What to add

[cfmonk]

Hi everyone,

 

I recently decided to invest in a PA which could be used for bands in small venues and for DJ stuff. I bought a pair of Peavey RMX Subs and two similar tops along with a PV 2600 Amp for £625 which I think was quite a good deal but I may have been ripped off.

 

I realise this stuff is not "pro kit" and we will still be hiring (as we have done before now) in for jobs which require a bit more of a quality sound but I want to get the PA to a position where I can put a whole band through it. My thoughts are that adding another couple of tops and an amp to drive them (either another PV 2600 if we can get one for a decent price or the Thomann T-Bone job) would do the trick. Am I completely misguided. If not then which tops should I get, would it may sense to have a couple of 12" to sit above the 15" tops or would combining the two be a bad idea?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

[johndenim]

Hi Chris,

is the Peavey RMX series new?

 

I have used Peavey stuff for ages but have not heard of this.

Are they loaded with black widow drivers or the cheaper scorpion drivers?

 

If you want a "whole band" ( what kind of music genre?) thru these cabs I would suggest a higher quality cab.

Good speakers cost more but they are so much better, easier to work with, lighter, and easier on the ears! (see other threads for advice on this)

 

The Peavey 2600 in my opinion as a great amp, it will go down to 2 Ohms (hence the 2600, 1300w per side) but I would not run it @ that,

it will get very hot and you may cause the thermal trips to shut it down, effect....... no amps!!!

 

Add another for the tops for this, use the built in crossover for the top end.

This will give you more SPL and save cooking the amp.

 

John Denim.

[cfmonk]

Hi John,

 

Thanks for the reply, RMX may be incorrect. I am trying to remember what they are from memory as they are not near me right now. They are black widow equipped and they have the red triangle thing on the front (sorry if this sounds terribly untechnical but it is the best way of describing them I have).

 

The bands we do are normally a folky pop / light rock kind of thing aas well as the DJs as mentioned.

 

So you would suggest a pair of 12" and then use the built in cross over to do the 12s and the 15s or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

 

Chris

[saturnx21]

The Peavey 2600 in my opinion as a great amp, it will go down to 2 Ohms (hence the 2600, 1300w per side) but I would not run it @ that,

it will get very hot and you may cause the thermal trips to shut it down, effect....... no amps!!!

 

Any amp should not overheat when being run at it's lowest stable ohmage** in this case you say two ohms, the only reasons it would overheat would be things like lack of air flow or it being extremely dirty inside! with decent air flow and good maintenance you will have no problems running a two ohm stable amp at two ohms all day long.

 

** I say it like that but I'm not at all sure its spelled/written like that!!!

 

:)

[Rob_Beech]

But they're not all stable at 2ohms. They'll run at it, but they're not necessarily stable enough to be pushed hard at 2ohms all day and night. A brand new budget amp pushed hard at 2ohms with adequate ventilation is still going to have a hard time.

 

The term is impedance.

 

And.... you'd need a proper LMS to cross them over properly and get the most out of it with an extra pair of 12's.

[cfmonk]

Ok, please forgive my ignorance, what's an LMS?

[Rob_Beech]

Sorry, LMS = Loudspeaker Management System.

 

Such as the BSS Omnidrive, or on a budget the perfectly acceptable and great value for money Behringer DCX2496. This gives you much more flexibility over all of the outputs.

[niall]

ohmage** I

** I say it like that but I'm not at all sure its spelled/written like that!!!

 

it's called impedance :)

[johndenim]

I would suggest using only a pair of 12's for the top end.

You will have a tighter smoother vocal, 15's won't really be worth the effort, yes, these is more bottom end on the 15,(@ full range) but thats what your bins are for.

If you connect your bins to the 'main amp', select the crossover and level, (100hz or 150 hz)

then connect from the 'main amp' 1/4in jack patch leads to the second amp.(from the high out)

and plug the tops into that.

(ps, this may be the wrong way around! can't remember if it's high or low out)

Just another thought, have the subs a passive crossover built in?

What is the impedance of each speaker?

If your subs have a high out, you could always run both sets from one amp,

but its up to you if you trust running the PV 2600 @ 2 Ohms.(that's if your cabs are 4 Ohms)

 

:)

John Denim.

[Sirch Sound]

Ok, please forgive my ignorance, what's an LMS?

 

Just to elaborate on robs answer a bit.

 

An LMS stands for Loud Spreaker Management System. This is basically a piece of equipment which takes most of your outboard gear (Crossovers,limiters, EQ's (graphic and paramic), Gates, delays, compressors, pinknoise generators and sometimes an RTA aswell) and puts it all into one compact 1u unit. It is, in theory, along with a reverb, the only bit of outboard gear you will need (some people prefer some of the gear to be more hands on, instead of going through screens and sub menus). There are many different models available, such as the bss omnidrive as rob sugested, however this a a top of the range unit and would probably cost twice the price of you whole system. So there are many other, cheaper options available, such as the DBX Driverack range. This starts right at the top of the range in the bss territory but works down to the 260, which is about £600 and then to the Driverack PA for about £300. However I wouldnt touch this unit with a 10ft bargepole (No I dont have one), Have a quick search on the forum and you will find out why, lets just say high freq drivers dont like it very much. Then you get to the bottom of the range, the behringer DCX2496, which is frankly, an awesom bit of kit. I have two of there along with a pair of DBX graphic eqs for quick ringing out of systems, and then a TC Electronics M-one XL reverb unit and im sorted. It makes the amount of gear you have to carry around tiny, a truley amazing bit of kit, and you can pick up the behringer for under £200 so its even a cheap solution.

 

I hope this clears things up for you

Rich

[cfmonk]

Thanks for that Rich.

 

I think I will invest in the Behringer and then get another amp and some 12" tops and play around with combinations to see what works!

 

Thanks,

 

Chris