Powered cabs

[Dave5000]

Would you recomend powerd cabs for large rigs?

 

the problem is that I like to see what the amps are doing so to not pop them.

 

Also I assume in big cabs they will be extemly heavy if thay are powerd?

[Jim]

Would you recomend powerd cabs for large rigs?

 

the problem is that I like to see what the amps are doing so to not pop them.

 

Also I assume in big cabs they will be extemly heavy if thay are powerd?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think the general answer here will be no; assuming that by 'large rigs' you mean rigs capable of > 2000 people. Active speakers in big systems just aren't that common; as the speakers get bigger and require more power they become stupidly heavy as you guessed. There are probably other reasons as well, and the fact that many people say passive speakers are 'better quality'.

 

I wouldn't worry about having to see what the amps are doing so much though; most decent active cabs have built-in limiting to prevent over-excursion and the like.

[Mr.Si]

Would you recomend powerd cabs for large rigs?

 

the problem is that I like to see what the amps are doing so to not pop them.

 

Also I assume in big cabs they will be extemly heavy if thay are powerd?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I think the general answer here will be no; assuming that by 'large rigs' you mean rigs capable of > 2000 people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Unless of course, you use Meyer Sound. Mr. Meyer (John, I think) has spent much valuable time developing very very professional top end stuff and as far as I know, his brand is power speakers.

 

Not all people favour this system, but that depends on personal preference.

 

I personally don't like the idea of taking signal leads AND power leads to each speaker, I think it is messy, and if you're unlucky enough to have badly screened cables, you could have issues with mains interference.

I prefer to have power amps in a rack and thus have only the speaker cables running to the speakers from them.

 

This however, is my personal preference.

 

I think an alternative still, is the use of modular poweramps, where you insert into the front of the amp, the particular module which is tailored (frequency response and power wise etc) to the particular speaker being driven. This has the benefits of having amps tailored to the power handling capabilities of the speakers (similar to having a speaker with a built in amp), but also having the amps separate from the speakers, thus saving long power runs with signal cable runs to each speaker.

 

What are other people's views?

[david.elsbury]

I personally don't like the idea of taking signal leads AND power leads to each speaker,  I think it is messy, and if you're unlucky enough to have badly screened cables, you could have issues with mains interference.

We got bitten by a set of combined power-signal cables about 6 months ago when we got our powered speakers (Phonic PA-450's, in case anyone's wondering. We love them.) The mains magnetic field interfered with the signal in a bad way. So now we have a collection of leads we made up ourselves, an AC lead and a good, well shielded mic lead zip-tied (cable tied) together. Work much better.

 

 

I think an alternative still, is the use of modular poweramps, <snip> This has the benefits of having amps tailored to the power handling capabilities of the speakers (similar to having a speaker with a built in amp), but also having the amps separate from the speakers, thus saving long power runs with signal cable runs to each speaker.

 

I am not a fan of driving very long speaker runs, and we often run speakers in a line up to 400m each way from a stage (sporting events etc). In my opinion this would not be very possible with passive speakers and seperate amps (it seems to do funny things to the impedance and output stages of the Lab Gruppens we use), neccesitating placing amps at strategic locations. At least with powered speakers, you don't have a rack of amps every 50 or 100 meters.

 

My 2c

David

[Chappie]

When using larger rigs, such as line-arrays or bigger clusters, then the weight of the amp is fairly negligable compared to the weight of the box, which is usually weighed down with captive rigging and bracing. Yes they may be a bit heavier than an un-powered box, but the advantages far outweigh the downsides. The amps are tailored to the loudspeaker, you save room in transit (no need for racks) and all limiting and processing is contained in the box to quote a few examples.

 

Not being able to see the amps to know what they are doing also may not be a problem because the bigger rigs may contain network software to see what each amp channel or driver is doing at any given time.

 

With the exception of our monitors, our entire stock is self-powered and we never have problems with hums or buzzes caused by running at line-level, whether it be with standard microphone or hybrid mic/power cable. Yes, it can be a ball-ache running mains and signal on a large distributed system, but the advantages can be worth it. I am not saying that self-powered is the only answer (as John Meyer insists - none of their cabinets are conventionally powered) but, as I said above, the advantages can be huge.