My whole reason for making the 2 x10" cab was to cut down on size and weight. Nowadays, you don't need big cabs. If you need more loud, you stick a mic in front of the speakers. Its more about the tone that comes out of the cab. I guess I need to rethink this some. Maybe cutting the back off will open up the high end...
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That's a nice, well executed cab design, David.
However, as has been said, those beautifully sculpted openings in the back panel will give unpredictable results at low frequencies.
Another row of those may solve your problem.
However, as has been said, those beautifully sculpted openings in the back panel will give unpredictable results at low frequencies.
Another row of those may solve your problem.
Actually, you do need big cabs.
Pete, I'm no muso. But I used to hang around with them at Bedford College, London University. in the nineteen-seventies. I was the electrical officer of our student union. Which allowed me to spend a lot of money on incredible 15" Tannoy speakers. As it goes, we had the best Disco and Folk Club at London University. Al Stewart and Richard Digance would turn up and sing a couple of songs just to save 50p entrance fee. Tight wads! We put Pink Floyd on for 50P too. 🙂
What distinguishes me from Musos is they have superb timing and rhythm and the ability to string it all together into something resembling MUSIC! TBH, while I can play all the chords, I can't make it musical. 😱
I just love Kate Bush on her Aerial album. Who else could make the digits of "Pi" sound interesting? IMO, Faure's Requiem "In Paradisum" or Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" acapella is just about as good as it gets. 😎
On to what I know about PA. The reason 4X 12" cabs were great for live music was about diffraction and distortion:
This is a Roy Allison WMTTMW home speaker. It just warms my heart. What it does is break the inverse square law:
In PA, line arrays show their strengths. Put 4X 12" drivers in a vertical array and each one is working at 1/16 power with all the benefits of low distortion. But adds up to the same overall power for the audience. 😎
And when you venture outside the venue, it sounds WAY quieter. WIN-WIN IMO.
FWIW, SEAS advocate this approach in lousy lively rooms: Acoustic Special Solutions
Pete, I'm no muso. But I used to hang around with them at Bedford College, London University. in the nineteen-seventies. I was the electrical officer of our student union. Which allowed me to spend a lot of money on incredible 15" Tannoy speakers. As it goes, we had the best Disco and Folk Club at London University. Al Stewart and Richard Digance would turn up and sing a couple of songs just to save 50p entrance fee. Tight wads! We put Pink Floyd on for 50P too. 🙂
What distinguishes me from Musos is they have superb timing and rhythm and the ability to string it all together into something resembling MUSIC! TBH, while I can play all the chords, I can't make it musical. 😱
I just love Kate Bush on her Aerial album. Who else could make the digits of "Pi" sound interesting? IMO, Faure's Requiem "In Paradisum" or Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei" acapella is just about as good as it gets. 😎
On to what I know about PA. The reason 4X 12" cabs were great for live music was about diffraction and distortion:
This is a Roy Allison WMTTMW home speaker. It just warms my heart. What it does is break the inverse square law:
In PA, line arrays show their strengths. Put 4X 12" drivers in a vertical array and each one is working at 1/16 power with all the benefits of low distortion. But adds up to the same overall power for the audience. 😎
And when you venture outside the venue, it sounds WAY quieter. WIN-WIN IMO.
FWIW, SEAS advocate this approach in lousy lively rooms: Acoustic Special Solutions
PA is one thing Steve, and has specific targets as you have outlined. However, as David says, the guitar cab is miked up these days and its special sound (which is the guitarist's personal choice) is reproduced via the PA.
And I am talking about the PA! The last thing in the chain!
The reason the Musos recruited me was because as a member of the Physics and Mathematics department, I could be trusted (er, vaguely...) to not blow a fuse at a live gig and plunge us into darkness.
I doubt Keith Richards could explain the difference between single-phase power and three-phase! But German band Nektar certainly grumbled when they couldn't use their entire 150kW light-show at our venue. But our experienced College Head Electrician Roy Carroll said he daren't give us three-phase. It could blow the roof off if it went wrong. His career ended. Pension cancelled. His children starving. 50kW it was.
You can do this sort of thing:
But, trust me. This is a way better idea:
This, my friends, is about mathematics. True until the end of time. 😎
System7, yes, for PA purposes, you are spot on correct. I don't fully understand the whole acoustics math, but I know enough to get the basics for my needs. Usually needing to modify until it works best for my purpose.
I once had the opportunity to work with the "grateful dead" sound engineer and use their sound system for an outdoor event. Amazing wall of sound! interesting enough, they used an array of 6" drivers inside a cab about 1meter x 2meter in size (with a slight arc shape), and had a bunch of these lined up in a "wall" of speakers. They then had a wall of 15" woofers in single cabs stacked on top of each other. A lot of these! and for the low end, they had 18" sub-woofers stacked along the bottom. They were at the time considered the loudest rock band in the world. Not sure if they were the best sounding, but hey, to each their own. Just google Grateful dead wall of sound and you should find lots of photos of them
I once had the opportunity to work with the "grateful dead" sound engineer and use their sound system for an outdoor event. Amazing wall of sound! interesting enough, they used an array of 6" drivers inside a cab about 1meter x 2meter in size (with a slight arc shape), and had a bunch of these lined up in a "wall" of speakers. They then had a wall of 15" woofers in single cabs stacked on top of each other. A lot of these! and for the low end, they had 18" sub-woofers stacked along the bottom. They were at the time considered the loudest rock band in the world. Not sure if they were the best sounding, but hey, to each their own. Just google Grateful dead wall of sound and you should find lots of photos of them
@Galu,
I get what your saying about the 3 holes in the back."those beautifully sculpted openings in the back panel will give unpredictable results at low frequencies." my original thought for having these was in kind of copying a design by BagEnd cabinets. Which had 2 circle holes in their sealed enclosure. They had 2x12" drivers in them. Fantastic sound and lots of punch! but then again, they probably had just the right tuning inside that for the specified speakers chosen. see my photo of theirs....
I get what your saying about the 3 holes in the back."those beautifully sculpted openings in the back panel will give unpredictable results at low frequencies." my original thought for having these was in kind of copying a design by BagEnd cabinets. Which had 2 circle holes in their sealed enclosure. They had 2x12" drivers in them. Fantastic sound and lots of punch! but then again, they probably had just the right tuning inside that for the specified speakers chosen. see my photo of theirs....
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David, there is a certain science with speakers, this being reflex:
And, AFAIK, the Eminence B102 lives up to its LEGEND status:
LEGEND B102 - Loudspeakers | Eminence Speaker
At least amongst the bass crowd.
I have to admit I am OBSESSED with music. And that despite having no natural ability myself.
Nobody knows where it comes from. I mean, J.S. Bach knew a bit about maths and symmetry, but really? 😕
Back in the day at Bedford College I'd test my 18-y-o hearing in the Physics lab. It went up to 16kHz on the tone generator.
These days, in my dotage, I can scarcely hear above 9kHz. I blame Nektar and Ducks Deluxe and Doctor Feelgood. Apparently your ears have a loud noise cutout in the stirrup bone. This allows you to get a gunshot in your ear and survive intact. Unfortunately it also relies on a nerve to trigger it. This nerve is apparently addled by alcohol.
My conclusion? Kids, don't drink and attend loud Rock Concerts. If you value your hearing. Er, that's it. 😱
And, AFAIK, the Eminence B102 lives up to its LEGEND status:
LEGEND B102 - Loudspeakers | Eminence Speaker
At least amongst the bass crowd.
I have to admit I am OBSESSED with music. And that despite having no natural ability myself.
Nobody knows where it comes from. I mean, J.S. Bach knew a bit about maths and symmetry, but really? 😕
Back in the day at Bedford College I'd test my 18-y-o hearing in the Physics lab. It went up to 16kHz on the tone generator.
These days, in my dotage, I can scarcely hear above 9kHz. I blame Nektar and Ducks Deluxe and Doctor Feelgood. Apparently your ears have a loud noise cutout in the stirrup bone. This allows you to get a gunshot in your ear and survive intact. Unfortunately it also relies on a nerve to trigger it. This nerve is apparently addled by alcohol.
My conclusion? Kids, don't drink and attend loud Rock Concerts. If you value your hearing. Er, that's it. 😱
All my life I have had extremely sensitive hearing. Able to hear ultra low, and ultra high frequencies. The ballast in light fixtures used to drive me crazy. Even with playing loud music in rock bands from the time I was 17, my hearing has remained good. I recently went to a ENT Dr. to have my hearing checked because I was beginning to have white noise in my ears. I told him my history, and he was like "I think the results will be bad..." Then he tested me... I hit above average on all levels. He was blown away! Said I have the hearing of a 20 year old.I actually was a bit surprised. I'm 60. He concluded the white noise is due to me loosing some of my high end 18khz to 20khz range, and my brain trying to fill in that space. I rocked out hard, but I never did alcohol, so maybe that saved me.