Hi guys,
I've been doing a fair bit of searching, looking for a small and cheap PA system for parties with <30 people both indoors and outdoors. Basically just house parties and barbeques.
I'm looking to build the "Mystery PA"....
EDIT:
After reading the comments made by mr.doom and conanski I've decided to go with the small option listed in the article the HP12/2 or the "Mystery Party" as it is also known. Cheaper, smaller and easier for me. Thanks guys!
/EDIT
with a few changes. Namely changing the P.audio PHT-411 in each cab to a pair of KSN 1001a's. At this stage I'm not building the sub due to budget constraints but it will happen down the line.
My reason for wanting to swap the tweeter is because I'd like to be able to run each cab as either 8ohm total or as two separate channels at 4ohm and this seems like the easiest way to achieve that.
The reason for wanting to change the tweeter and impedance is because it needs to run from my car amp, which will still be installed in the car, which can output 2x 170wrms Bridged @ 4ohms or 4x 55wrms @ 4ohms (Alpine MRX-F35 for those interested) and also run from my old school Technics Hifi amp which is apparently 100wpc @ 8ohms (Model SU-Z780/SU-V78).
So my questions are:
I've been doing a fair bit of searching, looking for a small and cheap PA system for parties with <30 people both indoors and outdoors. Basically just house parties and barbeques.
I'm looking to build the "Mystery PA"....
EDIT:
After reading the comments made by mr.doom and conanski I've decided to go with the small option listed in the article the HP12/2 or the "Mystery Party" as it is also known. Cheaper, smaller and easier for me. Thanks guys!
/EDIT
with a few changes. Namely changing the P.audio PHT-411 in each cab to a pair of KSN 1001a's. At this stage I'm not building the sub due to budget constraints but it will happen down the line.
My reason for wanting to swap the tweeter is because I'd like to be able to run each cab as either 8ohm total or as two separate channels at 4ohm and this seems like the easiest way to achieve that.
The reason for wanting to change the tweeter and impedance is because it needs to run from my car amp, which will still be installed in the car, which can output 2x 170wrms Bridged @ 4ohms or 4x 55wrms @ 4ohms (Alpine MRX-F35 for those interested) and also run from my old school Technics Hifi amp which is apparently 100wpc @ 8ohms (Model SU-Z780/SU-V78).
So my questions are:
- Are the KSN 1001a's a viable replacement for the PHT 411? If not, any ideas for what to do?
- Am I going to need any sort of crossover?
- Will my Technics amp be sufficient power for this system or will I have to upgrade it?
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A dual 12 cab seems overkill for a cheap PA.. just build a pair of cabs with a single 12 and compression driver(not a piezo) in each and call it a day, you then have two 8-ohm cabs that are safe for the HT receiver and can be powered by the car when paralleled from a bridged amp.
Car amps can do 8 Ohms, the reduced power will be offset by the efficiency of the PA speakers. Some used PA cabs are the way to go if budget is an issue, you can't beat the boominator for barbecues btw.
That's a good point I hadn't considered. That will certainly make my life easier.
Unfortunately where I live (country area in Australia) there isn't a large selection of second hand stuff, only overpriced new crap.
I looked at doing a boominator but I'd like something I can use indoors easily as well. Despite being a boombox, the Boominator isn't exactly small.
Yeah, I may have been over-compensating for something haha. Fortunately that same article has exactly what you describe, single 12" with a compression driver. I will go with that instead. Worst case scenario I can always buy 2 more 12's if it isn't loud enough.
Thanks for all your help guys. Now I just have to see if the Germans will send me the crossover components for it.
I realise that, the original plan was for me to be able to run each cab from 2 separate channels on my 8 ohm amp, so there would be 1 tweet and 1 woofer per channel, for a total of 4 channels with 2 cabs. I would then have been able to also wire each cab for 4 ohms for use with my other amp, so each cab would then have been 2 tweets and 2 woofers in parallel for 4 ohms.
Tweeters have very little impact on the speakers overall impedance and in the case of piezos they have no impact at all, but piezos sound terrible in this kind of application compared to a dynamic compression driver so they are not recommended.
So the recommendation would be to build 2 cabs to start with a single 8ohm woofer and tweeter in each, and if you need more SPL build another pair. You will probably only be able to connect a single pair to the home amp at a time but all four could be daisy chained from the car amp. Spend a little time searching and buy a 12" woofer with the highest sensitivity possible, it is possible to get them with over 100db sensitivity but those don't produce much bass, but drivers like the eminence delta 12LF come in at 95dB and produce good bass in a 2.-3 cu-ft enclosure.
By the time you have purchased the drivers/wood/grills/handles/corners and x-over components a set of used boxes becomes quite attractive. DIY Subs and bass bins can be good values but DIY PA tops are hard to compete with the manufactured products. I would look for some small prefabbed tops and build some bass bins with the plan to get a real PA amp in the future. PA speakers tend to sound a bit thin without eq and the power to get them moving.
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