Chris661's PA system thread

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The second sub is up and running. The new system will be used tonight for the first time.
Plan is a pair of NU3000DSP amps for now. Monitors will be active. Patch panel etc will be sorted soon.

In other news, I went to PLASA Focus yesterday in Leeds, which was quite interesting. Talked to a chap about upgrading to Powersoft amplifiers across the board, which would be fun. The system would end up with an X4 per side running the mains and subs, and a couple of their smaller amps (M50Q, perhaps) running monitors. It'd be a step up in quality and processing (including FIR, power monitoring, etc), but it wouldn't be cheap at all.

Chris
 
Didn't get to use the new system that night - I called ahead, but the venue set up their Yamaha speakers anyway.

So, the baptism of fire was at Dronfield Arts Festival, where it was the pair of 6" tops and a pair of 3x6 subwoofers in a space of around 25m by 20m. Program material was live singer + guitar acts, plus playback for traditional dance (maypole etc). The system wasn't expected to completely fill the space, just be clearly audible at the back, and it managed that absolutely fine and sounded good doing it. The limit lights were on a few times, but only ever briefly.

Pictures will probably happen tomorrow.

Chris
 
Well, there's a blast from the past. Thanks for the kind words!

I haven't updated this thread for a while, but most of the information can be found here:
Grimshaw Audio - Blog

New equipment as follows:
- Powersoft T-series amplifiers. T604 for bi-amped mains, T602 for subs, T304 (just one for now) for monitors). Planning on adding another T304 for another four monitor mixes.

- QSC TM30Pro mixing desk for the bigger gigs. The final straw with the TM16 was trying to provide enough channels for a 10-piece band. I'll still keep the smaller desk and use it where it's the best thing for the job, but the extra channels of the bigger desk will be useful.

- Lots of microphones! The mics I use most are listed below:
8x Sennheiser e935
8x e904
4x e906
7x Beyer MC930
1x Large-diaphragm condenser for kick drum. I'm not picky about that, but I find typical "kick drum" mics to be of limited use - even if the preset curve works for rock bands, it won't work for the jazz band the next day. So, I use something neutral with an extended LF response and if I want to shape the sound, I can do that at the desk.

- Some 10" coaxial PA speakers based on the Faital 10HX230, which is an excellent driver. I also put a random 12" sub driver to use for these, running 40-80Hz. It doesn't get as loud as the pair of 10"s, but adds a little bottom end for smaller events.
I plan on using the 10" coaxials as my go-to speakers, with the larger 2x10+HF boxes being reserved for larger outdoor spaces. I've kept four of the 15" subs for bigger gigs.

Next steps (once the events industry starts up again) will be to build a set of stage monitors based on the Faital 10HX230. I'm planning on eight of those. Faital Pro also sells another driver which has very similar T/S parameters but without the HF unit. I'm planning on adding a pair of those as a bass-only monitor, running in parallel with the coaxial monitor, to provide a bit more "kick" for drummers, and a bit more "feel" for bassists. A modular 2.5-way speaker.

I'm also planning a monster 2x18", which should run flat to 30Hz and take the full power of a bridged T602. It'll be a fun box, made possible with the latest crop of super-subs.

Stay tuned.

Chris
 
Got a good deal on a pair of Faital 18XL1800s, so playing with those for a while.

Lots of Xmax, but could use a bit more motor force - they want a big-ish cabinet tuned quite low. That said, they should do the job of a few of the 15"s.

I'll compare the two for a while and go from there. End-game might involve the Eminence 21"s, but I'll see how these 18"s go first.

Chris
 
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