Hi all,
A simple question:
What's the advantage of using an amplified cabinet versus a separate amplifier and cabinet?
I do not talk about bands or venues with big pockets but small groups and local pubs and so on.
My experience is that these amplified cabinets are in fact a real problem.
They are heavy.
If they break down, you have and no amp and no speaker.
You need two cables; a long, long power cable and a long, long audio signal cable.
You need a strong back to tilt these heavy and very unbalanced cabinets and stick them on a pole.
And we do not talk about the building quality of many of them.
Some are even not worth the repair due to the initial low price they are sold.
When I'm asked of what to buy, I advise separate systems.
You can tweak each and every component of your system to suits your needs.
Although there are systems that are perfectly matched but at a price.
And that's beyond the reach of many...
I'm very much interested in the experiences of other service shops.
Thanks,
A simple question:
What's the advantage of using an amplified cabinet versus a separate amplifier and cabinet?
I do not talk about bands or venues with big pockets but small groups and local pubs and so on.
My experience is that these amplified cabinets are in fact a real problem.
They are heavy.
If they break down, you have and no amp and no speaker.
You need two cables; a long, long power cable and a long, long audio signal cable.
You need a strong back to tilt these heavy and very unbalanced cabinets and stick them on a pole.
And we do not talk about the building quality of many of them.
Some are even not worth the repair due to the initial low price they are sold.
When I'm asked of what to buy, I advise separate systems.
You can tweak each and every component of your system to suits your needs.
Although there are systems that are perfectly matched but at a price.
And that's beyond the reach of many...
I'm very much interested in the experiences of other service shops.
Thanks,
There is a place for both systems.
Most of the complaints you level against powered speakers can be said of passive ones as well.
Good passive speakers are heavy too
If one breaks down, all your others continue to work. If your component power amp fails, ALL your speakers are down.
Passives need long long speaker cords, which cause power losses due to their resistance in the wire. Powered cabs do not necessarily need long power cords. They don't need to be powered all from the same place. A nearby outlet can power one. Long balanced signal lines are cheaper than long speaker cords. Typically the signal cord can parallel several cabs without concern. Passive speakers cause impedance of load worries.
Commercial powered cabs with pole holes in the bottom will almost always be weight centered over the pole. Passive speakers are just as difficult to lift onto poles.
Passive speakers are also sold of poor quality, just as some powered ones are. You can buy good quality models of both types. A lot of passive speaker cabs sold as "DJ speakers" are of poor quality - piezo tweeters and thin walls.
When recommending a system I have to consider the needs of the customer. Powered cabs offer a lot more flexibility, especially to smaller systems. I can use one pair for a small gig, or two pairs for a larger gig or three pairs, etc etc etc. With passives and power amps, I may not be able to do that all with the same gear. If I have to play for 1500 people, chances are I won't select a row of powered speakers, I'll use speaker stacks running bi or tri amps.
Most of the complaints you level against powered speakers can be said of passive ones as well.
Good passive speakers are heavy too
If one breaks down, all your others continue to work. If your component power amp fails, ALL your speakers are down.
Passives need long long speaker cords, which cause power losses due to their resistance in the wire. Powered cabs do not necessarily need long power cords. They don't need to be powered all from the same place. A nearby outlet can power one. Long balanced signal lines are cheaper than long speaker cords. Typically the signal cord can parallel several cabs without concern. Passive speakers cause impedance of load worries.
Commercial powered cabs with pole holes in the bottom will almost always be weight centered over the pole. Passive speakers are just as difficult to lift onto poles.
Passive speakers are also sold of poor quality, just as some powered ones are. You can buy good quality models of both types. A lot of passive speaker cabs sold as "DJ speakers" are of poor quality - piezo tweeters and thin walls.
When recommending a system I have to consider the needs of the customer. Powered cabs offer a lot more flexibility, especially to smaller systems. I can use one pair for a small gig, or two pairs for a larger gig or three pairs, etc etc etc. With passives and power amps, I may not be able to do that all with the same gear. If I have to play for 1500 people, chances are I won't select a row of powered speakers, I'll use speaker stacks running bi or tri amps.
Less stuff to move.. no amp racks.
Better performance out of the box with no user tweaking, the design engineers have already created and installed custom DSP processing for that speaker system.
Built-in redundancy. If the power supply in a powered speaker dies you lose one box only, but if the power supply in a rack amp dies you lose a minimum of 2 speakers and often 4.
You're looking at cheap old speakers designs, buy a current model high quality powered speaker that costs the same as your high quality passive speaker + the amplifier + the DSP processor used to drive it and your impression will change. In other words there is a hugh difference in quality between a $300 and $2000 powered speakers.
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i'd rather haul a pair of Mackie SRM 450's and a powered sub, and those are considered middle of the road, to do a small club gig than to haul the equivalent "separates"
pack weight,size and cabling are far easier to deal with IMHO.
copper prices are making speaker cables expensive too.
pack weight,size and cabling are far easier to deal with IMHO.
copper prices are making speaker cables expensive too.
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I have always used separates for a mobile disco.
An amp inside a speaker would be too heavy for me to lift.
I have always used sealed cabinet speakers to keep the weight down although I would like to use horn speakers but they are too heavy.
A small downside of separates is I have on occasion tripped over a speaker lead and pulled it out shorting out the amp. I have been lucky and just blown a fuse but its not something you need when supplying live music.
An amp inside a speaker would be too heavy for me to lift.
I have always used sealed cabinet speakers to keep the weight down although I would like to use horn speakers but they are too heavy.
A small downside of separates is I have on occasion tripped over a speaker lead and pulled it out shorting out the amp. I have been lucky and just blown a fuse but its not something you need when supplying live music.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
The picture is from ebay, I didn't buy those tweeters.
I use a pair of Pyle high power tweeters.
Not sure what crossover point is, I just put the 2u2 capacitor that came with them in series.
On the first mobile disco I worked for the boss bought a couple of orange folded horn bins (similar to those in picture). I liked the look of them, a change from a sealed speaker.
I have been looking on ebay for years for a pair. However they came up very rarely and when they did the seller wanted silly money for them.
Anyway these bins with Fane Crescendo's in them came up so I bid £100 on them and got them. It cost £70 to get them shipped but worthwhile they sound great.
I use a pair of Pyle high power tweeters.
Not sure what crossover point is, I just put the 2u2 capacitor that came with them in series.
On the first mobile disco I worked for the boss bought a couple of orange folded horn bins (similar to those in picture). I liked the look of them, a change from a sealed speaker.
I have been looking on ebay for years for a pair. However they came up very rarely and when they did the seller wanted silly money for them.
Anyway these bins with Fane Crescendo's in them came up so I bid £100 on them and got them. It cost £70 to get them shipped but worthwhile they sound great.
They sound OK up to midrange.
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound.
The Orange version of them sounded a bit wooden.
These sound good.
That is the orange peel coming through. LOL.
Nigel.. one of these days you need to go listen to a Yamaha DXR or DSR.. powered speakers have come a long way from the bad old days.
Sadly we don't have many decent audio shops in Carlisle to try these things.
There is a music shop but its more based around guitar amplifiers.
Other than that there is an audio hire shop.
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