I need to get some advice on cable adapters for a system im doing. Customer added sub woofers to the deck so i have to go into a crossover from the processor.

DBX zone pro 640
DBX 223 xover
Crown 1160 (JBL subwoofers)
Crown 180a (Speakers)

The crossover has phono input/outputs and the ZP640 has phoenix outputs, the same goes for the amps. What is the proper way of adapting to/from these? am i missing something here?

Also, i have an 8ohm amp going in for one of the zones (for two speakers) there was no point in doing 70 v as the speakers are 15 feet from the rack. I need to adapt from phoenix to RCA's for this amp, any recommendations?

As always TIA!

How many zones are you runnning on the zone pro? If not all 4 then reconfigure
one of the outputs to be as "mono with mono sub" and run your output into the sub amp directly....Using the crossover built into the zone pro, and not having to use the xover....

For cabling just use a decent set of RCA cables and hack one end off and wire directly to the phoenix connector.

Im using all four zones out of the ZP, hence the need for the crossover over.

Thanks! I was thinking about that, but didnt know if there was a "better" way.

 run shielded 22/2 and solder on the ends at the subwoofer.

[Link: rane.com]

The crossover to the amp should be balanced.

XLR or 1/4 Phono plug out to the phoenix inputs on the crown....

While Mike's examples are all right, they dont have an example of the 1/4" PHONO TRS (Tip Ring Sleeve) to phoenix.....

Good luck.

CI

Ingredients:

1 - 6 ft. audio cable with Male RCA Plugs
1 - Pair of wire cutters
1 - Pair of wire strippers
1 - Small screwdriver

Recipe:

Cut 6 ft. audio cable in half. Strip the insulation off of the cut ends and fasten to the phoenix connectors using the small screwdriver.

Yield:

Two 3 ft. RCA-to-Phoenix cables

It seems to me that the issue from the beginning, not mentioned by the original poster, is how to connect an unbalanced audio source to the Phoenix connector, for which the original poster did not tell us how many connections there are.

In my experience, such a Phoenix connector uses three connections and is best represented by drawing 24 above. I recently made exactly this kind of connection, and before I did, I asked a friend who has used A LOT of these dbx systems. He told me to connect the RCA hot and ground to plus and minus, respectively, and to ignore the chassis ground. When I did that, I had horrible hum. Connecting the RCA signal ground to the amplifier chassis ground solved that problem.

Try it one way. If there's hum, try it the other way. Then do them all the same.

**EDIT - the dbx 223 has 1/4 TRS, not RCA... what model are you talking about?

Look at Mike's drawings again.

1/4" TRS - tip is red, ring is black, sleeve is shield

So phoenix output on ZonePro:
+ to tip
- to ring
GND to sleeve

...and on into the Xover

Reverse for Xover to Amp.

You're going balanced to balanced to balanced so it should be dead simple. Just buy some of these, a little bit of shielded 22/2 (with drain), and soldering tools and you'll be good to go.

[Link: markertek.com]

That's the way I've ALWAYS seen it. I'm surprised someone suggested otherwise. But I've got a lot to learn, too. :)

Thanks Jim! that is perfect. I have them on order

Also, thanks Mike for the diagram