB DI. These boxes bypasses your headphone jack all together.

If it was me buying cables for that run to the subs and back, instead of buying 1/4 to xlr cables, I would just get adapters and then 4 xlr cables.

so a pack of these
a pack of these

and then 4 xlr cables. 25 footers should be plenty long enough.

[light-o-matic]

He's better off just putting that money toward a controller w/ audio interface.