In my search for the perfect sound system, at minimal cost!

Im looking at a nexo ps15 system (2 x tops and 1 x Sub) as I have the ps10 system, which I love.

I just need to know what is the best cheap amp I could get? I know camco, Crown macrotech ect. But I really need something cheap, but still good enough to get the most from this system. Maybe no more than £1000 new or second hand.

Also am I right in thinking that I could use one amp to drive the system? an amp which can drive 2400 at 4 ohms a channel?
with the tops being 8 ohms and the single sub being 4 ohm. Can I get the same kind of setup that my ps10 amp seems to do?
(Stereo sound through the tops, but summed signal to the sub)

Thanks all

Perhaps you need to consider what you REALLY want from the system. The PS15 needs an amplifier the size of Devon to get any useable level out of them, They need more processing than you could possibly imagine and have a silly horn that wont array. However, to be fair to the box, after all that processing and masses of power they do indeed sound pretty pathetic.

They have their place on the market, the perfect sound system is not their place. Don't expect the same sound as your ps10's but louder, this is not the case. They need so much power to be useable it makes amps heavy and expensive. They need well over 1000watts a box and an amp that throws out that at 8ohms is either very expensive or not very good. Another way to give them the power they want is to run an amp per box bridged. However this is also expensive and takes up more rack space.

I wish I could give you something positive but the boxes don't really add up.

When processed! the Turbo TQ 315 sounds much better, and is louder, though it too requires a fair bit of power.

Really, the only reason im even thinking of getting a PS15 rig, is that the PS10 rig sounds so damn good!

Was hoping the sound was the same, but a lot louder. hmmm

Im going to have to really think over this then. As I am looking at the KV2 ex speakers and the RCF TT range.

Come on Rob, you can't just sit around quoting the Nexo marketing pitches all day. Tell us what you think!

Rob, I'm aware that they're not the perfect box, but I can't help but think you're being a bit harsh. To my ears in a 1-a-side speakers on sticks arrangement they definitely sound as good as martin F15, and if I turn up to a venue and they've got the above rig bolted to the roof then I wouldn't be at all unhappy.

Alpha E however...

M

From experience an Crown MA5000 on the PS15's and an MA3600 on the sub's weighs a ton sounds great.
Run each amp from it's own 13amp outlet (not a 4 way) for peace of mind during the encore .

Mark

See if you can pick up a pair of d&b audiotechnik E9s and a pair of E-PAC amps to drive them. They've just been discontinued and hence I bet you'll find some people selling them pretty cheaply. They're smaller than the PS15s, better made and hence more rugged, much louder, sound much better and also play deeper.

On top of that, the E-PAC amps are fantastic, and have all sorts of fancy DSP circuitry built in to protect the speakers.

EDIT: forgot to add that they are actually slightly heavier than the PS15, but they're easier to carry due to their size.

You are of course right, the problem is, too many people like them when they hear them, and that's because they're not a bad sounding box in the right circumstances ("pathetic" was harsh). It's a common scenario, people are used to Peavey, Wharfdale, Yamaha, and your budget end of other manufacturers like Mackie, JBL, and the likes when they do the club circuit and holiday parks and what not. They turn up at a club and the "high tec duo with lights" they're on with has a pair of PS15's. They're 2 channels of backing tracks and 2 channels of vocals are fed through them and they sound good. Very good infact. From that moment on there isn't another box on the market that can top the PS15. They'll come on here and suggest PS15's everytime someone posts in the sound section.

"I need a system to cover 200-300 people for a vocal pa in small to medium clubs". "PS15's mate, best thing ever". This is fair enough, they'll do that job easily and sound good with it. However a few days later.

"I need a system to cover 4000 people outdoors for a selection of metal bands" "PS15's mate, I'd say 4 per side, best thing ever" This is useless.

And that's my problem with ps15's I guess, it's not necessarily the boxes, although I don't personally like the sound, it's the people that suggest them for every single thing because they must be good (not whats happened here). All the other things (needing lots of processing and amp power) hold true though.

I guess the same thing is STARTING to happen with the RCF stuff, or at least it's being suggested for suitable things, but the time will come where people will suggest it for arena gigs just using more boxes. I've STILL not heard them so can't comment.

Alas, I still don't think it's the right system for the OP, they don't sound like the PS10's although they are louder.

And I don't like F15's either

Alpha E, what a wonderful box. SO many bonfires and so little time.

thanks for the advise. the D&B stuff would just be way too expensive..

Was wondering, would a Lab Gruppen FP6400 amp be able to drive a pair of ps15 tops and one ls1200 sub?

was thinking of running a pair of tops on one channel, then putting the sub on the other. the amp does around 2300 watts at 4ohms. as the tops need upto 1200 at 8 ohms and the sub 1200 at 4 ohms, thought this amp might drive the lot?

would be advisable (just incase I wanted to add a sub) is their a way of running a pair of subs off one of these channels

im guessing the whole system would be running in mono..... the ps10 system is supposidly stereo but how with only two channels hmmm

The answer you're looking for is yes. Be careful how you patch the PS15TD controller in but apart from that it should be well within the rated settings. the LS1200 has a nominal impedence of 6 ohms so you should be more than fine. You've got about 1350 watts for each sub if you connect a pair up, and about 1700(ish) watts for one sub if you run it off one side!

M

I'm assuming that you're running your PS10 system from a PS10amp - which is a 3 channel amp, and gives you stereo tops and mono sub. You obviously can't do this with a 2 channel amp. If you want your PS15s in stereo, you will need 2 amplifiers.

This I'm sure will be the case.

There ARE 3 channel amps out there, but not suitable ones, also there are 4 channel ones out there. but this to me seems a little silly, the price would be greater than that of 2 2 channel ones and the amps would likely not be as good.

Just out of interest, Maybe not 4000, but what is the ideal way to do this, lets say an indoor venue and the only allowed area is the stage?
The sub would not be a problem, just add as many as you like, but what about mid/highs?
Would it be worthwhile having 2 per side on stands/sticks?
I have done this before with extra mid/highs half way down the hall on a delay, but what if all equipment had to be on the stage?

John Denim.

Unless you're using boxes which array nicely with each other (like c4 or aspect) then I'd always go for delays. However if you want to put 2 per side, you've got to make sure that you don't get pattern overlap on the horns, as this is bad. That's one of the criticisms of PS15s - because they've got a funny shaped horn (both asymmetric and down angled) then you can't make enough of a guess about coverage to properly stop them from overlapping while still giving even coverage across the covered area.

Matt

Louder boxes, boxes with a more controlled dispersion that allow you to array them together. obviously this often needs to be fairly tight to focus a given SPL into a tighter are. This is where this magical "throw" comes from. It doesn't throw further, it's just louder and more focussed.

Destructive interference like comb filtering is not nice, and there will always be some when you are using lots of boxes. The idea is to minimise this. Wherever possible, a louder single box with ideal dispersion characteristics is better than 2 with tighter dispersion as they'll interfere at some point. Both are better than 2 wider dispersion boxes which will interfere quite dramatically.

On the market on a small to medium scale there are boxes that can produce SPLs over their frequency range of 123dB, there are also similarly sized boxes that will produce 138dB, these are obviously more suited to the large applications where multiple boxes are less than practical. There are other issues that go along with this such as front row volume.



Rob

Quoting Mark,



I'd say this was pretty good advice, the only drawback being the weight of the Crown amps. However, you'd end up with a pretty bulletproof rig. I'd also add some outboard processing - a compressor / limiter, and some sort of EQ - if you're considering letting any DJs loose on your new rig. (I use Nexo PS15 + LS1200 myself and have been complimented on the sound more than once, the usual comment being along the lines of 'how do you get such a massive sound out of such small boxes' - I'm currently using just a 1kW monobloc to power the sub and an old Soundlab SP8 for the tops, nothing like the maximum, but it still works and sounds OK. I'm planning on going for some MC2 switch mode amps when funds permit as the Crown stuff is too heavy for me to move comfortably!)