Behringer Horns

[Kenny4String]

Hi all,

wonder if anyone out there could tell me what would be a better option to using the standard behringer horn that is fitted to the eurolive series B1520 cab.

Our system comprises 4 of these speakers linked in pairs, with 4x subs, again linked in pairs set in bi amp mode. The subs and mids are driven by a pair of EV P2000 amps, while the horns are driven by a EV P1250 amp, all via a DOD three way stereo x over. depending on the size of the venue we downsize by only using a pair of each. We have never had any problems with the system apart from a blown horn diaphragm, which was replaced at a cost of £73 from the shop we bought our system from. Another blown diaphragm was sourced on the net for £45..We have had this system for about 2 years, only recent addition was the P1250 horn amp which replaced a old samick. Now comes our problem..this weekend we played over 3 nights, the first time in 4 weeks..when we set up and tried the pa in a one a side mode we got no output from the horns..after lots of checks we found that the horns were not working in the cabs...we swapped over with our other pair and they worked fine..gig sorted..Sat gig set up and played no probs, again just using the one a side mode until about 3 songs from the end when again we lost the horns.. we carried on and checked the diaphram on one of the horns and it was flat.. the last gig we had to use a couple of our Behringer monitors as the FOH cabs as we had no spares left..my questions are

 

 

1. is our amplifier too powerful for the horn drivers rated at 60w 8ohm 1.8khz,

p1250 - 350w @ 8ohm per side?? (the old samickamp was simmilar output)

 

2. is there another manufacturer horn/driver I can use instead of the behringer as replacing these diaphrams are becoming expensive @ £40 a shot

 

3. I have sourced (I think) a simmilar compression driver from Fane rated @ 100w AES 8ohms which should screw into the behringer flare for £58 with spare diaphrams @ £20 this is rated 3khz - 20khz which leads me to..

 

4. if I fitted these and adjusted the x over to 3khz would this now put extra pressure onto the mid speakers as the behringer horn x over was 1.8khz??

 

Could we just be unlucky or what..we have not altered anything, the amps and x over are all hard wired and flitecased so we only need to plug in the cables

could it be because of the month of no use?? I cant understand them going off in pairs, I thought an odd one going amiss normal wear and tear..but 4 over a weekend??

 

We have a lot of work coming up over xmas so dont want to be changing diaphragms after every gig

 

Your input would be more than welcome..would the fane ( or another manufacturer) replacements be better?? its just that at this moment I`m a bit of a crossroads..should I buy 4 sets of diaphragms or pay xtra for new comp drivers ...problem is we have a gig this sat and at the moment no top end??

 

Thanks again,

 

 

Kenny Gray

[Pete Alcock]

Kenny,

 

Sounds like you're having a hard time with these drivers. You don't say whether your in the band or behind the desk, but you must be giving them a real beasting if you're losing them at this rate.

 

I have some of the B1220, crossed over higher at 2.5k and I've never blown one. I doubt raising the frequency 700Hz would make that much difference though, and expecting a 15" driver (not the most expensive one in the world either!) to sound good above 2k is asking a lot.

 

I'd contact Rog Mogale at www.proaudioparts.co.uk in Poole. He's the distributor for P-Audio (compression drivers and speakers) and it's a P-Audio comp driver in the Beh boxes. He may be able to suggest a higher power driver from the same range or an equivalent from B&C or Beyma. They'd be dearer but in your active setup may sound better. Rog is an acknowledged expert and an approachable guy.

 

Trust this helps,

 

Pete.

[Kenny4String]

Thanks for your advice Pete,

I play in the band, and our sound guy is quite competent (teaches sound at Uni) but cannot think of a reason why we have blown four diaphragms in so short a time

We have the amps set between half and three quarters and the x over at half way.

If we need any more power we just add the second pair of subs and B1520`s

we have played some large gigs and we have never had to drive the amps full tilt.

 

I have e mailed Roger for some advice, thanks again for the link.

 

Kenny Gray

[Pete Alcock]

Kenny,

 

Another couple of things have just occurred to me; the amps you driver the horns with, does it produce any switch-on or switch-off thumps or bangs? With the B1520 in passive mode, there's light bulb and high pass filter in series with the driver, but when you flick the switch to active, I'm not certain whether the protection bulb is still operative. If your amp is not well behaved, it could be those transients that are killing your drivers.

 

Another possibility is HF instability. If there's any sort of oscillation in the amps, that can deliver massive power to your HF section. (Early mosfet amps were notorious for oscillating at ultrasonic frequencies) - you wouldn't hear anything was wrong, just see smoke coming out of your tweeters.

 

Rule out both of these before you install your sparkly new drivers!

 

All the best,

 

Pete.