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I have a gig the end of month, and I have an opportunity to use a Clavinola that is already at the site of the gig. I did this gig last month with my own Kawaii piano, and we took a look at the Clavinola..

Someone mentioned that RCA plugs were required to hook my powered speaker up to the piano. Does that make any sense? I checked an owners manual, and it just looked like a standard 1/4” hook up. Sorry, but I have no idea what model this is, or if there would be a great variance among models as to how they are hooked up. I suppose I could just bring a variety of cords, including RCA and 1/4”, but just curious if anyone hear has an experience with this. I am just using one powered speaker for this.

gracegren, may I ask what kind of powered speakers you are using?

Kind regards,
James
x

I can't speak about all Clavinovas, but mine has two 1/4" phone plugs (left and right). I believe that these are unbalanced outputs.

You said your speakers use RCA plugs. That indicates unbalanced inputs.

So a twin cable with 1/4" plugs on one end and RCA plugs on the other will suit.

This one will work. It's available in 1 meter, 2 meter, 3 meter, or 4 meter lengths.

My experience on gigs is that it’s better use 1/4 to RCA adapters like this. If a cable fails, it is easier to find a spare RCA-RCA cable in a local supermarket. But if you depend on a 1/4-RCA cable and it fails during a gig you might find yourself up a famous creek without a paddle.

I still dislike using RCA connections, but I carry a bunch of these around in my gig/DJ bag because sometimes that’s what you gotta use.

I use those, too, Groove-meister. My audio interface has 1/4" jacks, but my amp has RCA. So the cable run is all RCA ... with RCA-to-1/4" adapters at the audio interface end of the cable.

I could have used 1/4"-to-RCA cable. But RCA cables were cheaper, so I opted for RCA ... plus 1/4" adapters.

Sorry for lack of clarity in my original post and thanks for all the great suggestions.

I am using an ElectroVoice ZXL-90 powered speaker. I only have one. I found an older Clavinola owner’s manual online and it looks like it is a stereo “fixed” aux out, meaning moving the master volume sliders of the Clavinola does not change the volume. Not sure why it is set up that way. Maybe to allow the volume to be adjusted on the intended use on a stereo system.

Two RCA Aux Out on the Clavinola. They are stereo, as the manual is giving instructions to set up the Clavinola to go to a stereo system.

This also suggests that I may need an adapter if just running this mono??? Or could I Just use a cable with two RCA jacks in the Aux Out on the piano and a 1/4” jack on the other end to the speaker?

I don't know what model Clave you have. But most have dual 1/4" jack for the aux outputs ... and there's provision for running mono if you wish.

But if yours has dual RCA jacks you'll need to either:

a) Feed just one line to the speaker.

or

b) Mix the left and right channels with these adapters:
RCA Jack To 1/4" Mono Plug
RCA Mono Male to Two RCA Stereo Female

FWIW (I haven't read the Clavinova manual):

If one of the Clavinova's jacks is labelled "Left / Mono", _use that jack_.

Check the manual carefully -- it may say something about a monophonic setup.

If the labels are simply "Left" and "Right", the _right_ way to handle combining them:

. . . Get a small mixer (Behringer Xenyx 502 would be fine);
. . . Run each Clavinova output into a line-level input on the mixer;
. . . Mix those two line-level inputs into the left-channel "Main" output;
. . . Run a cable from the left-channel "Main" output, to the speaker.

You might get the same results using MacMacMac's method -- running the Clavinova outputs in parallel, into the speaker -- or you might not. The "two outputs in parallel" is worth trying, it saves both complexity and money.

Also, I can't find an EV "ZXL-90" model. I don't think that matters, as long as you have something with a built-in amp, and a line-level input.

Thanks for all your suggestions. As I said, I do not even know what model this is, but I will gather up whatever cables and adapters I have, maybe purchase a few and/or a mixer and hope it works. This is a recurring gig, and will probably just bring my DP to this next gig just in case and at least have more info about the Clavinola to work with.

It's Clavinova, not Clavinola.

And also Kawai, and not Kawaii.

But "kawaii" is an appropriate reaction to a really cute digital piano.

(I don't think "yamahaa" is a word in Japanese.)

But what I actually meant to say: aren't there some problems with combining the channels of a stereo output to a mono signal with a simple adapter? Electronics blowing up? Phase issues in the sound? One output circuit trying to feed into and another output circuit?

In other words, the Y-cables should only be used for splitting, but not for combining(?)

Unless they have some extra electronics inside.

It's not a problem. The output impedance of aux output jacks typically range from 500 ohms to 10k ohms. As such the current flow is miniscule.
There's no problem combining left and right.
(You could combine them in a mixer, but why spend $100 to do a $5 job?)

While we're on the subject of language/spelling ... I've long been wondering about your moniker: clothearednincompo. What does that mean? Where does it come from?

The forum allowed a longer name than it's capable of showing. So, it's "Cloth-eared nincompoop". There's a music album whose back cover has the label: "HEALTH WARNING – This record could be hazardous to the health of cloth-eared nincompoops. If you suffer from this condition, consult your Doctor immediately".

Volkswagen named a pickup truck after that album.

Spelling queen has been dethroned. My apologies for poor spelling. I even looked at the back of my piano and the letters KAWAI were there. And it was on a stand facing the entry door as it has been for over a year, excepting gigs. Probably need a trip to my local eye doctor soon.

I finally had the gig, later than expected, last night with the Clavinova. I had bought a variety of connectors on Amazon based on good suggestions here.

Set up was amazingly easy from the Clavinova to my ElectroVoice ZXA1. There was an output for AuxOut. I simply used one RCA to RCA cord and a RCA to 1/4” adapter to plug into the speaker. Sounded just great with the ZXA1 on a speaker pole. A lot of positive feedback. This was a big band gig. Its recurring every other month, so no need to pack up my Kawai.

That's what I like to do. It's interesting that the ZXA1 would stand up to a big band; I've never pushed mine that hard.

Thanks for the report --