Cables for connecting the Power Supply

The Tool devices by adt-audio use a 5-pin xlr connector for the connections between the power supplies and the units. These cables are available as accessories in the standard length 10 feet / 3 meters, 3 feet / 1 meter, and 1 feet / 0.3 meters. Special versions can be fabricated at short notice.

All cables are extension cables with a female and a male 5-pin xlr connector. The 10 ft. cable is usually used to connect the gear to the power supply; the 3 ft. and the 1 ft. versions are used to daisy chain several units. Some pictures of the power supply connectors and the power connections of the power supply unit and the devices are HERE

If you are using many frames with a common power supply, please daisy chain not more than 6 units. If you daisy chain more than 6 units, the total resistance of all cables and plugs reaches a range that will result in a voltage drop that is too high. The 2U high power supply units have two output connectors. Use another cable from the power supply for half the number of frames you have. Actually, the current on both cables should be the same; however, this is not critical.

If you don't want to use our cables but use or make cables of your own; HERE is the pinning. Please make sure that you use quality plugs. Don't try to save some money here. Cheap plugs that are available from different sources in the price range of less than € 1.00 will cause a lot of trouble after a short while. Click noise, bad noise performance and low reliability of the entire system will be the consequences such savings.

Even though the connectors are 5-pin versions, the sleeve is used for the connection of the chassis. You must use a 6 core control cable or a 5 core shielded version. In this case, the shield should be used for the sleeve.

The cross section of the cables is also very important. Please use cables with a cross section of 0.75 mm² or 1 mm² per core. Here is a list with the corresponding AWG (American Wire Gauge) cable versions:

• AWG16 = 1.31 mm²
• AWG17 = 1.04 mm²
• AWG18 = 0.823 mm²
• AWG19 = 0.653 mm²

You'll be on the save side with AWG17 and AWG18 up to a cable length of 10 ft. Using a cross section of 0.75 mm2 ~ AWG18 results in less than 0.25 V voltage drop with 4 1U high units in daisy chain mode, which will not affect the technical qualities of connected units. If you use a lower cross section, the voltage drop will be higher, which will result in less headroom and bad transient response.

Please note that cross section, length, and the current on the cable are important for any kind of negative side effects. The cable can be longer and/or have a lower cross section if the total supply current is lower than the 2 amps that we used for the above worst-case calculation. If you have any questions regarding the power supply distribution, please get in touch.

Details on the current consumption of the different Tool devices, and notes how to determine the right power supply for a particular unit or system are HERE.

- additional Information:
    How to determine the right power supply unit? 
    Mains voltage and installation 
    Output pinning