How do you connect your Elmo ST-1200 HD to Stereo Amplifier?

[Ken Souza]

Question: What is the best way to connect an Elmo St-1200HD to a Stereo Amplifier? How do you connect yours?

Thanks for any info you can give me.
Ken

[Steve Klare]

Ohhhh Ken,

How much time do you have to talk about it?! Sound systems are almost a hobby unto themselves.

I've been messing around with this question for about 11 years now and to be honest, the projectors have become almost an addition to the sound system rather than the other way around! It's become this complicated thing that different devices plug into as they are needed. When my son came home from college for Christmas break, I was actually supporting both Elmo Super-8 and Nintendo Wii!

This is something I wrote for a friend some years ago who wanted to do exactly what you want.

https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-b...c;f=1;t=010366

It worked just fine for him, and I hope you have luck too.

[Ken Souza]

Thanks Steve,

What you wrote is super helpful and I appreciate it!

Where I am having a confusing problem is, on the back of the St-1200HD where do I plug in to what port to so I can get a left right out? I was told by a film friends to get a stereo 1.5 audio adapter with a spilt that has two RCA female plugs on the end and plug the adapter into the "yellow" port on the lower back. and set the track indicator to both tracks. Nope, no stereo because it appears to be a mono plug.


Looking at the owner manuel says to reproduce sound through a stereo set, plug a an adapter in earh out put # 1 & # 2 underneath where the PA switch is. So you should have left and right. And it should shut off the speaker. Nope that doesn't work and the speaker stays on. But when you switch to track 1 (left) you get sound, then switch to track 2 (right) you get sounds and switch to the middle you can hear the sound change and can tell it's playing both track. But nothing out of the receiver.

What could I possible be doing wrong? Maybe the small male 1.5 adapter is the wrong kind?

If anyone can tell he what the experience would be great. I guess I could always run movies and listen through head phones..... na

Ken

[Steve Klare]

There are no true stereo jacks on the ST-1200HD. What you do is plug into the two green ringed "moni" jacks with 3.5mm plugs. These go out to separate cables with RCA plugs that plug into the right and left inputs on your amp. (The schematic for all this is in this site's warehouse, and it doesn't look like it cuts off the speaker.)

I've done this a number of times and never been very impressed by the results. The signal out of these is pretty weak and by the time you amplify it enough a lot of noise comes up too and it just isn't great sounding.

What I do instead is use the single monaural Aux. jack on the side of the machine. This gives you blended two track sound, so yes, It's monaural, but you are hearing both tracks with good quality.

[Ken Souza]

Thanks Steve

Today while I was trying to get the stereo sound to my amp I was thinking I should connect it like you mentioned above to both mono output for track 1/2 or use the side aux output. I will try that

But the problem may be solved soon because I’m probably going to be getting a GS 1200. And that’s really true stereo and the amps are better in it. Are used to have two of them until I had to sell everything about 12 years ago so I was offered one today and it’s local and it’s from a friend of mine so I think I’m going to pick that up. And keep the ST 1200 HD as a back up

Tomorrow I’ll try what you said to try and I will report back in a day or so. Thanks again

[Martin Davey]

One thing you may need is an adapter, at the output of which ever audio output is used on the Elmo, to convert the single channel sound in to double channel mono sound. That is not the same as stereo! When you plug a mono source in to a stereo amp the sound will come out of one channel (the left). It can sound weird if you have a speaker on either side of the screen. If you convert the sound in to double channel mono sound then the sound will come out of both speakers on a stereo amp, and be placed seemingly from the screen. If you are using a pro-logic setting/ system then the sound will be placed in the center channel.
If you buy something of that nature on Ebay, check with the seller to make sure it will turn a single channel in to dual (L/R) mono output.
You adjust the level of the sound output using the volume control on the Elmo, so be careful.
If you use headphones to listen to the sound then the mono adapter described will be needed, otherwise it will just be in one ear. You use the yellow MONI output for headphone use, not the aux output which is for an exernal amp.

[Lee Mannering]

Yes you can buy a suitable adapter which has a plug on one end and two phono sockets at the other, a handy thing to keep to hand.
Various types are available. Mini jack or 1/4" etc.



If your amp has Digital optical input you can go a stage further and buy a Analogue to Digital converter box. I use one on a Sankyo projector.

[Tom Photiou]

All the years ive been in this hobby all ive ever done with our 1200HDs is to plug the aux out into an old pioneer stereo amp via a single mono to twin plug stereo lead and we get excellent twin mono sound. It blows the roof off it i need it to but with only a handful of 8mm films being true stereo, these get viewed on a different projector.

[Maurice Leakey]

If it's to connect to a stereo amp then perhaps an adapter with a stereo plug would be more suitable.
2 Phono to 3.5mm Stereo Jack Plug Adaptor, Splitter - Pro Signal | CPC UK (farnell.com)

Maurice

[Ken Souza]

Thank you all. I am going to get the adapter. Everyone has been must helpful!!

One last question (Maybe). When I get the Stereo Jack Plug that Maurice points out and I will pick up the adapter the Lee showed a picture of. If I am understanding plug it in to the Aux plug by the speaker is best? Wanted to check.
Ken

[Ali Hipperson]

Hi Ken - you saved me having to raise this topic as I will shortly be in need of the same advice!

Steve - timing is everything, and as someone who's never been into 'sound' matters and their options and potential, your articles and link above will no doubt 'show me the way' - so many thanks for that 😊

[Steve Klare]

Hi Ken,

I use the Aux. by the speaker (on the side cover). It is derived from the signal that powers the internal speaker and cuts it off. When you plug in there you get a nice line level signal that should be useful for powering up the typical home stereo amp input. As a bonus, it is controlled by the volume knob: not all Auxes are. When your amp lives a distance from the machine, having no local volume control makes projecting a sound film kind of a foot race.

On my Amp, I use "tape", although it will become awkward if I ever decide to plug my cassette deck in! If you have a turntable input, these are too sensitive and will sound really terrible! (-been there...)

Ali, going to an external sound system makes a tremendous difference and I count it right up with getting a larger screen, and maybe even making the leap to any sound at all as something that has made this hobby more enjoyable. It has it's challenges along the way, but those can be very rewarding to solve.

[Ken Souza]

Howdy,

I just did as Steve suggest with the Aux plug near the speaker. I got beautiful controllable sound! My receive is about 25 feet from the project and I used the Video audio input on a Pioneer VSX receiver. With the splitter form the project to the amp it was super clean and loud sound. Once I got the volume out put from the projector just right, the receiver was easy to adjust the volume and no distortion. Now I need to rerun a number of prints

Thanks to ALL!

[Steve Klare]

Oh, you bet!

Doing something like this changes the experience of projecting a print a lot.

-it makes seeing them again well worth it! (Wellll...other than the silent ones!)

[Ken Souza]

So true! Even the old Laurel & Hardy's and other older films sound so much better. Now I all I need is curtains around my screen