Jupton24

Thanks for that. Like what Paul says I will need to find a bigger budget to get better speakers. I won't ask for speaker recommendations as I think it may get a bit over crowded with different types. But in general is EV a good make for what they cost?

Thanks for the help everyone. I don't actually have a budget get to update the speakers. Powered speakers would work for me as they are so high up in a sports hall and it has cabling for passive layed beneath the floor and up the wall. I am going to look into the drive rack a bit more as it does come with quite cool features that is not there currently e.g fbq and eq. But reading what you all say has helped in actually identify the problem. It was originally fine and then someone whacked the amps up therefore the speakers made terrible noise. They left them for a while at it and obviously the HF broke eventually. When it broke they just wacked the amps up even further. (This is the teachers I am talking about)

Yeah I agree I think I was going a bit above what is actually needed. It was just the IT person said a UPS would be useful but now like you said it is pointless any way. Thanks for the help

Yeah I am the senior technician I suppose it is just now down to the fact that I need to lock the amps away so no one can touch them and teach them the proper way of shutting it down but I don't think they will listen as we are talking 14 - 16 year olds. I guess a backup battery would be pointless as well because it get used Fridays and Tuesdays only. I suppose I can't fit it with a volume button limiter (if that makes sense) Also do you know of a amp that can power the EV zx1 successfully. Ideally a one that could fit into a amp rack is apreacieted

okay, that is great to know. the trouble is the amp rack is in the same room as the sound desk so, therefore, the teachers' fiddle with it obviously now I will have to invest in a door for the cabinet to prevent this happening. They did sound awful to much bass so that made the school take them down and take them to a repair shop. they did the opposite when they sounded bad they just turned them up further. yes, the lager ones are powered by the larger amp. they originally had the larger one powering the smaller ones when I first got there that is when the speakers worked perfectly. unfortunately, I did not have a say in to get new speakers or to fix them. it will still be teachers and students operating with limited knowledge. a USP is an Uninterrupted Power supply as they turn the amps off constantly. without shutting it down properly.

Hi, Recently we had 2 of our Ev zx1 -90's horns break and had to get them set away for repair. I have been tasked with finding a solution to prevent this from happening again. I have seen elsewhere on google about fuse for speakers so if the volume or power goes over a certain limit it would trip. The trouble is that this sound system gets used by teachers and students that don't know how to correctly shut it down. there is 2 EV ZX1-90 and 2 EV ZX3's they come off a QSC 1450 and a QSC 1850HD I believe of the top of my head. Is there any way that I can make the system using fuses or shall I look into USP's Cheers James

we use beamz stuff where I work. try flicking through the menu until you find "adrs" or something similar then you should be able to choose the type of channel you require (using the plus or minus sign or the arrows depending on the model) it on then it should take you the DMX patch code. it may be hidden under a different title.

Some new LED's on the market right now have a colour that can mimic the colours of tungsten lights (I use somewhere I work at the moment but I dont know the make of them!). like you say you could use a chunky battery. have you looked into cinelex they do v mount version that might be useful for you as they just require a battery to operate them.

cheers for that. I will put forward this to them. the speakers suggested by you might be what they need. though it is nice that bishop sound Orion contains Bluetooth so they can use them without a sound op. I have a clearer idea now and will put forward either the orions or the dxr15/18s. they both seem to be multi-use and that is ideal for them as they may consider just using it as a stand-alone PA system. is there any PA systems like the ones suggested that are battery powered?

oh okay I might avoid those.

I kind of have now but I will get other peoples views on it think the Orion 15s with the beta 18s from bishop sounds. I know right leaving it to me this was given to me on the second to last day of the School year so the school Is currently closed so this would be a September buy/rent/ decision by the head

At the school I work at we had some Beamz LED pars they were the worst buy in the world we barely use them we have 6 of them and 4 only function properly, 2 have the stands broken. They are very cheap but don't shine much light if you are going to place them on a rig. we only use them to uplight the curtains now and they don't do a good job at that either. They are a pain to set up as each of them require kettle leads and they can lose there DMX address quite often. I would strongly avoid. We ended going up with Prolights studiocobs for that need. there are other makes of Led pars out there but like said in the forum the plastic can melt if kept on for long enough the do have inbuilt fans but the don't often work. the only good thing that beams makes is there fog makers but that is about it!

there are no direct power to the stage. but there is near by buildings with mains plugs. so extension cables would be run. I don't like that as the cable can get very hot as it will be running of one plug James, please stop. You are out of your depth. If the sound equipment is badly specified, the worst outcome is people won't hear the production. If you get the electrical side wrong, the outcome may be life changing/ending. As indicated by many above, the whole project needs to be evaluated and specified from scratch by paid professionals with the experience, qualifications and insurance to cover their recommendations and installations. Where a permanent outdoor stage structure is being installed, I would expect to find a mains distribution cabinet close-by, for productions to use. Alternatively, if the stage is close to a building and heavy duty mains cables can be safely routed temporarily to the stage, there may be a suitably sized and IP rated IEC60309 outlet on said building. It worries me you talk of cables getting "very hot" - if you are seeing this within your current activities, you must tell a member of staff immediately. They don't exist. Hire companies generally stock tried & tested, industry standard equipment, that is available worldwide and people/companies ask for because they know how it performs - typically L'acoustics, d&b audiotechnik, Nexo, Martin Audio, etc. The closest you'll get to what you've suggested - but please don't take this as a recommendation because it certainly isn't - would be to look at the various diy speaker building websites, where you'll find lots of very keen (and knowledgeable) hobbyists, who think the answer to everything is to build massive ground stacks and measure the highest SPLs achievable. But the concept of distributed systems is alien to them. Undestood I don't think the school would want DIY speakers but I can ask. I only know this as that I have heard it happening to others at different schools but I have never tried it and will never! I will ask them to see if they can route a cable to the stage for tech use only

Someone at school one of the student tech dept I can't it was not my opinion I think the school would kill me if I did there are no direct power to the stage. but there is near by buildings with mains plugs. so extension cables would be run. I don't like that as the cable can get very hot as it will be running of one plug the stage is about 60m away from houses the school is quite built up with lots of buildings but this would be more daytime concerts. after talking to the head of the school saying that the noise would be to much if needed to be heard at 100m they now say 60m is fine thank you for that info I will be passing this directly on to the school and I shall see what comes back. the bishop sound big system looks good for the price. I think they would get the Orion 12s or 15s with the beta 15s or 18s I like that they have built in bluetooth so a member of the tech team does not have to be with the speakers at all time. does anyone know of hire companies that rent out the bishop sound equiptment? yes agreed I will definatly get a independent consultant to come in to look at the venue. do you know of any independent consultants near Fleet?

No Problems I was in the same mind field at first when they said it was going to be a outside venue with no back but they have changed their minds and went with almost a "shed". Defiantly I will make sure that we test before buy.

understood I will get in contact with some local companies, I will have to talk to the music dept on about speakers for the stage I think I could always use the amps they have already I don't know what make but they might do the job as they have a inbuilt amp into them. thanks for the advice

Hi, sorry but I don't know who made it this is kind of what it looks like but it has a back section and sides to it a better one is this

the stage is being made out of wood it is massive logs bound together and supported structurally together. it is not my idea but I was told it needed sound so here I am. I believe it is covered and it is next to a brick building. I will definatly check out the hk Lucas system it looks just right for what the school needs

the school has already a mixing desk, mics, cables and etc. they are only needing amps and speakers and speaker cables

Thank you very much I will take note of the local hire shops to see if I can get the school a test hire.

that is pretty much what they are after I will look at the second hand market. they don't know when they would use them but they said if the audio is very good for a cheap price they would be willing to use them quite a bit. they might be willing to look at hiring them I will ask them next time I see them. what amps do recomend for these speakers so I can get a price for them to look at?

I didn't know either, so I googled "c7 q7 b2 speakers" and the first result is your answer! Ah thank you for that when I just put one in it just showed up with the Q7 car I was a bit baffled about that

James, not sure if this is homework, but as a student, you may get more input from the forum if you put forward your own thoughts and suggestions and asked for thoughts on that. Meanwhile a few pointers, some of which you may have already studied... - what is the size of the stage and the shape of the area for sound coverage? - 120dB at 1m from source will become ~80dB 100m from source, assuming no physical obstructions - a 10dB increase is perceived by the human ear to be a doubling or halving of volume - a 40dB range is enormous and you will not provide audible levels at the back without deafening the front, with a ground stacked or flown source at the stage. That's why there are delay towers dotted around at festivals. - check out the definitions of "base" and bass", they have different meanings - what do you mean by "easily packed down and stored away not taking up much room"? This means different things to different people. 4 stacks of C7 or Q7 & a couple of B2s fall into that category in my book, but possibly not others. C7 is ideally a 2-man lift, Q7 is a one man lift and easy if you're tall. - keys & guitars... no drums? - what is the budget? - The amplifiers, which would be mains powered would typically be positioned inside or under cover. Professional boxes don't normally worry if they encounter a little rain (again, think festivals) Hopefully this gives you some things to think about and come back with after doing some research. Oh, one other thing, microphones don't "play"... Hi, The school has a budget of £10,000. The stage is 10x10 and would need to cover 50x50m area but just about heard from 100m away. there is no physical obstructions as it is a open field pretty much. there is a couple of houses near by. by easily packed down I am meaning they can fit through doors so they can be kept inside and they can be stacked on top of another without damaging them. I have been informed by other people that I have been talking to that the BOSE 802 would do a good job at it but I don't know if the bass would be clear on them. They would have drums as well. the stage is going to be multi purpose so the audio is quite key. what do you mean by C7 and B2. From experience if this is a real query, Soundgear Orbit 4's are the best option These boxes will carry a clear vocal to 100mtrs with one box per side https://rover.ebay.c...%2F153079599033 Hi, yes it is a real query I have been told to research and find the best one that will suit them and give back to them a sheet telling which speakers to buy. but I don't know very much in this area hence why I am asking you guys for help. Hi, Thank you for your understanding. no this is a genuine query the head has come directly to me and said 'go and find some speakers for our outside stage they have to begged quality as the stage is multi purpose' that is why I have come to you for help as I don't know very much in this. People have said Bose 802 would be good for this but the bass is not clear enough said others. I ideally would be looking for a PA system but has to be able to handle keyboards and drums and guitars being plugged into it. the venue size is 50x50 is is quite small but in future they might want to move it to a bigger venue so has to have that flexibility. They would be primarily be used for a concert/ festival with local bands and school bands playing on them but be clear enough so harmonic groups could be heard.

Hi, I am a student technician at a School. We have recently had a outside stage installed it is wood. The school has given the tech department money to spend on speakers for the stage. They want lots of base and very clear treble. They would have keyboards and microphones and guitars playing. What are the best speakers for this job? the sound would have to travel 100m without losing the quality. They would Idealy not be fixed to the stage and are easily packed down and stored away not taking up much room and not requiring each speaker to be powered by mains electricity. Your help is much appreciated James