Bishopsound PA systems

[paulears]

Anyone come across Bishopsound website

 

Seems to be the guy who owned Carlsbro for many years selling direct to customers on amazon, ebay and his own website.

 

Some of the stuff looks very interesting - and it's all quite cheap. 2 x 15" and 2 x18" subs in particular - plus some odder designs - 3 x 12". For the price, you appear to get lots for your money - but of course not having dealers means you can't hear them? I'm looking for a spare PA for a few events, and these could be the answer in terms of cost and size - but would also fit the transport better.

[Alec]

Hmm, a 2x15" cab that only reaches 123 dB max (no further criteria given)...

[peza2010]

Trust Pilot: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/bishopsound.com

 

Have you tried talking to him about a demo?

A lot of the "smaller" companies may be interested in giving you a demo - they do want to get out to a wider market, and if they understand the industry they should be giving demos!

 

especially as a very active member of this forum... perhaps him arranging a demo for an unbiased review here would be something he would be interested in?

 

I for one would like to hear some reviews about it as - like you say, for the money if they are any good, then I can think of a few uses.

[Simon Lewis]

I've not come across their boxes, but have seen another differently named business of his, British Acoustics (http://www.britishacoustics.com/ ) with some more "serious" looking boxes.

Some of the comments made elsewhere suggest that the parts are Chinese. Whilst not necessarily an issue in itself, it might rankle slightly with those who are swayed by the "British Tone" and union flag branding...

[paulears]

What struck me was that some of the boxes I have look very similar.design wise - might be worth investigating - I'll email him for more details.

[soundman57]

The 3 x 12 (+ horn) speaker mentioned by the op was produced by Carlsbro in the 80's to a design by their Ivor Green if memory serves me correctly.

 

 

It was a very successful design, sold well and for many bands back then, was a great choice for a more portable PA compared to carrying larger and heavier horn loaded boxes.

 

I'm not saying it was as capable as a horn loaded system since they're different as chalk and cheese - low end wasn't earth shaking but adequate for many DJ's and bands.

The output was quite impressive for the size of the box.

Would be interested to hear the current design to see how it stands up to 'critical ears' today.

 

 

Steve

 

[ANDYLASER]

Interesting discussion on another forum.

https://forum.speakerplans.com/so--glastonbury--the-big-question_topic103934_post1031200.html#1031200

[paulears]

The trouble with many of these systems is the power handling, if you delve into the specs. 250-300W RMS into 8 or 10" speakers seems common, and I've noticed that people are starting to buy 4 tops and a couple of subs, leaving 600W max per side for the paperwork 'max'. If these weren't line arrays, but ordinary boxes everyone would be saying they're too low powered. 600W is not exactly huge amounts of end volume , and almost certainly near this point they're going to sound rough. I did see Bishopsound's advert about Glastonbury, then noticed it wasn't a live stage, but a stage run by DJs. Not surprised they got fried, as we've all seen dance music kills speakers of all kinds of quality brands when Watts is more important than quality.

 

Our band have had all kinds of line arrays supplied - and few of them have enough boxes to even be considered line arrays - but two 8 x 8/10" drivers on a stick and some subs isn't really a replacement for a multi box conventional PA, but is being sold and packaged as if it is. The Bishopsound Chinese package is typical. two grand for four 600wRMS boxes - so at least a bit louder. Their other boxes handle 1kW for half the price, so the line array, for an even match should be 4 boxes a side at 4 times the price. At this price range, supplying a system that is quieter almost guarantees the user will wreck it - like back in the Bose 802 days. as each one pops, the user upped the fader making more pop, until there were none left.