New to forum and need help

[chickbird]

Newbie here so first off let me say "hey whats up?" This is a cool forum you have here.

so......a little Background info......

I play in a 3 piece cover band (bass,drum, guitar/vocal). Typical small bar gig....usually 50 people maybe a few more at times. Some day hope to make it to 100.

anyway....the bands PA is a little 8 channel powered mixer that is 2x500@4 ohm. We have a pair of yamaha S115v on sticks and a QSC GX5(which has a built in xover @ 100hz) that is 2x500@8ohm or 2x700 @4ohm. And we also have an old MTX 215 pro cab(1) that we have been using as a sub.

We typically wire it as main mono out of mixer to gx5 - w/xcrosser engaged on channel 1 to mtx (that would be 500watts @8ohm to so called sub)

channel 2 goes to yammies in parallel @ 4 ohm.

We hook up monitors to the outputs of the powered mixer.

I want to add a pair of peavey SP118 subs but currently out of the budget so I came across the web site speakerplans.com which looks promising and I also seen on youtube the sonotube sub.

Which would you recommend for something DYI? Sonotube to me seems more like home theater....probably need something a little more road worthy.

Hard to say what my budget is, but guessing around 500

Any comments/recommendations greatly appreciated

[chris661]

I'd say first you'll need to download winISD Pro, which will model the bass response of any speaker that you care to put in. However, you will need a set of numbers called the Theile-Small parameters, which, when you put in winISD, you can model your driver of choice.

Here's an idea - when you're modelling boxes, try adding a bump at 40Hz - this emphasises the bass drum a little and generally goes down well in most venues.

Chris

[chickbird]

Originally Posted by chris661

I'd say first you'll need to download winISD Pro, which will model the bass response of any speaker that you care to put in. However, you will need a set of numbers called the Theile-Small parameters, which, when you put in winISD, you can model your driver of choice.

Here's an idea - when you're modelling boxes, try adding a bump at 40Hz - this emphasises the bass drum a little and generally goes down well in most venues.

Chris

Chris...thanks for the comment

I'll try the winisd software and see what I can come up with. But what I was really hoping for was for someone to say hey....try this box design and w/ xx driver and your set.

surely someone else has been in my situation before.

[littlemike]

If you're relatively proficient with cabinet building, consider a tapped horn sub. Though the design may sound a little bit intimidating, they are not as complicated to build as a front-loaded horn. In the simplest case, a tapped horn can be constructed with 7 boards (only one more than a closed box) and only one angled piece.

For PA applications, the Eminence 4012HO and 3015LF drivers seem to work very well in tapped horn enclosures. Several designs have been hashed out and detailed here on the forum. I think a pair of cabinets (1 driver each) would be plenty for your needs.

Here are a couple of good reads.

LIVE SOUND Specific Tapped Horn thread...

jbell's set of four tapped horns

[jbell]

In the under 100 size room, space is typically your biggest problem. I do a lot of church work, and came up with this. A single cabinet standing up facing a wall or corner works great, as does a pair of them laying on their sides directly in front of the stage. (which also gives you a place for your vocal monitors) The 12x16x48 size is really a great advantage in small rooms. A pair of these work nicely, and a quad does well even for outdoor events.

Dual MCM FLH

just a thought. (oh, and the $25 dollar driver, makes this fit in anyone's budget)

[Fuzzymuff]

I can't offer anything useful, apart from a warm welcome. So, come in, take your coat and shoes off, sit down and relax. Your in a good place!

Fuzzymuff

[chickbird]

guys...i need something simple that works good for live PA use and some DJ work.

I know a great carpenter that can build any type of cab....i just need design/dimensions and to know what driver to put into it.

the more i read here the more i get confused....what does a tapped horn/sub do compared to a bass reflex type sub or sealed box. I know you need more power on the sealed box to get the same out of a bass reflex type sub. Would a tapped sub be good for live use? I did notice the tapped sub is quite a large box...why is that?

Also...someone suggested I download winISD...i did that and that really throu me for a loop. Not sure what all the spikes mean...is a spike at 40 hz good or bad?

[littlemike]

Originally Posted by chickbird

guys...i need something simple that works good for live PA use and some DJ work.

I know a great carpenter that can build any type of cab....i just need design/dimensions and to know what driver to put into it.

the more i read here the more i get confused....what does a tapped horn/sub do compared to a bass reflex type sub or sealed box. I know you need more power on the sealed box to get the same out of a bass reflex type sub. Would a tapped sub be good for live use? I did notice the tapped sub is quite a large box...why is that?

Also...someone suggested I download winISD...i did that and that really throu me for a loop. Not sure what all the spikes mean...is a spike at 40 hz good or bad?

Keep it simple - consider Jbell's design with Eminence 3015 LF drivers.

jbell's set of four tapped horns

If it were me, I'd build two. It is a big cabinet, but it has been built and tested with real-world results. You could make them 18" wide rather than 24" if you want. It is an easy cabinet to build. The drivers are not that expensive. If these cabinets do not work for you, you have excellent drivers to do something else with, you're only out your time and four sheets of plywood.