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Author Topic:  Rack Setup Help
Austin Tripp

 

From:
Nashville TN
Post  Posted 22 Jul 2017 1:06 pm    
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I'm wiring up a new rack and I need some help wiring it! I have a presonus studio channel preamp, Lexicon Mx400 effects and Crown Xti 1002 power amp. If anyone could give advise, I'd greatly appreciate it! I've never used a power amp before so this is all new to me
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Lane Gray


From:
Topeka, KS
Post  Posted 22 Jul 2017 2:40 pm    
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I like keeping things simple, so I'd put the volume pedal before the rack, and the Lexicon will want a line level signal, so into the preamp, then the Lexicon, and the power amp last.
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 23 Jul 2017 5:49 pm    
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I found the units you describe online. I don't see any effects loop for the Presonus, or any of the units, and it appears to be a one channel mono pre. It has an instrument input on the front panel and either an xlr or trs output only out.

The Lex has only 1/4" phone jacks for l&r inputs and outputs.

The Crown accepts only xlr balanced inputs.

This looks like a wiring nightmare to me with a lot of cabling adapters necessary.

Maybe, guitar, VP to Presonus instrument jack with your standard guitar cable, out from trs jack with stereo to y cable into the L&R mono inputs on the Lex.

From there I don't see any way to connect to your Crown amp except by adapting mono cables l&r to xlr adapters/plugs from the Lex outputs into the Crown.

This assumes you are planning on using 2 speakers in a stereo config.

If at all possible, you should probably have someone knowledgeable in this field advise you in person at your location and/or do it for you...or exchange your gear for units that are more connectible friendly.

Perhaps some of the electronic whizzes here have better suggestions, but it looks troublesome to me.
[These photos are Sweetwater's and you'll need to open them and find the front and rear panels pics.]

presonus
lex400
Crown
Then you will need speakon speaker cables out of the Crown unless you want to bind post them every time....and I don't know what type cabling plug your speaker cabinet[s] will accept.

Wish I could be of more help...sorry. I thought things had gotten simpler, but I dunno.

...on second thought, maybe you could go from the VP to the Lex first, the Pre next, then the amp. Might be easier to connect if it works that way.
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Jerry Erickson

 

From:
Atlanta,IL 61723
Post  Posted 9 Aug 2017 5:16 am    
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You need
1 TRS to TRS cable to go from the output of the preamp to the input of the MX400.
For the outputs, you need
2- TRS to XLR Male cables to go from the outputs of the MX400 to the inputs of the Crown amp.
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Godfrey Arthur

 

From:
3rd Rock
Post  Posted 10 Aug 2017 4:56 pm    
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You didn't mention if your Presonus is a single channel or what model exactly you have if it's mono or stereo.

If the Presonus is a single channel mono you will have to set your amp in BRIDGED MODE and just use channel one.

This then allows you to use just one speaker, using a (speakon by Neutrik connector at the back of the amp) and SPEAKER CABLE, not audio cable. If your speakers don't have a speakon input then you need to get/make a speakon on one end and a 1/4" male on the other.




You can set to Bridged within the amp itself by looking at your owner's manual and following the steps to put the amp in bridged mode. This will combine both left/right channels into a single output one-channel amp.


According to the amp specs you can choose 8 or 4 ohms output.

The signal from the Presonus to the amp should be an XLR to XLR making sure your 3 pins are wired exactly the same on both ends. Many times these may be wired backwards so a rule of thumb is to check the cables to make sure pins 1,2,3 are seeing the same color codes on each end.


To make things simpler put the volume pedal between guitar and the Presonus' input. For your effects, an effects loop SEND/RETURN path on the channel you'll plug your guitar into would be nice, then you can adjust the level of the effects with a separate effects control.

BUT your Lexicon Mx400 needs 1/4" phone jacks for in/out. AND THEY ARE BALANCED CONNECTORS, meaning TRS 1/4" plugs, 3 wires.




Depending on your mixer whether it is mono or stereo will you be able to wire up your Lexicon in stereo or not which would then dictate what amp setting mono/stereo you can use.

You can still wire up everything for MONO even if you have a stereo mixer.

Audio grade shielded cables for all the audio line guitar-volume pedal-Presonus- Lexicon.

Speaker cable is basically zip cord or AC two conductor wire, NOT shielded.

If it is this:



You can only plug in one thing at a time. If you plug in your guitar, the input becomes an instrument preamp and the microphone preamp is bypassed. So this model Presonus is limited.

There is no normal way to hook up your Lexicon as Jerry O pointed out, no FX loop. This makes things complicated in that you'd have to go through your Lexicon before the Presonus and that would take some fiddling with both the Presonus and Lexicon to get your gain staging right.


For one thing, the Lexicon is not set up to receive an instrument level. It's meant for studio level use Input Level: +4 dBu.

That is not a guitar impedance input. And you won't get a good signal from your guitar because +4dbu is pro line level impedance.

You would end up needing other pieces of or different gear to make your present gear work and that may be iffy at best. If you're really wanting to use a power amp then you need to get a delay pedal that has guitar level impedance in/out guitar-volume pedal-delay-Presonus OR get a different mixer that will take your Lexicon's impedances and connectability. You won't get the stereo capability of your Lexicon as your Presonus is mono.

The Presonus has a preamp, EQ and compression. You would have to fiddle with that to get it to work for your guitar.

Just because it has an "instrument" level input is not a sure bet you're going to like the way your guitar sounds through it.



Source is king and if you want to get good use out of your power amp the front end of your rack should be such that it gets your guitar sounding like a guitar first, not a bunch of boxes cabled together that won't add to your guitar tone.
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