Red Box DI to powered speaker

Hello everyone,

My question is can I take a DI from my Red Box out and plug it into a powered speaker (i have 2 Mackie SRM 550).
This is with no other outs, no normal speaker out, nothing. Just Red Box to powered speaker.

I'm pretty sure I can but have been scared to do it since getting my Grandmeister Deluxe 40 because of course the danger of sending an amplified signal into a powered speaker.

I usually don't use a cab so I just take my Grandmeister and send it to the bands PA via the Red Box, job done. But there have been rehearsals when we haven't used a PA and I actually don't have a cab. All I have in terms of speakers are my Mackie SRM550 powered pa speakers. I know it would be very bad to take a normal speaker out to my powered speaker but what about Red Box DI to powered speaker?

I also have a secondary question. what sort of cable should i use for taking my Red Box DI to my mixing desk, balanced or unbalanced?

Apologies in advance for any stupidity my questions may hold!

Many thanks

Well hiya Cap'n, hyaar hyaar! Whooooooo, lives in a pineapple under the sea..... Sorry, now we've got that one over welcome to the forum.

Don't worry, the Redbox out is not a speaker level signal, it's from the speaker line but reduced to line level which is pretty much what a powered PA speaker should see. When you first try it out just make sure to set the volumes on both amp and speaker very low then adjust up from the amp then the speaker and balance the two. You will need the amp power soak set on Silent of course so the output sees the power soak resistors for a load.

Always use balanced if the option is there. Your first choice should be a plain old XLR-XLR cable to your mixer. And choose the line level input setting of course. Only use an unbalanced input if nothing else is available, balanced is superior.

And in another life where I have a penchant for Japanese and Chinese ideas there is an old proverb that says, "a moment of embarrassment is better than a lifetime of ignorance". I think we would say, "the only stupid question is the one you don't ask". Don't worry, you can always ask anything you don't understand here, the guys are all pretty easy going. The only thing you have to be prepared for is to be questioned and contradicted which is the whole point of discussion in the first place. There is an attitude today that, because it is online, you can say what you want and everyone must respect it and not question it because it is "your opinion". That doesn't hold here at all, or in any proper factual arena. Facts are meant to be questioned and if you proffer something as a truth you must be prepared to give reasons as to why that is true if you are asked. It makes some folk prickly to have their ideas blown away but it is the only way to get to the facts.

Let us know how you get on with the Redbox/Mackie combination. It's not something I've ever tried myself but it is an idea I have had for a while. It would certainly help my old back to not have to cart a Marshall 4x12 around with me.

Thank you Bordonbert. You have put my mind at rest and made wish that i was a real pirate captain, at the same time!

I have another reheasal in a few days time I will try it out and let you know how the Mackie/Red Box goes. Mackie SRM550 ain't light, but I guess compared to 4x12 it is!

Great proverb, I wish I had taken that on when I was at school, I might have got a proper job rather than become a musician!

More than happy to be challenged, I am loving this site. Feels good having the support of other fellow Grandmeister Deluxe users. What's with all the Michael J Fox though?

Hahaha! I guess MJF has something to do with his Chuck Berry impersonation in Back To The Future. I think one of the H&K engineers must have been there as a teenager and got the idea to produce hardware that could make that sound and the rest is just catching up with history. It's de fault (see what I did there? ) of Hwystar, the real man responsible for the forum as its founding father and watchful eye. (Some say baleful! )

Well I guess it's a good thing if MJF inspired some H&K hardware. However tell Hwystar that I'm going to be having dreams about MJF tonight, I can't get that picture out of my head it's everywhere, aaagh!!!

Sorry for late amendment to this post. Tried the red box DI to my SRM 550 pa speaker, worked fine and sounded loads better than just putting a line out to it.

Have since bought a Vox BC112 cabinet and it sounds amazing, would highly recommend this cab to any GM owners... If of course you couldn't get an H and K one that is.....ahem.