Dynacord Powemate 1000 Mk 2

[junglist]

I recently acquired a Dynacord Powermate 1000 Mk2 powered mixer from a friend of a friend of a friend. The mixer came with 2 pairs (4 boxes) of EV SX300's, a pair of EV LM-8's and a pair of EV LM-10's.

 

As I don't know this mixer at all, I'd like to understand how many loudspeakers, and in what combination, the Powermate can drive happily on its own?

 

For instance will the Powermate, on its own, drive 2 x SX300 tops and 2 x EV Passive 18" Subs? Does it have the power to do that? Is it also able to drive a couple of EV-LM10's as stage monitors in addition to this? Or am I barking up the wrong tree and asking too much of the built in amp? Or will it drive everything? ie two pairs of EV SX300's, a pair of EV 18" Subs, a pair of EV LM10's and a pair of EV LM-8's?. If not, how many amps would it take,. I've had the mixer and the speakers all safety checked and serviced - so it's good to go, I'm just worried that adding too many speakers will melt the amp.

 

I don't really understand how adding speakers affects ohms either...so maybe this could be explained to me? It's best to imagine that you're talking to a small child...this is my first post btw!

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Cheers,

 

Junglist

[alistermorton]

It appears that the amps are "absolutely safe" into a 2.66 ohm load. Three 8 ohm speakers in parallel gives 2.66 ohm, so you should be ok with up to 3 boxes per channel. 4 boxes at 8 ohm gives a total load of 2 ohms, below the "absolutely safe" limit quoted. Below 2.66 ohms may cause damage.

 

A series load is easy - add up the ohms. But the thing is, when you loop from one cab to the next, generally it's a parallel load. This is slightly more involved to calculate.

 

If we say the resistance of boxes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc is R1, R2, R3, R4 etc and the total load is Rt then for a parallel load 1/Rt = (1/R1) + (1/R2) + (1/R3) + 1/R4) ... etc.

 

Thus for 3 cabs, you'd have 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 which gives 3/8 = 0.375. 1/Rt = 0.375, so Rt = 1/0.375 = 2.67

Edited December 15, 2020 by alistermorton

[Cerbertech]

Hi,

There is a manual here that has a few examples of how to set it up in : https://www.manualsl...?page=27#manual

 

To use all boxes as monitors and FOH will need another amp, also depend on what size room and material you will be playing, hopefully the diagrams give you a start point.

[junglist]

Wow, thanks so much, so fast, I shall delve into that manual and implant "The Golden Rule of Ohm" into my thick skull. Any other suggestions or advice on the subject of deploying the Powermate in various live scenario's is also very welcome, I suppose I'm trying to find its sweet-spot...the jobs it's perfect for. In fact, any recommendations for a pair of subs that will work well with the EV300SX's?

 

Looking at the Powermate manual, I could opt to drive the 4 x EV 300SX tops from The Powermate and then drive 2 dbl 18" subs from a separate amp or maybe look at an active subwoofer setup. Any suggestions on quality subs with decent SPL's that would work well in this system?

 

Big shout to the folks who run this forum, what a precious and valuable resource it is for a newb like me.

 

J

Edited December 15, 2020 by junglist

[Simon Lewis]

Looking at the Powermate manual, I could opt to drive the 4 x EV 300SX tops from The Powermate and then drive 2 dbl 18" subs from a separate amp or maybe look at an active subwoofer setup.

 

The amp will most likely be a little happier keeping to a 4 ohm load for each channel - so two SX300s per side would be good. Although a speaker might be rated at a nominal 8 ohms, over part of its frequency range it can dip below that value.

A separate amp for the subs would also be preferable, then you can give them a bit more juice :-)

If you wanted to run the LM10s and 8s and wedges, these could be run from the powered desk leaving the subs and SX300s to be run off their own power amps.

Amps such as Yamaha's PX range are lightweight and have some DSP built in, so you probably wouldn't need an additional crossover. If cost was a factor, there will be some lower priced 'equivalents' from the likes of Behringer and Thomann (t.amp)

[kerry davies]

Welcome to BR, Simon. It is good, innit.

 

The Powermate is common enough and such popular bits of kit that there is lots of info on BR and it always pays to check out the search function up on the top right under your name. There are 78 threads on Powermate and over a hundred on subjects such as Steeldeck or Insurance. If your precise query hasn't been discussed before then just reading through will suggest ways of posing the question to get the most useful replies.

 

Do read the terms and conditions and if you click on Sound, for instance, and alter the filters to "All" you will see there have been about 17,000 threads here alone. Have a browse, enjoy the journey.

[Cerbertech]

I can second the recommendation of the Thoman T-Amps for cheaper reliable amps, we have 2 of the TA 1050's (one for subs one for mid highs run off a crossover) and a TSA 4700 (4 channel used for monitors) on our medium sized rig

 

https://www.thomann....mcs=8fba84_2981

 

There a variety of powers and sizes available and come with a 2 year warranty.