https://www.midstatecomm.com/PDF/WPS2900_Series.pdf
I would build something like this. You only need to cover the vocal range so you can use a single midrange compression driver. The horn you could build something omidirectional or increase output by using a horn that focuses the sound on your expected crowd configuration. The highest output driver option would be the BMS dual diaphragm midrange but there are various phonelic diaphragm drivers that could be used at lower cost. You need some way of getting it high above the crowd, lighting stands can do upto 8m: Showtec LAH8 front-loading stand 8m for sale | Bax Music
I would build something like this. You only need to cover the vocal range so you can use a single midrange compression driver. The horn you could build something omidirectional or increase output by using a horn that focuses the sound on your expected crowd configuration. The highest output driver option would be the BMS dual diaphragm midrange but there are various phonelic diaphragm drivers that could be used at lower cost. You need some way of getting it high above the crowd, lighting stands can do upto 8m: Showtec LAH8 front-loading stand 8m for sale | Bax Music
Chris is right - even political rallies need more or less full range sound. It’s not just somebody shouting over a megaphone anymore - they have music to amp up the crowd. Don’t need as much subwoofage as a typical rock concert, but the mains are the same.
Any DIY system would need to equal the output of one of those hired line array rigs, and would need to be a pretty good size horn loaded stack to get the output without having to be 16 feet long/tall. I’ve built one - it’s an undertaking, and that’s an understatement. Maybe 50, 60 Hz low end is all you need at events like this so that helps a bit with the size of the individual bass bins. Bottom end could be done with conventional reflex boxes (just more of them). It’s expensive. You’d need to have other reasons for building it besides just this one end use - if it’s being funded with campaign contributions people might want to see the numbers and conclude that hiring it out is a better investment.
You might consider a small stack of very high power mid/hi only horns IF the gathering happened to be illegal and you needed to be able to pack up and disperse with only a few minutes notice. In some places I imagine that’s still the case.
Any DIY system would need to equal the output of one of those hired line array rigs, and would need to be a pretty good size horn loaded stack to get the output without having to be 16 feet long/tall. I’ve built one - it’s an undertaking, and that’s an understatement. Maybe 50, 60 Hz low end is all you need at events like this so that helps a bit with the size of the individual bass bins. Bottom end could be done with conventional reflex boxes (just more of them). It’s expensive. You’d need to have other reasons for building it besides just this one end use - if it’s being funded with campaign contributions people might want to see the numbers and conclude that hiring it out is a better investment.
You might consider a small stack of very high power mid/hi only horns IF the gathering happened to be illegal and you needed to be able to pack up and disperse with only a few minutes notice. In some places I imagine that’s still the case.
Art Welter wrote
"It does not have to be a "modern" PA. Narrow dispersion PA horns for speech have covered gatherings of tens to hundreds of thousands of people since the 1940's.
I made some very directional speakers called the Maltese Horn, a cop came by to tell me to turn down a single prototype 10” horn loaded speaker I was testing full range.
He said it had taken a long time for him to locate the source of the music.
As it was July 4 (1992) with firecrackers popping off all over the Minneapolis neighborhood, I was surprised any one had complained. The complaint was from over 1/4 mile away, on the other side of six lanes of interstate freeway.
The cop found me just after I had finished riding my bicycle back from around where the Wendy’s is on Broadway. I could still clearly identify what song was being played through the prototype Maltese horn over the traffic noise, but that was about as far as I figured it safe to ride away from the unattended speaker, power amp and CD player.
The speaker location was 2814 Washington Avenue North, over 3500 feet from North 4th and Broadway, where I turned back from the bike ride. The horn was just sitting on the shop’s parking lot pavement, the amp was hitting only about 100 watt peaks.
With Google Maps you can easily verify the locations.
That's 3500 feet with a single speaker, loaded with an EV10M.
A friend of mine has used four Maltese speakers (horn within horn) for speech and playback at the Minnesota State fairgrounds during hot rod shows. They were placed quite high in the grandstand, but could be heard clearly all over the streets equivalent to around 16 city blocks.
Two amplifiers providing about 100 watts per cone, 50 watts per HF driver were used for that.
I used four of the same speakers with passive crossovers driven off a Yamaha P 2200 at a solar fest in 1994, the meters indicated 10 watt peaks and I could clearly hear the background music as far as I wandered away from my location, around 1000 feet.
Because of the directionality (15 degree HF) you could still carry on a conversation directly below the scaffold they were on.
A narrow horn of around 117 dB one watt one meter (that's what the Maltese measures with a cheap Eminence PSD 2002 on it) , can hit 86 dB with only 50 watts at 1K at 256 meters, 832 feet.
At 800 feet, 4K is about 6dB down, 5K is rolled off about 10 dB due to air loss. Since speech fricatives up that high needed for intelligibility are short peaks, it is no problem to EQ them up to flat, or near flat at that distance.
9K, at 30 dB down, quite a different story. Fortunately, we don't need to hear those frequencies for speech.
Art Welter"
source : Help me Find a Long Throw Speaker System
"It does not have to be a "modern" PA. Narrow dispersion PA horns for speech have covered gatherings of tens to hundreds of thousands of people since the 1940's.
I made some very directional speakers called the Maltese Horn, a cop came by to tell me to turn down a single prototype 10” horn loaded speaker I was testing full range.
He said it had taken a long time for him to locate the source of the music.
As it was July 4 (1992) with firecrackers popping off all over the Minneapolis neighborhood, I was surprised any one had complained. The complaint was from over 1/4 mile away, on the other side of six lanes of interstate freeway.
The cop found me just after I had finished riding my bicycle back from around where the Wendy’s is on Broadway. I could still clearly identify what song was being played through the prototype Maltese horn over the traffic noise, but that was about as far as I figured it safe to ride away from the unattended speaker, power amp and CD player.
The speaker location was 2814 Washington Avenue North, over 3500 feet from North 4th and Broadway, where I turned back from the bike ride. The horn was just sitting on the shop’s parking lot pavement, the amp was hitting only about 100 watt peaks.
With Google Maps you can easily verify the locations.
That's 3500 feet with a single speaker, loaded with an EV10M.
A friend of mine has used four Maltese speakers (horn within horn) for speech and playback at the Minnesota State fairgrounds during hot rod shows. They were placed quite high in the grandstand, but could be heard clearly all over the streets equivalent to around 16 city blocks.
Two amplifiers providing about 100 watts per cone, 50 watts per HF driver were used for that.
I used four of the same speakers with passive crossovers driven off a Yamaha P 2200 at a solar fest in 1994, the meters indicated 10 watt peaks and I could clearly hear the background music as far as I wandered away from my location, around 1000 feet.
Because of the directionality (15 degree HF) you could still carry on a conversation directly below the scaffold they were on.
A narrow horn of around 117 dB one watt one meter (that's what the Maltese measures with a cheap Eminence PSD 2002 on it) , can hit 86 dB with only 50 watts at 1K at 256 meters, 832 feet.
At 800 feet, 4K is about 6dB down, 5K is rolled off about 10 dB due to air loss. Since speech fricatives up that high needed for intelligibility are short peaks, it is no problem to EQ them up to flat, or near flat at that distance.
9K, at 30 dB down, quite a different story. Fortunately, we don't need to hear those frequencies for speech.
Art Welter"
source : Help me Find a Long Throw Speaker System
The EV MTS-4153-43FWB is very similar in concept to the 1992 Maltese system, though it uses a MEH (multiple entry horn) rather than "nested" (horn within horn) approach. The 43FWB has a wider pattern, so a pair provide 80x30 degree coverage, while almost 10 Maltese would be required for the same HF pattern ;^)
https://products.electrovoice.com/b..._40x30_FW_blk_Datasheet_51_en_86281757451.pdf
https://products.electrovoice.com/b..._40x30_FW_blk_Datasheet_51_en_86281757451.pdf
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Some photos of the Maltese in the Minnesota State fairgrounds grandstand,
and another of the pyramid-shaped "phase plug" that surrounded the HF horn inside.
Art
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Thank you for your input Art, I also saw your article about the HyperboLine ™ Projector
Would you use the HyperboLine ™ Projector or the Maltese horn for gigs requiring ultra long throw?
Would you use the HyperboLine ™ Projector or the Maltese horn for gigs requiring ultra long throw?
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Hyperbolic or parabolic projectors do offer the best "ultra long throw" potential, but the very narrow "plane wave" pattern would require too many units for most applications, horizontal HF dispersion is under 10 degrees.
Rather than the Maltese "nested horn" approach, I'd opt for a 3-way MEH more similar to the EV MTS-4153-43FWB, though for a more cost-effective version would use 4" to 8" cone midrange drivers and standard 2" to 4" diaphragm high frequency drivers, rather than co-axial mid-high drivers.
The DSL J7-95 is a great example of a 3-way MEH cabinet design that would be possible to "DIY" using relatively inexpensive components and standard cabinet construction techniques, yet have loads of output potential.
That said, I'd go for lighter form factor than either of the above two MEH examples,
.
Art
Rather than the Maltese "nested horn" approach, I'd opt for a 3-way MEH more similar to the EV MTS-4153-43FWB, though for a more cost-effective version would use 4" to 8" cone midrange drivers and standard 2" to 4" diaphragm high frequency drivers, rather than co-axial mid-high drivers.
The DSL J7-95 is a great example of a 3-way MEH cabinet design that would be possible to "DIY" using relatively inexpensive components and standard cabinet construction techniques, yet have loads of output potential.
That said, I'd go for lighter form factor than either of the above two MEH examples,
. Art
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It is better to make a decision based not on the size of the audience, but on the area to be sounded and the required sound pressure, as well as the maximum throw distance. The best solutions were the Community R-series, as far as I know Community Loudspeakers from Biamp,
Hyperbolic or parabolic projectors do offer the best "ultra long throw" potential, but the very narrow "plane wave" pattern would require too many units for most applications, horizontal HF dispersion is under 10 degrees.
Rather than the Maltese "nested horn" approach, I'd opt for a 3-way MEH more similar to the EV MTS-4153-43FWB, though for a more cost-effective version would use 4" to 8" cone midrange drivers and standard 2" to 4" diaphragm high frequency drivers, rather than co-axial mid-high drivers.
The DSL J7-95 is a great example of a 3-way MEH cabinet design that would be possible to "DIY" using relatively inexpensive components and standard cabinet construction techniques, yet have loads of output potential.
That said, I'd go for lighter form factor than either of the above two MEH examples,
Art
The machined metal lens / throat adapters for the HF combined with the sheer amount of thick wood needed for the LF section would put a DIY J7-95 quite far down my list, personally. If you've ever tried to lift one, you'd perhaps also reconsider - that box is great, but I'm fairly sure the only thing more dense is a neutron star
We have done a few rallies approaching 5,000 capacity with flown SH96HO, which is perhaps an easier goal to aim for. The crowds at these things are often fairly quiet (until they aren’t) so sheer SPL isn’t always necessary if the coherency of the system holds up over distance.
I don’t think there’s any getting away from the need to use a big / deep horn for pattern control and loading, though. Especially if there is going to be a lot of crowd far away. Perhaps something that breaks down to transport, and can be assembled on site is a good idea? It can go on scaffold, if you’re not fussed about being ugly and can’t fly safely. You could even aim for a ‘multi cell’ horn that comes in segments, to allow for adjustable coverage angles - perhaps look at the old SH25 from Danley, but replace the throat end with one of the modern high output compression drivers like the Axi2050 or DCX464?
For an off-the-shelf solution, I think that new B&C horn would also make a good start for a DIY system.
ME464 Horns - B&C Speakers
They have a whole box designed around it, too.
The small format line arrays that are often used are simply what a hire company has, and you see lots of boxes due to the need to compensate for the large array curvature to get the coverage angles.