Hot Spot Monitors

[phoenixblyth]

:) Hi, I am looking at installing some hots spot monitors front of stage for theatre performance. We currently use Yamaha floor monitors but they are too bulky and take up too mouch room front stage. Does anyone have any recommendations on what I should use? I would prefer to use powered monitors and someone has suggested Galaxy Hot Spot monitors but I don't know what they are like.

 

Cheers

Paul.

[Matt Riley]

Personally, I'm not a great fan of hotspots in general, and IMHO for them to be useful they really have to be on mic stands placed close to the performer. They are really a bit too 'hi-fi' for me as well. There are other options though. The Martin range has a really small monitor wedge (WM0.5), as does the EM acoustics range(EMS 81), the D&B range (E3) and the Nexo range (PS8), and I think that most, if not all of these will do what you seem to want to do better than the hotspot.

 

M

[phoenixblyth]

Thanks Matt.

 

I will look into what you have recommended.

 

Paul.

[pisquee]

Galaxy Htospots are best when used close to the performer, ie up on a mic stand, but do sound pretty crappy. They are useful when you need a lot of individual monitors in a tight space, like in a band pit in a theatre, and that kind of scenario is the only time I would recommend using them (when you don't have room for real monitors!)

 

If you don't have room for decent monitors onstage, a few theatres I have worked in had monitors built into the stage floor - ie a hole cut into the stage, with a metal grill on top, with the monitor in it. Have 3 - 5 of these spread across the downstage edge of the stage, and maybe a couple further mid/upstage, and you'll get away with not needing any wedges onstage for most productions.

[Dave]

I would agree with the comments about Hotspots, however do note that all the speakers Matt listed are in a much higher price range. Like anything in life, you get what you pay for!

[cedd]

TC electronics do their small monitor aswell, more for mic stand mounting but could do the trick.

[Rob_Beech]

I can recommend the wm0.5 as I have used them in a few small scale applications and they are a good box. Again, not cheap retailing at over £800 a pair IIRC.

[david.elsbury]

WRT putting monitors into a stage, we did this at church- I think that rather than fixed places, if possible make it more like a tray thing. Oh, and put a wedge in the centre!

 

Davic