pa sub sat system

[johninCR]

Greg, the maelstrom is a nice hybrid sub. It's got 93db of sensitivity and quite musical. It's advantage would be in cab size because the pro sound woofers need vented to get flat down into the 50's and require a minimum cab size of 3 cubic ft. The maelstrom only needs 1.5 cubic ft sealed to do the same. However, Holger doesn't have alot of power to work with, so an extra 3-5db of sensitivity might be necessary.

Paul is right on the money regarding the use of sonotube. That will give you the lightest possible cab(s). I don't know about bandpass though; bigger cabs; hard to get right; and no sensitivity gain with the wider bandwidth required.

Here's another idea for a lightweight rig with really sweet sound. Dipole tops with a couple of U Baffle bass units using sonotubes. Boxless could be great depending upon how the rig will be used. Plus it would be the lightest way to go.

 

[Variac]

These would work well in the Hurricane setup with the Maelstrom
woofers

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=294-718&ctab=2#Tabs

The Radians seem to be very highly regarded. Yes they are pricier than the Adire 8" coax's but I'll bet they sound better too.
So the Radians at $600/ pr and the maelsstroms at 600/pr
arouund 1200 for drivers

 

[paulspencer]

I don't know about bandpass though; bigger cabs; hard to get right; and no sensitivity gain with the wider bandwidth required.

Depends on the bandwidth. I see no problem with covering 50 - 100 Hz with a bandpass. I've seen a number of bandpass boxes used in PA quite well. The lightest and smallest is a Bose unit that can be easily carried by one person. It uses a 12" sub driver that looks very similar to a hifi sub driver.

Rather than cross high as Holger was originally thinking, it makes more sense to me to cross at ~ 100 Hz and use a steep slope in the active crossover. To get efficiency in the bass, you need either horn loaded or bandpass, and both have a limited bandwidth, added to the other issues already mentioned with a higher crossover point.

Regarding matters of size, weight, efficiency and bandwidth, a quick look at Bills site suggests he has a good system.

Here's another idea for a lightweight rig with really sweet sound. Dipole tops with a couple of U Baffle bass units using sonotubes. Boxless could be great depending upon how the rig will be used. Plus it would be the lightest way to go.

Interesting idea. I have heard of dipoles being used for PA - the dipole null to the sides can be used well regarding feedback, and the sound radiated to the rear can be quite useful as well. Then there is the lack of coloration.

U baffle bass sounds promising. If you look at the Nao design, although hifi, it is 2 ft deep with 12" hifi sub drivers and bass extends to about 50 Hz if I remeber correctly. In terms of output it is equivalent to a sealed box wth a bit less extension but less excursion control. Although a setup like this could be made out of lightweight modules, I can see you would need to build it up in modules to get decent output. You would probably need to look at high pass filters to deal with this. The benefit of such a bass design would be very natural uncoloured bass but the tradeoff is efficiency, power handling and output.

 

[holger honda]

bandpass.

I have seen alot of bandpass subs in pro sound applications. I dont have a problem with the "one note" syndrome as long as the one note is loud and comes from as smallish box

 

[paulspencer]

I went into a "hifi" shop today and they had this tiny little sub, not sure if it was vented or sealed but it was one of those crappy boom boxes with a hideous sound! One note definately ... but I've heard a lot of bandpass PA subs that were quite decent. Usually with rock music at some live event, where it doesn't seem to matter that it's not refined and subtle.

What kind of output are you looking for? Do you have an idea of what SPL level at what distance and what type of location / venue?

 

[holger honda]

magnum seems doeable

Hello.
I checked with someone who claimed one could make a "sub" using a eminence magnum 15HO in a 2.2 cubic foot vented box.
Thats a big thing in a small box,wich probably will pack some punch. The way to do this was using a 6 inch tube as long as 11 inches...thats a ******* pipeline.It would start rolling off at the high frequency of 60hz.Maybe a bad idea,but it is small and portable.Wold feel much better if it could play down to 50 and then start rollling off.

 

[Variac]

MAybe one could have folding panels for the highs-
They would be like folding screen room dividers-say maybe 3 panels 18" wide and 5' high with a removeable say 8" or 10 " coaxial driver. This should go down to 100 hz, right?

One could just unfold the screen with the side panels back at about a 30 degree angle and attach the driver with wingnuts to an opening in the middle panel. I don't think the driver needs extra x max if the panel is big enough and there is a high pass crossover. It could be placed on top of a large sub box to make it bigger and taller, but smaller sub cubes would be easier to transport.