Stacking Speakers

[MisterJames]

Hello,

 

Thanks to everyone who recommended speakers to me.

 

I recently sold some PSR12A Active speakers and im looking into purchasing another W-Audio PA. Zenith Range 12" 300wrms with the WAudio Active 600wrms Subwoofer. Question is... is it better to stack with one sub and two full range speaker seach side OR! two subs and one full range each side << each side meaning that it same left and right. IE 1 sub each side and two fullrange each side.

 

After reading through past post I see people have recommended having active subs and passive for fullrange? Is that actually still recommend or should I go fully active?

 

In regards to stacking... I do prefer a warmer sound!

 

Cheers

 

James

 

 

 

 

Btw W-Audio has anyone heard of their amplifiers going DC? I over heard this in a shop the other day? Im relating it to power problems?

 

Cheer guys

[TonyMitchell]

is it better to stack with one sub and two full range speaker seach side OR! two subs and one full range each side

 

I can't think of any application where I would stack two full range cabs on top of one sub. As well as sounding top heavy, that would leave the compression driver on the middle box below the LF driver of the box above it and result in some strange comb filtering effects.

 

Two subs under one mid-high box (or if you insist a full range box crossed over to place it on mid-high duties) is pretty bog standard.

 

After reading through past post I see people have recommended having active subs and passive for fullrange? Is that actually still recommend or should I go fully active?

 

In this context, by "active" I assume you mean powered and by "passive" I assume you mean unpowered. With the exception of a Meyer line array, I can't say I've ever heard a powered speaker that I have really enjoyed listening to. It's down to application and personal preference. If you are going to use your cabs outdoors, then powered speakers are best avoided as not only have you got to get AC to them, you have got to protect them against inclement weather and ensure in doing so, the amplifier modules are afforded sufficient ventilation to prevent overheating.

 

In regards to stacking... I do prefer a warmer sound!

 

Then the ratio of 2 subs to 1 mid high will be a good starting point. But it's not that simple. How loud are the boxes you are looking at? (The specs I googled looked very over ambitious and with notable absence of a sensitivity figure, I suspect they are calculated SPLs based on the silly-high peak input power number.) Mid-highs are often more efficient than subs, which is one of the reasons for doubling up on the LF, you can of course trim the tops if you are using an active system (in the true sense of the word - i.e. using a crossover/LMS and separate amplifiers for the LF and M/HF). What music will they be playing? Live or recorded? What genres? All these factors will assist in determining how much headroom you need.... and all this has been done on here lots of times before if you use the search facility.

 

 

Btw W-Audio has anyone heard of their amplifiers going DC? I over heard this in a shop the other day? Im relating it to power problems?

 

Not personally, although to be honest I've no experience with amplifiers at this level. As an aside, if it were a comment you overheard in a disco shop, I would take it with a pinch of salt. Typically, the technical knowledge of persons employed in these establishments is comparable with that of a cercopithecoid primate.

 

Hope this helps

 

Tony

[MisterJames]

Thats sound advice tony!

 

Ill take onboard what you said! I didnt understand the following (But im not all that knowledgable!)

 

(quote)The specs I googled looked very over ambitious and with notable absence of a sensitivity figure, I suspect they are calculated SPLs based on the silly-high peak input power number.) Mid-highs are often more efficient than subs,(quote)

 

Are you talking about the frequency response? and on which unit the subs or zenith? WSR-115P is the sub model. What should the frequency response be for a sub this only goes down to 45hz (-10db) ive seen tops that go lower than that? This is what really confuses me when purchasing subwoofers and tops for that matter... Every company something different!

 

Active subs and passive tops does that sound okie?

 

Thanks for the advice it cleared up most things! Ill probably sleep now

 

Cheers

James

[Mark M]

What happened to your DAP audio gear?

[Doug Siddons]

I agree with the two subs and one top and disagree with only meyer make good active gear although everyone has their own opinions

[MisterJames]

What happened to your DAP audio gear?

 

 

DAP: level entry RW15 And RW18B are in the garage... Tops are ear peicing... trying to get supplier to look into changing the high freq drivers... see if we can put HK Powerwork horn in there. Problem is there so weak in the respect their power rating!

 

W-audio zenith range have the same kind of look as DAP so on large events we can put them together! But I can imagine just installing the DAP somewhere else. :/ or they will end up in the store room for three years.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

I agree with the two subs and one top and disagree with only meyer make good active gear although everyone has their own opinions

 

Imagine ill copy DAP just go full passive!

[TonyMitchell]

disagree with only meyer make good active gear although everyone has their own opinions

 

Doug,

 

To clarify, I said;

 

With the exception of a Meyer line array, I can't say I've ever heard a powered speaker that I have really enjoyed listening to.

 

"Heard" being the key operative in this context, as opposed to seen hanging/stacked silent at a trade show or read about on t'interweb. I'm sure the powered offerings from the key players are very good and I would not dismiss them without hearing them first.

 

Tony

[Kevin Ross]

W-audio zenith range have the same kind of look as DAP so on large events we can put them together! But I can imagine just installing the DAP somewhere else. :/ or they will end up in the store room for three years.

 

Please don't try to stick both sets of tops next to each other for bigger gigs, it won't work and will sound below par (unless you are trying to achieve a very wide coverage pattern and/or are using them for delays)

 

 

 

One gig I picked up off another person was a small outdoors skate festival, I guest engineered a band there one year and the PA consisted of 2 peavey hi-sys tops next to each other and some subs below them, needless to say the system owner had never heard of comb filtering.

 

 

 

The next year I was supplying the whole rig and things were much better.

 

 

 

One set of tops setup high but angled down to cover the main crowd, centre clustered subs and I think a small front fill.

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

hrmm, I think people are being a little elitist here, some peoples experience of "good" sound is in stadium sized venues, you have to give advice based on the original posters place in the marketplace

 

This is a new user, who is posting lots of different posts, many of them contradict each other, his profile also states hes recently bought a pro audio theatre pa system???

 

You havnt given any mention as to what you will use this system for, disco's, theatre work, Concerts??? Also what styles of music? How big are the venues?

 

Reliability on the W Audio products is pretty good and way above the average (for its price)

The PSR Range are good top cabs, I have 4 of the psr12a's and love them (for the price..) especially when you consider they are below £500 a pair including covers

They do a powered sub to go with it, its pretty heavy, from memory its about 50kg and comes with a free wheel board hehe. I havnt heard this sub, so cant comment on it

I have heard the Zenith range and if im honest, I was not impressed. The tops were pretty dull and the bass cabs were fairly unimpressive

 

What sort of budget do you have for this? If you are going to do this properly, consider RCF powered cabs, without spending mega bucks, they are the best around, with the sound quality and reliability to suit

[MisterJames]

(quote)This is a new user, who is posting lots of different posts, many of them contradict each other, his profile also states hes recently bought a pro audio theatre pa system???(quote)

 

I use my PA for work shows and to use with friends bands... Very small based. I love classical music as it real qaulity sound. True and pure! I try and purchase my PA around this but im always sellign bits and buying extra speaker from other companies to get the best sounding!

 

Im still young and im playign with equipment buying and selling in the search for something good that cna play classical music, have the bass and high notes... along with soft punk rock... I enjoy listening to muscials like We Will Rock You (Queen) Les Miserables... Etc.

 

Yes ive posted lots of different things about different PA's? Im tryign to get peoples views, ideas and most are HUGE ideas leik you said work in stadium size of 5 football stadiums. I suppose I look for PA that can blast out but can sit at home and be quiet yet still have bass.

 

I have a powerful Hifi. Pioneer CS 7070, its brillant! with satalite behringer C1 at the rear to use on 5.1 movies.. I dont use a sub because my pioneers cover though freq's very well.

 

Ive used the PSR12A they were amazing but I suppose im not suited to active they were heavy...blue lights... power sockets were a problem and all good running extentions butthat just a hasle!

 

So all in all im in search for a cheap PA that is amazing and I thought DAP would be... just trying to see if they will sound any warmer with two RW18B... Zenith range... if you recommend it as not being good ill pass on it.

[Mark M]

There is no such thing as a "cheap" PA that is "amazing"! You entirely get what you pay for. You dont need D&B stuff but it you want quality then you need to start looking up the price range.

 

While there is no problem with all your questions there doesnt seem to be any purpose to them. You say you want to spend money on a PA system to listen to classical music at home? My advice would be to buy some hifi seperates and you will get a system which will be in a different class to the DAP or W-Audio stuff.

 

As for buying and selling PA gear, whats the point? You probably lose half the value once you walk out the shop. My advice would be to keep with the DAP gear you already own(?) and save up so you can take a step up into some of the "better" brands

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

your arguements against powered cabs seem flawed

 

power cables, most stages have power left and right, drop one extension to each stack, done!

You then only run XLR cables, which can be any length without signal loss, unlike normal speaker cable

 

blue led's. easily disabled if they bother you that much

 

weight? I carry my PSR12A's, one in each hand, infact they only have one handle on them, so they cant be that heavy!

[mervaka]

LEDs are no match for LX tape! in fact, my QSC HPRs actually have switches that turn off the front LEDs

[Sound In Gloucestershire]

yeah likewise with my QSC HPR115i's, they are for sale if anyone wants the pair :** laughs out loud **: