New PA

[Bacher]

Greetings...

 

A company I work for needs a new PA system. We have the following demands:

 

Must be 4 "stacks" that can be used as 2 independent systems or combined for larger events.

Tops must be both flyable and the system must permit tops to be stacked to proper height without risers etc.

Must be compact and lightwieight

Total maximum price incl. amps and processing: 20.000 Pound.

The system will primarily be used for playback of recorded music (DJs, danceshows, singback acts etc.) Therefore a good strong bass is needed, but the systems does not need to go extremly low.

 

We are currently looking at the Dynacord XA2 system, can anybody recommend it or other systems?

[Ben Lawrance]

To play in the local village hall, or the Albert hall?

[iamchristuffin]

If it has to be flyable, I doubt it'll be a village hall

[Bacher]

To play in the local village hall, or the Albert hall?

 

Well everything in between actually. Hotel Ballrooms (so two persons must be able to carry the kit on stairs!), outdoor stages, bigger tents, bigger school and university facilities etc.) The complete set should be able to cover something like 600-800 punters with reasonably level. Oh and I'm from Denmark so no small english brands!

[TonyMitchell]

Will take you over the £20k mark, although not too far over if that is £20k ex vat

 

Void Stasys:

8 No. Stasys 8s

8 No. Stasys 3s

 

Void Livedrive Plus 4in 8 out LMS

 

Amps: 4 way Kryos on the Stasys 3s

Infinites or s/h big Crowns on the 8s

 

Total 22kw RMS

 

We have got "half" of this configuration (4 8's and 4 3's) with Crowns on bottom end and Kryos on tops and it's an awesome sound for both live SR and pre-recorded music alike.

[Paul J Need]

Dynacord Xa is a nice system ( whether I would want to carry it up the stairs with only one person helping I'm not so sure)

 

Also worth a look:

 

Electrovoice

Phoenix PX2122

Dual ND2 2" Voice Coil, 1" Exit Neodymium Compression Drivers. Dual DVX3121 12” LF Transducers with Forced Air Cooling. Long-Throw 30° x 45° Rotatable Coverage Pattern. 1000W Continuous (4000W Peak) Power Handling. Biamp Only Operation. Very High Sensitivity, 138 dB Maximum SPL.

 

EV Phoenix PX2152

High Output Dual 15-inch Two-Way

Dual ND2 2" Voice Coil, 1" Exit Neodymium Compression Drivers. Dual DVX3150 15" LF Transducers with Forced Air Cooling. High Sensitivity, 136 dB Maximum SPL. 60° x 45° Rotatable Coverage Pattern. 1200W Continuous (4800W Peak)

 

Or indeed the KV2 boxes

[Bacher]

Will take you over the £20k mark, although not too far over if that is £20k ex vat

 

Void Stasys:

8 No. Stasys 8s

8 No. Stasys 3s

 

"Must be compact and lightwieight" !

 

I normally do not think 8*108kilograms of hornsubs are compact or lightweight.

[dave singleton]

I would recomend Funktion-one but that seems a bad idea. However they arnt small, but very British!

[jim b]

There are many good deals to be had on used boxes which would stretch your 20k further. In my mind buying well treated second hand gear will be that bit more worthwhile than buying brand new gear of a lower quality. Try contacting some of the big companies for their 2nd hand sales lists.

 

Don't forget to factor in flightcases for your amps/processors...

 

Oh and are you looking at buying the flyware now? or do you just want the boxes to be capable of being flown with the purchase of a few extra bits in the future? If it's the latter think about who your local bigger PA house are and consider whether it would be worth buying into the same gear they have, this can also work in your favour if they have a need for extra boxes in busy periods.

[Trunker]

For speaker stack what about a nexo rig? 4 tops, 4 bass enhancers and 2 subs will only cope with about 13K though.

[Pete]

For speaker stack what about a nexo rig? 4 tops, 4 bass enhancers and 2 subs will only cope with about 13K though.

 

Which Nexo system?

 

What your describing Trunker says PS15 to me.

What about Martin W8? Although I agree with everyone who's said look at what the companys near you have.

 

Pete

[Matt Riley]

How about 8 stacks of 2nd hand D&B C4 with 2 B2s - it will do all the above, is very flexible, and I think I'd prefer it to dynacord! And its not *too* heavy! or perhaps 2nd hand L-acoustics ARCS, although that doesn't split so well, or Nexo Alpha. All would come within your budget, and all would do what you want.

 

M

[phil dekked]

I would say 4 stacks of NCA I-FLy... NCA site

 

advantages...flyable in single or 2 stacks a side? With the 3 box system the midtop is always at a good height when ground stacked.

 

disadvantages... 3 box system so extra box cost?

 

or 4 x Funktion 1 Res4`s over 4x F218`s... F1 Site

 

advantages ...same as NCA flyable and a good height when ground stacked on the subs on their ends?

 

disadvantages... some people don`t like the aesthetics ( or the sound!) and will be specced with amps and controller to use.

 

Second hand... Martin W8, Nexo Alpha, Old Flood / Flash over 718`s?

 

.p.

[Bacher]

Thanks for the ideas... Another person have suggested that I looked into used d&b, but the B2 scares me a bit...

What about packages similar to the HK Projektor? I really do not need the ability to go over 2 stacks/side.

[johnhuson]

Why a 20Kw system?

 

What sort of distances do you on average need the system to throw?

 

What soft of dispersion do you need from the system on average?

 

What sort of SPL are you looking for as a general coverage, or are you looking to concentrate SPL in a specific area's and have diminished areas outside of this?

 

Sorry if this sounds pedantic but I feel buying a system based on it's power handling is a false parameter to be working from. Reasons behind this have been covered here and else where many many times before.

 

If your seriously considering spending circa. £20,000 on a PA system then I personally would not be working on power handling as being a primary specification, and to be brutally honest asking such an open question in a public forum such as this is more than likely to leave you with more questions than you started with.

 

My advice would be look at what systems you can afford, that meet your specifications (think about more than just power handling), then ask for peoples experiences with X, Y, Z systems.

 

Audio is such a subjective thing that my best advice is listen to as many systems as you can and decide what you like by listening/experiencing. If you believe in the system you buy, you'll find it much easier to work with/hire out.