Hey everyone,
I'm a poor DJ from Georgia that loves to do DIY projects. I need a new set of speakers when i travel and do parties....My 15+ Electrovoice speakers aren't doing it anymore... I'm looking to spend around 300 dollars. I'm not looking for anything outstanding, just the basics: good bass, clean highs and mids, and loud enough to make a 200 square foot room get their dance on. I appreciate all the help(i hope you give me). And i'm open to any kind of suggestions, unless their telling me to "screw off figure out this stuff yourself"
Holla
Kyle
I'm a poor DJ from Georgia that loves to do DIY projects. I need a new set of speakers when i travel and do parties....My 15+ Electrovoice speakers aren't doing it anymore... I'm looking to spend around 300 dollars. I'm not looking for anything outstanding, just the basics: good bass, clean highs and mids, and loud enough to make a 200 square foot room get their dance on. I appreciate all the help(i hope you give me). And i'm open to any kind of suggestions, unless their telling me to "screw off figure out this stuff yourself"
Holla
Kyle
Hi Kyle and welcome to the forums.
Hey, before you screw off, I see you wrote 200 ft^2. Is that more like 2000ft^2?
Do you want a box that one person can carry?
What wrong with the EV's?
Hey, before you screw off, I see you wrote 200 ft^2. Is that more like 2000ft^2?
Do you want a box that one person can carry?
What wrong with the EV's?
That price might be tough. You could start by looking at this PE project and figure out where to go from there.
$300 is a tight, tight budget for something that's supposed to outdo something from Electrovoice with a 15 inch woofer. The PE project linked above looks quite good, but it's about $350 per speaker, not counting wood.
If you really need to upgrade and you have $300, I hate to say it but you might be best off selling the EVs to increase your budget. Another alternative might be to supplement the present speakers with a subwoofer. You just might be able to do it within the budget, depending on what gear you already have.
If you really need to upgrade and you have $300, I hate to say it but you might be best off selling the EVs to increase your budget. Another alternative might be to supplement the present speakers with a subwoofer. You just might be able to do it within the budget, depending on what gear you already have.
O yea, that would be my bad.... 2000 ^2 feet would be correct. That zero could have been a huge difference. Yea it would be nice if i could carry it. But im pretty buff and manly(not really) so i guess im going to have to say a max of around 80-100 pds.
And i saw those PE speakers before, i thought it would be a good idea, but i would like to see another approach to it. Plus, apolstery isn't my idea of fun.
And for the last edit...sorry, no edit feature here. My EV's are fifteen years old, not 15" subs. Thats whats the problem with them. I think their watt RMS is like 200 Watts, which is depressing. 🙁
Within your budget, your best approach is probably to buy a used pair of Cerwin Vega home speakers. When I DJ smaller venues, or even larger ones that don't need high SPLs, I use a pair of 280SE 12" 3-way speakers that I've had since I was in high school. They're more than up to the task of doing smaller gigs, and they're far better sounding than any affordable PA speaker that uses horns.
If you scan Ebay, I'm sure you can snag a pair of 15" Cerwin Vegas that'll rock a 2000ft^2 room.
If you scan Ebay, I'm sure you can snag a pair of 15" Cerwin Vegas that'll rock a 2000ft^2 room.
Well buying a set of speakers would be great and all, but i just really want a project of building something myself. Having a year off from Georgia Tech leaves me bored, and this is something i feel like doing. And another thing to specify. 300-400$ per speaker...not for the pair(im not that much of a cheap ba....)
I would consider googling around for some 15" coaxial PA units. You can probably get away with a steel basket type. I have the Selenium 15" units for party time and they do just fine with a little EQ. Too bad PE doesn't have them anymore. See what you can find and come back with them.
Putting some thought into a similar project...Look up Partsexpress.com....264-338 15", 294-652 8" mid , 290-534 Tweeter, 260-230, X over, 260-255 Lpad..........
I don't really think you'll be able to make some good stuff under your budget contraints as this collection is already at Appx $280 per WITHOUT such things as grab handles, rear terminals, box materials , bash corners....etc. etc.
Some where I have the numbers I crunched for the box parameters........
________________________________Rick........
I don't really think you'll be able to make some good stuff under your budget contraints as this collection is already at Appx $280 per WITHOUT such things as grab handles, rear terminals, box materials , bash corners....etc. etc.
Some where I have the numbers I crunched for the box parameters........
________________________________Rick........
I'm not sure what you mean but good stuff. I just want better than a 15 year old speaker. 300-400$ for mainly just Drivers and Crossover supplies, im not worried about wood(i can get birch for free), or terminals. I just want a different approach to that project shown at PE so i can just have a taste of something different before i tear off on the "blue wonders" project
Well, I've got to mention Pi Speakers:
http://www.pispeakers.com/catalog/default.php/cPath/3_18
They seem to have a positive reputation. Their two larger stage kits are pushing your budget just a little bit, and you'd still want to get corner reinforcements, connectors, and other accessories.
http://www.pispeakers.com/catalog/default.php/cPath/3_18
They seem to have a positive reputation. Their two larger stage kits are pushing your budget just a little bit, and you'd still want to get corner reinforcements, connectors, and other accessories.
If you click on the image to enlarge, it sure looks like it to me. There's also a forum there, and there should be a phone number that you can call and ask to verify.
Everything looks cool, it does come with a cross over. I kinda wanted to build my own....but since it would be my first time designing one(oddly enough not constructing one), i guess i better wait till i have more money just to throw into the wind just in case i mess up. I think i will go with the 18" package of the Stage pi seven series.
Now, with enclosures with these speakers. I guess i could do one of the following ways:
1. Use some freeware software that will give me parameters I need for the most basic of enclosures.
2. Do the math on Excel, which i have already done.
3. Create a seperate enclosure for the subwoofer. I would want to go with an acoustical horn just cause it sounds cool.
What would ya'll recommend?
Now, with enclosures with these speakers. I guess i could do one of the following ways:
1. Use some freeware software that will give me parameters I need for the most basic of enclosures.
2. Do the math on Excel, which i have already done.
3. Create a seperate enclosure for the subwoofer. I would want to go with an acoustical horn just cause it sounds cool.
What would ya'll recommend?
Horns take some work to design properly. I think a vented box for the sub should work fine. They may have some plans on their site for a midrange horn. I don't know how that will affect the crossover.
Have a look at WinISD Pro Alpha while you're at it; it's free and will calculate excursion based on power input and tuning frequency, letting you know what tradeoffs you're making in your final design. Also, I believe it will estimate vent mach number, giving you some idea of whether or not there will be excessive port noise. You may not care so much about port noise in a PA setting, but if it's making unintended noise then it's probably not working the way you want it to.
Separate enclosure for the sub sounds like a great idea, far easier to lift and transport than a big monolith. Just try to keep your cabinet the same width as what they recommend.
Have a look at WinISD Pro Alpha while you're at it; it's free and will calculate excursion based on power input and tuning frequency, letting you know what tradeoffs you're making in your final design. Also, I believe it will estimate vent mach number, giving you some idea of whether or not there will be excessive port noise. You may not care so much about port noise in a PA setting, but if it's making unintended noise then it's probably not working the way you want it to.
Separate enclosure for the sub sounds like a great idea, far easier to lift and transport than a big monolith. Just try to keep your cabinet the same width as what they recommend.
I would have to work on a way to bring the crossover low pass frequencies to the separate sub enclosure. I figure the cleanest way to do this would be to rewire the parallel 1/4" jack terminal with the wires for the sub, then from that termnial the signal is carried through a 1/4" cable to the sub import terminal. Would that carry over without some type of distortion or poor quality?
Also, the amp i use. This thing is old school, but since it is made by crown....it still competes with stuff made today. The amp is a Crown Micro-Tech 2400. I basically got this and the EV's from a shady pawn shop who got them from an Imax theatre, apparently. It can put out some serious watts, but with my old speakers i could never turn the gain all the way up(or for that matter half of the way up). So i don't really know its true condition. Any ideas on how i can check its quality? And if the quality is bad, can i repair it with basic circuits knowledge?
Also, the amp i use. This thing is old school, but since it is made by crown....it still competes with stuff made today. The amp is a Crown Micro-Tech 2400. I basically got this and the EV's from a shady pawn shop who got them from an Imax theatre, apparently. It can put out some serious watts, but with my old speakers i could never turn the gain all the way up(or for that matter half of the way up). So i don't really know its true condition. Any ideas on how i can check its quality? And if the quality is bad, can i repair it with basic circuits knowledge?
The amp puts out about 500w/ch in 8ohm, it is recommended that you run twice the ampwatt compared with the speakers wattage so it is a rather good but a bit adventurous match, but its fine as long as you dont clip the amp or tries to get any bass out of it.
Both speakerpower and amppower is confusing subjects since music consisits of many frequences and is very dynamic.
An EVspeaker marked with 200w is able to handle 800watt during a short time. But, if you use a low frequency you can destroy speakers with almost no power at all.
Poweramps is usually rated with low distortion, they can often put out close to twice the power when they clip.
Warning, different brands use different ratings.
However,
Some of those old EVs are very good compared to modern speakers, some of them may also be possible to upgrade with more powerful parts.
They also tend to put out a lot of sound for each watt you feed them with. (good sensitivity, remember: 3dB is twice the power)
So, My advice is to see if you can complement your current speakers with some homebuilt bassbins. What model do you have?
Maybe you can afford to run the system biamped?
A slightly smaller second amp at your EVs with your current amp doing subduty has a lot more power than your current setup.
Well, thats my two cents.
Both speakerpower and amppower is confusing subjects since music consisits of many frequences and is very dynamic.
An EVspeaker marked with 200w is able to handle 800watt during a short time. But, if you use a low frequency you can destroy speakers with almost no power at all.
Poweramps is usually rated with low distortion, they can often put out close to twice the power when they clip.
Warning, different brands use different ratings.
However,
Some of those old EVs are very good compared to modern speakers, some of them may also be possible to upgrade with more powerful parts.
They also tend to put out a lot of sound for each watt you feed them with. (good sensitivity, remember: 3dB is twice the power)
So, My advice is to see if you can complement your current speakers with some homebuilt bassbins. What model do you have?
Maybe you can afford to run the system biamped?
A slightly smaller second amp at your EVs with your current amp doing subduty has a lot more power than your current setup.
Well, thats my two cents.
The speakers are old 1502ER's. The two way 15" sub/tweeter combo. The main purpose of my project though is to give me something to do. Seeing that i'm not in school this year i need a really excessive project. Building a box for speakers i already have just wouldn't be that fun. Also, the crossover of these speakers doesn't reach the Hz low response that im looking for around 40 Hz. I want to step up to a Three way system so this can happen.
About the Amp, I never have clipped it. I got mad sound board mixing skills. I treat this old beast like a queen. It normally is a good clear performer, but one night i left it on the whole night. The next day i had a hiss/fuzz over the speakers(which i figured is never a good sign). I'm guessing it over heated. And now this problem comes back about 3 hours after i turn the system on and play sound. Any ideas to clear this up?
Any ideas to wire up the separate enclosures with the same crossover?
About the Amp, I never have clipped it. I got mad sound board mixing skills. I treat this old beast like a queen. It normally is a good clear performer, but one night i left it on the whole night. The next day i had a hiss/fuzz over the speakers(which i figured is never a good sign). I'm guessing it over heated. And now this problem comes back about 3 hours after i turn the system on and play sound. Any ideas to clear this up?
Any ideas to wire up the separate enclosures with the same crossover?
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